Dubai, UAE. January 2018
Dubai's Miracle Mile
Sheikh Zayed Road is an iconic piece of Dubai - part Manhattan, part LA - the long strip of buildings starts modestly at Dubai Creek and builds up to a crescendo at Dubai Mall and Burj Khalifa [see: Burj Khalifa]. It then changes abruptly at Dubai Canal [see: Dubai Canal] where it suddenly becomes a very bland highway through a banal neighborhood of auto dealerships and other low-rise structures. The road is multi-lane and mostly non-pedestrian friendly, accompanied overhead by the sleek Dubai Metro. As with all of "new Dubai", Sheikh Zayed Road was virtually built overnight right out of the desert. Like Chicago in its boom days, this highway cum boulevard is a parade of daring new architecture. Whether the buildings copy iconic buildings from other cities or daringly create new styles, it is a showcase. Many people I know love to drive down Sheikh Zayed Road, but personally, the view from the end car of the metro surpasses anything seen from the road.
Since I am a walker, I am not enamored of Sheikh Zayed Road, although I have enjoyed it from the metro on those few times I scored a front row seat (those positions are hotly contested by locals and tourists alike). What is most interesting for me about this road is the pan-Arab pride shown regarding it. Not just Emiratis, not just Gulf Arabs, not just Muslims - every single "Arab" I have met feels a flush of pride at this thoroughfare. "Look, we can make a big, impressive city, too". Amazing that this sense of pride blossoms for a simple stretch of buildings rising from the sand along a highway. Every time someone waxes lyrical about Sheikh Zayed Road, I just smile and say, "yes, it is quite amazing".
Meanwhile, I would tell MWK on my visits to Dubai when we took the metro countless times along this famous road, "yes, it is impressive, but New York City has NINE of them in parallel with many more buildings". I do not necessarily feel great American pride about Manhattan, but I am a realist. If someone wants to be impressed by a bunch of tall buildings built close together, New York City is the place to be! Runners up would be Hong Kong and Shanghai these days, too. When I worked at NYU, I remember my friend Eric Lieber, a grad student of Egyptology, always said, "screw Egypt - think what archeologists are gonna say when they dig up Manhattan". I tended to agree.
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