Dubai is not, and never will be, a Singapore or a Hong Kong. I’m stating the obvious, but…
- It shows the possibilities of making something out of nothing. And the limits
- It has various groups of people (wildly different) with no possibility or intention of settling down, with all that it entails – accommodating others, having a stake in the place’s future, or investing somehow in it
- Locals being a minority, there is little chance for foreigners to assimilate into the culture. Simply, one interacts a lot more with foreigners than with locals, which just does not happen in any other place I have been to
- HK and SG are populated by Chinese mostly who are hard working and determined. Enough said
- Chinese culture is one of mountains, … green spaces, etc. Metaphorically speaking. Local culture, whatever it is, is one of deserts and empty spaces and so on – desolation, in other words
- This is all made visible by the following: 5 minutes left or right of the main thoroughfare with its attendant skyscrapers and you are in an area of dusty windswept roads and crooked lowrise buildings. 5 more minutes out and you are literally in the middle of the desert
The space age city hasn’t quite arrived.
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