ABSTRACT
merging development circumstances in various parts of the world force us to rethink how cities come into being, how their internal geographic emplacements operate, and how, as a result, their mechanisms of exclusion manage to function. Some key elements from Western urban scholarship have only limited bearing. Civic initiative and popular resistance recede in relevance, where there are no political parties, no meaningful elections, and apart from government-sanctioned charities, few civic institutions. The system operates through exchange of favours and mutual understandings of future joint enterprise among citizens, foreigners, and brokers who link them up. Far-flung location of malls, resorts, and attractions makes a car essential for those living at Western standard. Gulf regimes have long set-aside geographical areas as special tax-free districts for virtually every type of industrial, business, or bureaucratic function.
