Future in Dubai - Essay Example

Amy Wilentz (2006) authored a paper titled “See the Future in Dubai”. The purpose of this essay is to provide an analysis of the aforementioned article. The article first identifies that although there is a tremendous amount of decadence in Dubai there may be some charm in the city/state.

Wilentz identifies that there is a great deal of transition currently underway in the city/state insofar as it is the case there is a great deal of massive amount of building projects underway. Next, the author identifies how some of the caste systems in the nation work (With the sheiks at the top of the pyramid). Some of the international aspects of Dubai is alluded to because only 10% of residents are from the city.

Probably the most interesting element in the article was a visit to a museum which outlines the “Old Dubai” which surprisingly is of little interest to most people. Lastly, the author alludes to the ‘fake-ness’ of the city in that nearly every element of the city is artificial but she alluded that time will tell for the future of the emirate.

This paper postulates that Wilentz did indeed ultimately enjoy her time in Dubai however she finds a certain element of in-authenticity in this newly emerged powerful city-state. The target audience that she seems to be addressing would most likely be potential tourists from an English-speaking nation that are interested in visiting the Emirate of Dubai. The tone that is set by Wilentz is of a land with extreme dichotomies. Although some people may indeed enjoy Dubai, it is presented that there is a lot to dislike about the city-state.

The means by which Wilentz establishes this argument is through example. Firstly, the author indicated that the city has firmly entrenched dichotomies. Although the city is very international (the statistic that she used indicated that approximately 10% of inhabitants come from the emirate) it is not a melting pot insofar as there is a firmly entrenched caste system.

During an excursion with Benedict Fisher of Nakheel Wilenty was exposed firsthand to “The Palm” a man-made land mass for real estate development. WIlenty indicated that although she found the land mass to be interesting there was a strong unnatural element about it even going so far as to describe it as being “like a developer's ocean-view hallucination.”

Wilentz stated that her hotel room at the Burj Al Arab costs $2000 a night which is more that the foreign workers who built the structure earned in a year which further reinforces the dichotomy of visiting such a place. Moreover, although the Emirate is an Islamic state people freely engage in behavior that is banned by the tenants of Islam, such as drinking alcohol or not dressing modestly.

The final example which is provided by Wilentz is the desert ski slope which the guide describes as “Isn’t this ridiculous?”. The very fact that something snow is being generated in such a hot nation demonstrates a level of impracticality and in-authenticity that does indeed seem ridiculous.

In terms of points that Wilentz omitted that might have reinforced her argument would be discussing sustainability in the region. Although some forms of decadent consumption were covered such as a whale shark fish tank and desert ski slope, it might have been valuable to mention that the nation-state is potentially creating a financially and ecologically unsustainable.

Although several examples of impracticalities are provided there is no question that Wilentz does indeed find the nation-state very interesting. With such decadence and excess, there is no question that the travel destination could be described as unique.