Dubai What Cosmopolitan City?

Abstract

Dubai’s phenomenal development is celebrated by some as a model of cosmopolitan living, and downplayed by others as a non-sustainable urbanism rooted in exploitation. Whatever the truth is, the mix of peoples and lifestyles in Dubai is remarkable, as expatriates from all over the world move there to live and work. Yet this cosmopolitanism is tempered by dynamics of segregation and the exclusion of the majority expatriate population from civic life. This article examines these conflicting faces of cosmopolitan living in Dubai.