Dubai model is a subject for study

Dubai has always attracted investors, tourists and media professionals from the region and other parts of the world. Of late, a new group of people, who has nothing to do either with business or tourism, is showing a keen interest in the development of the city.

A group of academics from leading universities and research institutions are curious to find out what is happening in Dubai.

Academics and researchers are coming to Dubai, not to make a fortune, but to explore and study the Dubai model which boasts of a unique demographic set-up, economic and development phenomenon, a stunning agricultural hub and intriguing modernity.

Dubai's development model sparks the curiosity of researchers who want to know what is really happening, and why Dubai? And whether the development is sustainable.

They have many questions, such as whether this model can be adopted by other GCC and Arab cities, and how far an Arab city can progress at a time of globalisation.

Many research students have done their thesis on the Dubai model. One of them is Bernard Al Goul who has tried to answer the "Dubai question" in his PhD thesis titled "Dubai: Birth of a Globalised City".

In his thesis, submitted to the French Sorbonne University, Al Goul has tried to understand the historic, geographic and social factors that have made the UAE's second richest city the most globalised in the Arab world.

The second PhD thesis "Dubai Is Not the City of Ancestors" was submitted to Harvard University by Dr Ahmad Kennah, an American of Iraqi origin. Kennah states that Dubai has changed a lot and the modern Dubai has shed its past.

The writer looks for traces of the old Dubai in terms of demography and architecture, focusing on lifestyle and behavioural patterns and urban development, which differentiate the old city from the new one. He then asks the question which Dubai's residents have also been asking of late, is Dubai better now than before?

The third of these studies has been submitted to Exeter University, UK, by a Chinese student Mai Zing, who lived in the UAE and watched its growth to become the region's second largest economy.

Resemblance

The researcher compares the development models of Dubai and South East Asia and finds a large resemblance between the two with regard to the government's role and the relation between the public and private sectors.

However, Zing still finds that Dubai has a special environment and structure. Dubai's economy is neither a revenue nor oil-based economy, nor a modern one based on development. As such Zing concludes that Dubai's growth indicates a new economic pattern which the Chinese has dubbed as "Dubaian".

The increasing academic curiosity about Dubai is not limited to research students. Research and studies have increased recently in scientific periodicals which boasts the names of established writers and researchers.

Dubai as an academic topic is a controversial subject too in academic quarters, as well as the international media circles which follow the ongoings in Dubai and measure them as per the international norms of criticism.

Samir Ameen has his reservations about the Dubai model. In his study published in Mustakbal Al Arabi, a quarterly magazine published by the Centre for Arab Unity Studies, he has expressed his pessimism about the Dubai experiment.

Ameen, who is acclaimed for his International Capital Accumulation Theory and is a specialist in topics concerning the advancement of the north and the retardation of the south, says that the Dubai experience cannot continue nor be generalised, although he does commend Dubai's modernisation project.

He feels that the central states in the "New World Order" will not allow the emergence of a modern and independent Arab project and will not allow it to penetrate their vital fields, as Dubai is trying to do now.

Ameen's stand is in harmony with his theoretical ideas and ideological beliefs concerning globalisation, but he is not convinced with the international novelties and realities under globalisation, which led to the fall of all traditional development theories including the "Theory of Capital Accumulation and Affiliation."

If Ameen is harsh in his views, then Mick Davis's study might be one of the harshest studies on the Dubai phenomenon. It was published in the November issue of the US New Left Review magazine.

His study has the provocative title Dubai: Money and Fear which is established on the "Theory of the Economy of Fear" to explain the successes achieved in this Arab city.

Despite the fact of the seriousness of the study and its good documentation, indicating Davis's vast knowledge and deep insight into Dubai's daily ongoings, it is very biased.

No different

In this criticising study's estimation, Dubai is no different than other capitalist states around the world, which are established on taking advantage of cheap labour and is set on the road to gigantic development and construction projects.

But the "Economy of Fear" theory is not convincing, because the UAE is an oasis of security in the region, which happens to be one of the most agitated regions around the world.

Dubai is successful and attractive because it is safe and secure. It is not Dubai's fault that it makes use of the agitated conditions and crises around it.

The Dubai: Money and Fear study disregards the positive side and belittles the success of this Arab city. It also ignores the fact that Dubai has decided to build the first oil independent economy in the area and establish a new future for itself and all Arabs as well.

Dr Abdul Khaleq Abdullah is professor of political science at UAE University, Al Ain.