Dubai in Depth

Dubai is a marvel for the senses, a city that surprises just as it impresses. Within just a few short decades, it has gone from being a relative backwater to the world’s fastestgrowing modern city. Everything seems possible here.

Dubai’s principal attractions are its white-sand beaches, glitzy malls, thrilling activities, and swanky nightlife. Indeed, Dubai is becoming a tourist magnet for people from all over the world. And it’s not just tourism.

The emirate has established itself as the region’s major commercial center promising political and economic stability, no corporate or income tax, and minimal red tape for those who invest here. I imagine its economic dynamism to be something like Manhattan a century ago, only Dubai has a lot more sunshine and a stunning coastline, too.

But for me what makes Dubai most interesting is not its proliferation of five-star beach resorts, high-end shopping centers, or fabulous nightlife, but rather the way in which ethnic and national groups from around the globe have congregated here to be part of a great urban experiment.

With more than 150 nationalities living peacefully together, Dubai is by far the most open, tolerant place in the region. Its leaders have welcomed people of all backgrounds to participate in the emirate’s growth, and demonstrated the vision and resources to embark on projects few cities could even dream of. In Dubai, grand ideas, shocking wealth, and the hard work of foreign labor are making this one of the most extraordinary urban cities of the 21st century.