Urbanization of Abu-Dhabi: A Sociological Analysis - Research Paper Example

Urbanization of Abu-Dhabi: A Sociological Analysis Introduction The notion of urbanization is practically translated into development of less developed areas into more advanced ones with the passage of time (Parnell pp. 350). The importance of corporate activities is more than valuable in this regard. The localities tend to have a competitive advantage in the form of an industry that has been running for considerable period of time. The increasing globalization in the 21st century has transformed less fortunate parts of the world into commercial centers of the world. The industrial need to control the costs of production is compelling the companies to find and seek cheap suppliers in order to maximize their profit margin. The profit margin is the fundamental measure and pulse of any business in the world. The growing and strengthening economic interdependencies in the world are forcing individual nations to develop their competitive industry whose product can be retailed in the global marketplace. The Americans are engaged in creation of knowledge while treating and identifying it as a competitive advantage. The Gulf countries are thriving on the basis of trading oil products and therefore, each and every nation is busy in becoming an organization that is planning to attain specialization in one or two industries (Hill pp. 33). The measure of efficiency is treated as the only measure of specialization in the modern world. The human sociological systems are based on exchanging products and services in such a way that both of the involved parties reap an advantage out of a certain transaction. In the past century, the countries were operating in isolation and therefore, the international trade was limited to only export and import. The nations were attempting to be self sufficient at that time. The national disputes were significant and countries were not willing to engage in trade with enemies. The most dedicated economies were known to consider usage of foreign products as oblivious and evil. The advent of information technology eliminated the distances amongst nations. The role of international institutions became very important in terms of coordinating the corporate efforts all over the world. The human civilization is famous for using natural resources in an effective and efficient way in order to make economic progress (Griffths and Zammuto pp.829). The oil is the basic need for all of the economic systems. The oil is being used to power everything from cars to industrial plants. As the global competition increased, the demand for oil does the same. However, the companies faced a challenge of finding crude oil while, developed nations had the needed technology and United Arab Emirates had vast and unchartered oil fields. The needs of both the nations submerged and an alliance emerged that initiated global oil industry in the world. The government of UAE decided to outsource the operations of oil extraction and purification against generous fees. The decision of outsourcing oil operations changed the destiny of the entire nation. The UAE in general became a trade hub for oil business whereas; the presence of key governmental offices in Abu-Dhabi benefitted the city in a very specific manner. The political power of Abu-Dhabi grew notably with the passage of time (Dyer and Singh pp. 665). The flexible and tolerant culture of the locality was the major element that played a very vital role in improving living standard. The Abu-Dhabi’s fortunate economic conditions are long-term result of the decision that was taken by Sheikh Rulers in the past. The strategic decision that was taken in order to make Emirates the center of commerce in the Arab world resulted in a notable economic growth of Abu-Dhabi as a city. The recent per-capita income in the region witnessed a hundred percent growth in the last five years. The city of Abu-Dhabi is made up of barren desert. The natural crops are almost nonexistent in the area and the locality is generating its income from trading of oil. Additionally, the local oil fields of the Abu-Dhabi are producing small percentage of the total nation output. The main contributor in the development of Abu-Dhabi is political and governmental power. The Emirates operate in isolation and they collaborate on a need basis and therefore, the position of the featured locality is the strongest in an economic perspective. The economic development of Abu-Dhabi is stimulated by growing need of oil in the rest of the world. Nevertheless, the growth and upheaval of Abu-Dhabi as a city stemmed from its ability to institutionalize the bilateral trade between UAE and the remaining economies of the world. The European and American states were the most valuable business partner of UAE, when the trend of globalization was not so strong. The monster of globalization increased the active clientele of UAE manifold and therefore, nowadays emerging economies of India and China are also trading oil with the golden state of the 21st century. The increment in the number of clients of UAE in turn increased the political and financial power of Abu-Dhabi. The Abu-Dhabi was a barren desert in the initial developmental stages and