In his article, "Sprawling, Soulless Dubai," Richard Hywel Evans (2006, p. 11) asserts that Dubai is a chaotic city lacking coherence. Evans (2006, p. 11) states that the "relentless colonization of the desert has led to 'LA syndrome'-there is so much urban sprawl the city lacks a metropolitan heart." Moreover, he attributes a feeling of "soullessness" to the fact that one can stand next to a skyscraper one minute and see barren desert the next (Evans, 2006, p. 11). His point is that Dubai is growing too quickly and not in a planned or organized fashion that allows it to retain its essential character as a city. He charges that the entire city should bear a "work in progress" warning sticker (Evans, 2006, p. 11).
While I agree that rapidly growing cities such as Dubai can get ahead of themselves, and even ahead of good city planning, I disagree with his assertion that the city is chaotic and soulless. Moreover, the fact that one can stand next to a skyscraper one minute and desert the next points not to poor city planning but to the fact that the city has not yet completely overtaken its surroundings-actually, a positive sign. Many cities today no longer have what Evans terms "a metropolitan heart," and no one accuses them of being soulless. City dwellers have migrated to the suburbs, and in many cases this has led to the demise of inner cities. While there is some loss involved in that transition, suburbs have become mini-cities with their own more localized "heart."
The planning implications of Evans' position include a lockdown on city growth and proscribed growth patterns. While admittedly, some of the world's most beautiful and functional cities have been very well planned and thoughtfully laid out, insisting on 19th- or 20th-century standards in an age of globalization may well be counterproductive. Growth happens more rapidly in a global city, and preventing growth for the sake of aesth
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