Topic 11B: A metropolis of the 21st century (Dubai)

Is Dubai the Capital City of the 21^st Century?

By Jack Oxlade

 

Dubai represents the pinnacle in excess, it is an example of architectural and engineering ingenuity, it is a global paradise created in one of the most extreme clients on earth, but will it be remembered as the city of the 21^st Century? The 19^th Century has Paris, a city that was re-invented by Georges-Eugene Haussmann under command from Napoleon and hosted the World Fairs 5 times in a space of 45 years (Library.brown.edu, 2011), while the 20^th Century has Manhattan, and its jungle of skyscrapers, including icons like the Chrysler Building, the Empire State Buildings, and for the duration of the 20^th Century, the World Trade Centres.

Does Dubai fall into the same categories as these great cities? It has “a twenty-four-square-mile archipelago of coral-coloured islands in the shape of – the world”, “chrome forest(s) of skyscrapers (with an) impossible half mile high (skyscraper)”,  “a seven star hotel with an atrium so huge that the Statue of Liberty would fit”, a hotel that is “sixty-six feet below the surface of the sea”  and a “local indoor snow mountain” next door to “the world’s largest mall” (Davis 2015). Buoyed by the belief that peak oil will keep the desert state afloat, and the deep pockets of the global elite will continue fund its endeavours, Dubai has become a developers playground and not only a global icon, but also a global brand.

But will it be the city that in a hundred years we look back on as the iconic city of our time? I certainly hope not. Dubai is a global spectacle, but it hardly a liveable or sustainable city. The population of Dubai is made up of a significant group of Migrant workers, migrant, because they have little hope of ever becoming citizens. Dubai is built on a foundation of this migrant workforce who work for very little in slave like conditions ((Slumdogs and Millionaires, 2011)). A city can’t lay claim to being the pinnacle of the 21^st century if it doesn’t even provide for the people who live in it. Dubai is a destination. A place that will capture the imagination of the world no doubt well into the future, but it will not be the pinnacle of human urbanisation in the 21^st century.

If not Dubai, that what will be the city of the 21^st century? It doesn’t exist yet. The world faces huge obstacles heading into the future, including but not limited to, a population growing at an exponential rate, resources being exhausted, an aging population, a natural  environment that is being decimated, and a globalised world where the gap between the privileged and underprivileged is growing. Dubai doesn’t solve any of these issues. A vision for the Capital of the 21^st century needs to be something that will positively shape the world, and see change not only in the physical environment, but also the social and economic environment.

It may come in the form of an already established city, a Shanghai or a Mumbai, both of which are experiencing astronomical economic growth, and are expected to emerge as true megacities in Asia, Houston or Dallas are contenders in America, with their populations growing at six times the rate of New York and Los Angeles (Kotkin, 2009) or possibly a European city re-invents itself to become a symbol of liveability and sustainability?

As with innovation in any area, no one will know until it happens. It’s what we decide to prioritize in this city of tomorrow that will begin to define it. In order to deal with the issues stated above do we prioritize and integrate technology into every facet of the built form to give us a truly smart city?

  

Figure 1: Concept Drawing of Songdo

Songdo in South Korea is an example of a “smart” urban environment. Windows are double glazed with ventilated double facades, greywater and rain water are collected and tracked in order for use in cooling towers, pneumatic pipes move solid waste, eliminating garbage trucks, busses are powered by fuel cells, buildings will be intelligent enough to guide cars to available parking spots and queue up elevators as people approach, while CISCO has deployed video networking technology and energy management software city wide with the hope that they will be used by more than 20 different services (Woyke, 2009)

 

Figure 2: Sideways moving Elevators

 

Or will the next city be in the air, where skyscraper are connected at the top level, and elevators travel sideways like the proposed magnetically levitated elevators. A city where you never again have to step outside and everything is enclosed around you, creating an artificially connected jungle. (Australian Popular Science, 2015)

 

Figure 3: Concept Drawings of Masdar City

Maybe we need to think about a “no-impact city” like Masdar City in Abu Dhabi where targets for zero waste and zero carbon, while being powered by only renewable energies, which is ironically  being funded by money that is ultimately derived from Abu Dhabi’s rich oil reserves. ((Gupte, 2009))

  

Figure 4: Concept Drawings of City Sand Tower

Or do we need to come up with something so different and extreme that it could only be the product of a science fiction novel, like the 400m+ tall City Sand Tower which boasts 776,996sqm of floor space and is proposed to be built in the Moroccan section of the Sahara. Designed by a French architecture firm the “city” contain offices, residences, shops, conference and sports facilities, a hotel, a restaurant and bar, a museum, and an observatory all served by Solar power and deep geothermal wells for its energy, while rainwater and recycled grey water will be the source of water for the people and plants (MP Report, 2015).

The capital of the 21^st century will be remembered as a city that questions the conventional urban form to become the pinup for the city of the future. Getting lost in Dubai’s glamourous exterior is a dangerous exercise, and replication will only lead to disaster, as the very foundation of that Dubai is built on, oil and cheap foreign labour, is wholly unsustainable.

Reference List:

Australian Popular Science, (2015). Magnetically Levitating Elevators Could Go Up, Down, And Sideways. [online] Available at: http://www.popsci.com.au/tech/magnetically-levitating-elevators-could-go-up-down-and-sideways,398836 [Accessed 22 May 2015].

Gupte, P. (2009). A No-Impact City?. [online] Forbes. Available at: http://www.forbes.com/2009/09/02/masdar-city-abu-dhabi-opinions-21-century-cities-09-pranay-gupte.html [Accessed 22 May 2015].

Kotkin, J. (2009). World Capitals Of The Future. [online] Forbes. Available at: http://www.forbes.com/2009/09/02/world-capitals-cities-century-opinions-columnists-21-century-cities-09-global-capitals.html [Accessed 22 May 2015].

Library.brown.edu, (2011). Paris: Capital of the 19th Century. [online] Available at: http://library.brown.edu/cds/paris/worldfairs.html [Accessed 22 May 2015].

MP Report, (2015). SEE NEW PLANS FOR A SELF-SUSTAINING VERTICAL CITY IN THE SAHARA DESERT. [online] Available at: http://www.my-property-report.com/articles/see-new-plans-for-a-self-sustaining-vertical-city-in-the-sahara-desert [Accessed 22 May 2015].

Slumdogs and Millionaires. (2011). [video] United Kingdom: BBC.

Woyke, E. (2009). Very Smart Cities. [online] Forbes. Available at: http://www.forbes.com/2009/09/03/korea-gale-meixi-technology-21-century-cities-09-songdo.html [Accessed 22 May 2015].