ABSTRACT
As I indicated in the previous chapter globalizing cities throughout the world are using the spectacular as a strategy to achieve their objective. My discussion centred on examining megaprojects – the tallest building, the largest man-made island and so on. I have tied these projects to notions of a ‘Debordian spectacle’ because of the degree to which they contribute to a general sense of alienation among citizens. This is being used by many critics to dismiss urban developments such as those occurring in Dubai as mere fantasy. Yet this reveals only a partial picture, based on the notion that people are ‘cultural dupes’ and are passively accepting what is on offer. If the focus begins to shift to the everyday practices of city residents we see that the actions of ordinary citizens and civic groups in some way provide a counterpoint to the dominating, hegemonic quality of the ‘spectacle’. People are, in fact, not passive and within the ‘spectacular’ spaces of global capital an alternative order asserts itself – an informal mode of urbanism. It is interesting that in an effort to combat the perception of Dubai as the land of spectacle some media observers have tried going ‘beyond the spectacle’ to portray the city as a ‘unique’ model of urbanism, and a successful example of state controlled intervention – which is more or less a strengthening of the spectacle model without really going ‘beyond’ anything.1