therefore, it was an ideal hindsight for the governmental and bureaucratic operations of the country. Furthermore, it is valuable to note that the UAE as a nation is currently engaged in gaining control of the oil fields once again. The local government is having controlling share of major operations and therefore, it is in position of regulating industrial activities from the inside (Davidson pp.35). The Abu-Dhabi as a political and economic center of the country is exercising its authority of applying taxation. The major oil companies have decided to abandon their operations in the UAE. The abandonment of operations is being performed as a response to worsening economic outlook of the society. The current government of UAE is planning to minimize foreign companies’ profits by applying taxes and embargoes so that the major chunk of fortune must remain in the host economy. Again the change in fiscal policy of the government indirectly provided Abu-Dhabi with the much needed power to manage the economic activities throughout the region. Abu-Dhabi is believed to be a face of UAE and therefore, the government is more than happy to help it in the process of becoming a technologically advanced city so that investors feel a certain level of pride and security while investing in the representative of Emirates. The cultural outlook of Abu-Dhabi is more diversified and colorful. The multiculturalism gives the city a unique and distinct personality. Other cities of the great kingdom do not have a very flexible and tolerant culture. The localities of Sharjah and Dubai are notorious for sporting a racist mindset. The abovementioned geographical locations are cities of consumers and therefore, the racist mindset does not affect their primary business. But, in case of Abu-Dhabi a shred of racism is going to destroy everything in matter of days. The political hub is therefore, famous for allowing people with a specific mindset to work as the local administration is dedicated in the direction of maintaining a positive outlook of the city in front of the international community. According to classical theories of economic growth, the countries move from agriculture to industrialization. The ancient Arabs were known to trade dates in order to fulfill their needs in the past. As the regions of Europe and America grew and became stronger and then, they faced a challenge of powering their industries and because of this reason, they initiated to explore the world for oil reserves. The Arabs were technologically and economically very crude at that time and therefore, they allowed the Americans and British to expedite the developmental process of oil extraction and purification industry. The world evolved and knowledge explosion occurred and these two recent developments caused the self awareness of the Arabs to enhance and therefore, they are presently attempting to gain control of local industrial activities. More than half of the workforce of the country is made up of foreigners while, they are expected to serve the national interests of UAE (Arnolda and Sikkab pp.481). The recent national level strategic decision from UAE are an open evidence that Arabs are awakening and they are planning to rule the world with the help of controlling oil supply. The Arabs on the other hand, are well aware of the fact that their oil reserves are depleting. The Arabian fiscal policies are an attempt to maximize economic benefit by raising oil prices in the global marketplace. The UAE has been tagging along as a service based economy as it has provided the investors with an efficient economic system that worked in terms of maximizing financial returns of businesses working in the local setting. The fiscal conditions and prices of the inputs are kept static so that the economic returns should be kept steady in the long-term perspective. The creation of a favorable business environment is believed to be the consequence of government’s visionary economic planning and execution (Ponzini pp.255). The government’s basic and fundamental responsibility of causing growth in the public’s living standards is being effectively fulfilled by the governmental offices that are located and operating in the shiny city of Abu-Dhabi. The education level has grown in the community of UAE over the past few years and therefore, the people are getting more and more vocal about their national interest and sovereignty. The public opinion about the operations of Multinationals states that Arab should be reserved for Arabs. The aforementioned statement suggests that the national machinery and infrastructure of the country must be used and applied in terms of fulfilling economic and public interests of the population that is living inside the boundaries of UAE. The strategic maneuver was applied in order to control the leakage of financial resources that was taking place in the form of repatriating profits of MNCs that were operating in the local market of UAE. The decision was taken and implemented after government had managed to gather sufficient ownership in the oil producing companies operating in UAE. The government of UAE is awake to the fact that they are a services oriented economy and their core product’s reserves are becoming largely depleted and therefore, the