Dubai, UAE's pathbreaking city of the future, is on display for Israelis

• Author: SETH J. FRANTZMAN
• Published date: 10 December 2020
• Date: 10 December 2020
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

It's at the same time hard to adjust to the grandeur here, as it is easy to feel at home. That contrast comes in waves. At first the city is too big, with the Dubai Mall so large that one feels lost even in the most modest toy store. One clothing store is so large that there is a supermarket inside it. One is almost surprised not to find another outlet of the store inside the supermarket that is inside the store.

On the other hand, Dubai is so full of international brands, from the line of Lamborghini and fancy car dealerships on Sheikh Zayed Road to the new plastic cups at Starbucks that come without straws. Without straws doesn't seem like such a revolution, but in a world rapidly moving from plastic to those off-putting cardboard straws, it all makes sense.

And Dubai makes sense. It's a postmodern smart city. It's the city of the future, but it's a future most of the world will not obtain. While many cities in the West are declining, beset by lack of social cohesion, crime, even riots and ethnic and religious tensions and political extremism; and cities in the global south have to manage massive poverty, Dubai has achieved something unique.

Why is it unique? It's the little things. There are no masses of armed police with automatic rifles...