ABSTRACT
What the previous chapters each show, in their different ways, is the complex relationship between architecture, urbanism, cultural identity and globalisation. There can be little doubt that the cities around the Persian Gulf have undergone a process of urbanisation and modernisation over the past few decades; they are clearly not the same places they used to be. But as previous accounts of urban modernisation reveal – with the classic still being Marshall Berman’s All that is Solid Melts into Air – it is far from being an even or consistent process.1 The effects of uneven modernisation around the Gulf have been discussed throughout the chapters of this book. Today there are now the almost tired older centres of development such as Abadan/Khorramshahr or Kuwait City or Dammam; as well as busy newcomers like Manama or Doha or Abu Dhabi or Sharjah, epitomised above all by Dubai; or indeed the places in Iran where modernisation has the most potential to rush ahead in future, including Bushehr, Kangan/Banak, Bandar Abbas, Qeshm, and, above all, Kish Island. In general, the cities on the western Arabic coastline are larger and more central to their own country’s economic and cultural life, while those on the eastern side tend to be far smaller and more marginal within Iran, at least for the present. This final chapter will not attempt to force any simple conclusion, especially given that modernising processes and their effects are still so uncertain in the Persian Gulf. Instead, I will set out some thoughts about the subject of architectural globalisation and also point to new tendencies, drawn from a critical perspective, which can suggest other ways to design for Gulf cities in the years ahead.
