Dubai's Strange Development Pattern Spreading

The economic downturn has halted many projects in Dubai, but the show's not over in the elaborate emirate. In fact, its patterns of development may even be spreading to other cities around the world.

1 minute read

June 23, 2009, 12:00 PM PDT

By Nate Berg

Los Angeles Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne examines the unique type of development going on in Dubai, where mini-cities within the city stand as self-contained and separate urban imitations.

"Dubai's new neighborhoods, by contrast, have been colonized by builders simply pushing out into virgin desert -- or, in the case of the emirate's now-iconic island developments, into the gulf. That makes Dubai -- its neighborhoods unburdened by history, its developers unconstrained by zoning codes, preservation battles or community activism -- an unusually pure, unfiltered example of what new cities look like in the age of globalization."

FULL STORY: Dubai development may be down, but it's not out

Sunday, June 21, 2009 in Los Angeles Times

Architecture Community / Economic Development Land Use Urban Development Middle East Dubai United Arab Emirates Economic Recession Stalled Projects View More

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