How Middle East cities have been designed and evolved as pure interfaces to the 21st century economy

Posted: September 10th, 2013

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How Middle East cities have been designed and evolved as pure interfaces to the 21st century economy

Doha

Doha city situated in Qatar has an estimated population of 998,651 with over 60% of the population dwelling in Doha or its surrounding. Doha is the economic heart of Qatar. The city’s devotion also dwells in education and research. The city has several education facilities that include a number of universities. With the current global trends, research and education plays the most crucial part in the development and sustainability of any city. Thus, to survive in the global village, Doha needs to continue investing heavily in education and research. The city is home to a number of sporting stadiums. The city also has a growing and diverse entertainment and arts. In the past years, the city held significant events such as 2006 Asian games, 2011 World petroleum council among many others. Its recreational facilities offer the city another source of income to exploit and avoid over reliance on oil.

Qatar’s natural gas and oil wealth has been visible since it spans the city Doha to economic prosperity. Doha is home to the country’s largest gas and oil companies. The economy of the city dwells much on the revenues earned from gas and oil, however, the government is trying to mobilize diversification in order reduce the dependence on oil alone. As a result, the economy in the city is booming as people are quickly embracing the idea. Like most countries, Doha is not mainly focused on tourism and as such, it has seen tremendous growth rate in population causing a boom in the real estate business. The city has witnessed the prices of real estate sky rocketing in the past, becoming the world’s most expensive city in terms of real estate than Dubai.

Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi is the second biggest city in United Arab Emirates. The origin of its name has some uncertainty, but it is derived from the meaning, “Father of Deer”, which probably referred to the number of gazelles, which occupied the emirate. The town houses key government offices, and financial institutions .the City has the wealthiest gdp in the world. The government plans to diversify the economic sector to avoid dependence on oil. It has done these through creating sovereign wealth funds, which are investment in other countries. Dependence on oil as the major source of revenue is risky due to the volatility of its prices among other risks. With sovereign wealth funds, the city is able to diversify its revenue portfolio. Diversifying ensures to absorb some of the risks.

The government seeks to expand revenues from oil to tourism. Abu Dhabi’s location is in the northern east side of the Persian Gulf. It is 250meters away from the mainland since it is situated on the island. Zaha Hadid designed the Sheikh Zayed Bridge, which was opened in the dawn of 2010. This would be a good move to survive in the 21^st century considering reliance on oil as the main source of revenue is risky as aforementioned. Additionally, considering its location, the city is in a good position to increase its tourism just as Dubai has done. Surviving in the currency age requires diversification as globalization continues to increase competition worldwide. More so, other countries are engaging in exploration of resources, meaning that competition is bound to stiffen. Thus, diversification is a great way of securing the future.

Abu Dhabi main business acquisition was in the pearl business, and they traded with other communities. The Persian Gulf was the focal point for pearl business. Through the business of pearling and oil extraction, the Abu Dhabi has remained one of the richest cities in the world controlling a vast economy space in the Middle East. The countries in Middle East have had their military academies and other political developments enhanced. They have made education compulsory to all kids at the age of four years in kindergartens and six years onwards for primary and secondary. Education is a sure way to go considering the increasing demand in knowledge, in the 21^st century and globalization that requires an educated youth to take up emerging jobs.

Manama

Manama is Bahrain’s largest city estimated to have a population of about 155,000 people. It is a celebrated trading center in the gulf of Persia. It attracts a lot of trading within this region, which the government should learn to take advantage of since it is a good source of revenue. Just like any other city around Middle East, Oil wealth of Bahrain significantly helped the city to spur economic growth in terms of industry development and infrastructure hence, making the city a financial stronghold in the Middle East. In the year 2012, the Arabian league as the Arab Culture Capital designated Manama city. The banking sector in Manama is the primary industry in the region with two hundred or more banks, and other financial institutions based in Diplomatic Area and the central business district alone. Seef a neighboring town has shopping malls that have large retail sectors while Manama central region has a lot of traders and smaller workshops. Manama is also Bahrain’s main hub in terms of the road network. To this date, the city’s road network is still undergoing transformation in order to cub traffic congestion. The banks are a result of the heavy trading going on in the city. Unlike other cities in the Middle East, Manama has been able to diversify in terms of revenue, where it has many revenue sources such as aluminum smelting industries, ship repairs, tourism, banking and the financial sector. With such diversification, the city has a better chance of surviving in the globalizing world.

Kuwait City

Kuwait City is Kuwait’s Capital having a metropolitan population of 2.38 million residents. The city contains the parliament of Kuwait, banks, government offices, and most of the Kuwaiti headquarters corporations. It is the Economic, Political, and Social region of the Emirate. The City has an arid climate, with little rainfall, hot summers and dust storms that are quite frequent during summer. Due to the city’s booming economy, many chains of international hotels have   opened up and set up their hotels in the country, examples of hotels constructed include Hilton Olimpya Kuwait, Hotel Missoni Kuwait lbis Sharq, Golden Tulip Kuwait among other hotels. Kuwait City is a home to a wide variety of shopping malls. Some of the most famous malls recognized by the international market located in the city include Marina World, the Avenues and 360 malls. These malls attributed to the fact that they provide retail beverage and food brands, indoor relaxing areas and shelter. With such, the city is inclined to attract tourism in huge numbers. More so, with interaction from different people from different regions, the city is set to achieve more diversification to fit the globalizing world.

Muscat

Muscat, a metropolitan city located in Oman has a population of about734, 697 residents and spans 1500square kilometers. Over the years, the city has experienced a rapid development in infrastructure that resulted to the growth of multi-ethnic communities and vibrant economy. The rocky AL Hajar Western Mountains make up most of Muscat landscape. The city’s main economy dominance is by petroleum, trade and porting. The influence of the Muscat extended everywhere to Zanzibar and East Africa. The city’s economy is largely dominated by trade. In the recent past, the city focused on traditional exports for trade. This included fish, dates and mother pearl that was before the Petroleum Development Oman became the focal point on the Muscat economy, where production was to be 720,000 barrels a day. Just as some of the other cities in the Middle East, large part of its economy is dependent on oil and trade. With many ethnic groups, including foreign, the city is well set for the 21^st century since it is able to adapt quickly.

Works Cited

Al-Sayegh, Fayaz. “The Case of Dubai 1900-1990…” Merchants’ Role in a Changing Society 34 (1998): 87. Print.