Introduction

Dubai, the largest city in the United Arab Emirates, is like no other urban city on Earth. A coastal jewel on the mystical Arabian Gulf, it is unarguably one of the wealthiest and most modern cities in the world rivaling many developed Western cities. Dubai has moved from a semi-peripheral to a near-primary city in merely a few decades. Like many Arab nations of the region, The U.A.E. gained its rapid monetary success thanks to the scores of oil fields which saturate the land. The U.A.E. is very different from other Arab nations in respect to its colonial history, population diversity, environmental concerns, economic strategies, beyond basic provisions, and governance. Dubai’s leaders have gone above and beyond in trying to make Dubai emerge from a once nonentity Arab city-state into a primary city its own; only time will tell if Dubai will ever live up to its nickname of the "Hong Kong of the Gulf." Thanks to great pioneering leaders, basic needs and environmental matters are of little concern. Dubai shines as a model city to the rest of the world, but most governments in the third world have no foundation on which to begin improvement; of course, not all third world cities are blessed with an initial gift of a one hundred year supply of the world’s oil. . . click on the links below to learn more about this fascinating desert oasis.