The Gulf is at a crossroads

Even with pressures to join the development race in the UAE, many areas of the United Arab Emirates still feel relatively virgin. Not yet ‘developed’ to the level of Dubai or Abu Dhabi, these areas could still avoid the type of rampant global modernism that has hit other parts of the UAE and opt for a more considered approach.

With 43 km2 for 150 000 new inhabitants, the plan for the City in the Desert represents a quantum leap in the region’s development. Its sheer size almost automatically implies that choices made in relation to the Gateway Plan will turn out to be choices for the region as a whole. This project marks a decisive moment in the course of the region’s future planning.

When it comes to the city, 20th century cures may yet prove 21st century ails: everything we have grown to like - low density, lawns, spaciousness, luscious green has suddenly become an ecological time bomb.