Introduction

In this introductory chapter, I briefly introduce Dubai’s urban development model and survey the global context that Dubai is shaping. This highlights the importance of Dubai as a global city exemplar, as opposed to being – as some suggest – merely an entertaining desert fantasy of no great consequence. I set out the main research questions that direct my lines of enquiry, as well as the methods I adopt in answering these. Finally, I also define the scope of the book and clarify the terminology used.