Dubai: Behind an Urban Spectacle (Planning, History and Environment Series) - Tapa blanda

"Subtly engaging with wider literatures on globalisation, consumption, migration, geography, urban planning and architecture, the book makes a hugely welcome contribution to a subject field otherwise dominated by political and economic analyses and to the interdisciplinary field of urban studies." - Urban Studies

Yasser Elsheshtawy explores Dubai’s 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 city’s urban development.

With the help of case studies and surveys this book explores the economic and political forces driving Dubai’s urban growth, its changing urbanity and its place within the global city network. Uniquely, it looks beyond the glamour of Dubai’s mega-projects, and provides an in-depth exploration of a select set of spaces which reveal the city’s ‘inner life’.