ABSTRACT
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has undergone extremely rapid modernization and urbanization in the last couple of decades. The dwindling remaining and ruined examples of local and vernacular architecture are often dwarfed by the longer and longer shadows cast by the expanding ultramodern giant constructions. In this chapter, I first investigate the general aspects of ruination in this region and then focus on the particularities of the local approach and challenges of restoration and reconstruction, as well as on the afterlife of the older built heritage in the contemporary urban pattern.
