City Overview
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It is difficult to believe that a century ago Dubai was little more than a desert-strewn wildscape where Bedouin tribes roamed the sands and a huddle of settlers crowded around the banks of the lifeblood creek. Even as Europe embarked on the mass industrial destruction of World War I, Dubai still had no running water, no real roads and the main mode of transport was the camel.
Dubai first grew as a hub on the ancient trading route between Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley and, by the 19th century, a small fishing village had taken root on the Shindagha peninsula, at the mouth of Dubai Creek. The village was inhabited by the Bani Yas tribe, who were led by the Maktoum family, the dynasty that still presides over Dubai today. The city’s remarkable success story really began in the 1960s. During the process of shaking off the shackles of British colonial rule, oil was struck in 1966 and Dubai has never looked back. Since the 1960s, the population has increased tenfold to over a million people and now over 400 hotels welcome in the temporary ex-pat workers and tourists who help run the economy. Indeed, only 22% of the emirate’s population, at last count, were actually ethnically emirati in a population mixture that has to be one of the world’s most cosmopolitan. This diversity discourages any real ethnic tensions and while war and the threat of war might simmer further north, it creates far less tension in Dubai than many might imagine it would.
Dubai’s evolution has been dramatic, with sweeping skyscrapers and gleaming office blocks rising up on the banks of the Creek. Development has been well managed, with a structure and order to the city that demonstrates that the oil wealth has been well handled and channelled. The rulers of Dubai have a penchant for grand projects – one year a new extension to the port facilities, the next the world’s tallest purpose-built hotel and now the Palm Islands, a massive project that will bring 120km (75 miles) of new beachfront, through the creation of the world’s two largest manmade islands, as well as hotels, villas, shopping malls, cinemas and Dubai’s first marine park. Dubai seems to know no end to its ambition or have any inhibitions, with new plans constantly on the drawing board.
The US-led war against Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq in 2003 and regional instability has, however, put a major strain on the city and hit tourism, one of its most successful industries. Until 2003, more and more tourists were flocking to Dubai every year, which is unsurprising, considering the idyllic climate for much of the year, with constant sunshine and only and average of five days of rainfall. During summer, however, the heat is extreme, making trips away from air-conditioned vehicles and buildings unbearable.
The immediate future prospects of the emirate’s tourist industry and its economic situation as a whole seem certain to be governed by developments in the rest of the Middle East.
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