Dubai: Behind an Urban Spectacle

Yasser Elsheshtawy explores Dubais history from its beginnings as a small fishing village to its place on the world stage today, using historical narratives, travel descriptions, novels and fictional accounts by local writers to bring colour to his history of the citys urban development. With the help of case studies and surveys this book explores the economic and political forces driving Dubais urban growth, its changing urbanity and its place within the global city network. Uniquely, it looks beyond the glamour of Dubais mega-projects, and provides an in-depth exploration of a select set of spaces which reveal the citys inner life.