government is busy in promoting Abu-Dhabi and Dubai as tourist spot. The adjacent economies’ citizens are visiting abovementioned cities in order to spend their vacations. The tourists of developed nations on the other side find Abu-Dhabi as a favorable tourist attraction because it is cheaper and economical to spend vacations over here than visiting far off places in the western countries. The citizens of developed nations also find the local weather of UAE attractive as the temperatures are high and therefore, the country provides them with an opportunity of experiencing a seasonal change as well. The economy of the Emirates is getting more and more advanced as world leading bank and hotel chains are pouring investments in the local economy. The decline of oil industry is stimulating growth and development in other fiscal sectors. Moreover, it is being largely suspected that the government of UAE is planning to save its oil reverses for local use only so that it can cope with the upcoming oil shortage. The economic swing that is recorded in the economy of UAE is creating a future in which the major fiscal focus will be on tourism while, the major and valuable attraction will be offered in the form of developed tourist city of Abu-Dhabi. The development of tourism industry is a critical step and measure towards promoting services industry in the Emirates as all of the developed nations are doing. The ongoing developmental process of the tourism industry simply means that the UAE is planning to take lead in the changing world order that is going to happen due to globalization and technology. The emergence of emerging economies is also going to become a contributive caused towards further development and growth of Abu-Dhabi as an international political and economic center. The close geographical proximity with emerging economies will enhance the character of Abu-Dhabi in modern economic system of the 21st century (Akhter pp.382). The airfare rates of entering in the UAE are dropping (Murel and O'Connell pp.43) and this trend means that the local government is more than interested in inducing growing number of people in the direction of coming into the country. The changing world economic setup and growing importance and value of emerging economies are a few factors that will further enhance the role of Abu-Dhabi in the near future. The governmental regimes that sensibly invested regarding strengthening of commercial infrastructure of the golden city. The sociological climate of the locality assisted it significantly in the process of becoming an international commerce hub. The defining attributes of the featured city include tolerant attitudes and behaviors. The people are always exhibiting civilized behaviors and there is minimal presence of racism and gender discrimination. Thusly, the societal attributes of the city are indeed helping people of several races and nations in tagging along with each other in a harmonized manner. The society of Abu-Dhabi in specific and total society of UAE is a role model city for creating and application of global citizenship behavior. The national identities will further dilute in the near future and more cities like Abu-Dhabi will merge in other countries (Khirfen and Jaffer pp.20). The cross-cultural outlook is becoming a norm all over the world and therefore, the modern world will grow into a place with no feasible cultural and normative differences. The economic interests will overweigh all kinds of differences and disputes. Findings The key findings of the study are as follows: - The process of urbanization is closely linked with economic and fiscal development The core industry of United Arab Emirates is oil extraction and refinement The western need for more crude oil in order to run their industries compelled the business professionals to forge alliances with Arabs to have constant supply of oil The city of Abu-Dhabi is identified as governmental and economic hub of UAE and therefore, all governments work in order to make more attractive in the eyes of foreign investors The culture of the featured locality is very flexible and tolerant and therefore, people from various races and nations to tag along nicely The sociological factors also helped the city in the process of becoming the face of UAE The changing world order will also contribute towards making Abu-Dhabi even more valuable in the near future The emerging economies will also be accessed through Abu-Dhabi in coming days The city of Abu-Dhabi is a role model for the countries that are working in the direction of promoting global citizenship behavior Conclusion This paper reviewed and analyzed the contributive causes of Abu-Dhabi’s powerful political and fiscal position and found out that the city is a commercial and political hub of the country. The development of Abu-Dhabi is closely linked with historical worldwide growth of oil demand. The city is currently being developed as a tourist attraction for the citizens of developed nations. The hot weather of UAE is always considered attractive by the people of cold countries. Nowadays, UAE government is looking to transform Abu-Dhabi in a tourist spot. This step is treated as an initial measure to promote services in the local economy. Works Cited Read More