The little things make the great cities
Apologies for giving you guys nothing to rant on about for a while (Farrukh & Incognito my sincerest goes to you), truth is I am out of the country. For the last week I’ve been in one of those cities that is filled with charm, you know the little things. A café here and there, an engraved quote over a dirty public toilet, the restaurant with a story behind it, the witty kid who wants your money, the locals who are oh so similair yet heaps apart…you get the idea. Seeing and experiencing all these things over again made me spark up a discussion with a friend of mine. ‘You have 10 years and a green light on all your decisions, how would you inject the little things into Dubai’. We rambled on a bit about how the people make a city, then how the city makes the people, we spoke about history and time both concepts that can’t be forced, we spotted an old man on the streets and reflected on how young everyone in Dubai is…then after a good hour we were still left confused…So ladies and gentleman…your thoughts?
posted by Nic at 4:40 PM
10 Comments:
Yeah, where ahve you been, mate? Looks like you are having a good time.
Who thinks in 10-year time frames in Dubai?
Instead of buildings, I would landscape the city with over thousands of square feet of green avenues and individual houses and villas.
Wide roads, tree-lined avenues and spread out population will make it possible to try the top speed limits and reach places faster. There would be no bottlenecks and the Metro would make sense over longer distances.
The old city would be left as it is for achaeological value - th eplace where we would come for evening walk and nostalgic trips down memory lane.
farrukh
Im not too sure we need more of those in Dubai. What is missing is as X posted earlier the people, the time factor and a number of other variables. Building a new city in the middle of lush greenery and calling it Culture City is merely an indication of what the city is lacking.
I take it you were in Europe then X
I take it you've never been out of Europe Anonymous?
Remember, I use to live in Doha!
no I think the question is in the words of the great Phil Collins 'do do you rememba?'Or considering ur a brit, u might prefer Eltons Crocodile rock-'You remember when rock was young?'
Buzz u tomorrow to catch up.
If only I could quote a musician from Dubai....I maybe sometime
You should check with Daddy, he might have picked up and odd word or 2 in his quarter of a century tenure in the region.
Just have and nope, in 25 years, no musicians have ever made it further than Egypt
Maybe the very modernity of Dubai is what makes it such a popular place to visit? Maybe its dynamism and pace of growth is what has other countries envious? Maybe the lifestyle and opportunities that people are able to lead here is what makes them leave their (supposedly greener, more cultured - whatever that is!?!?) homelands in search for cash and better living.
Do we really want another xx, or do we want a city / country that is unique?
Anyway, how many people have ventured past Jumeirah?! There are some interesting sights to be seen in other Emirates - or do people just call those bedouins 'backwards' and 'undeveloped'?
Brenda.
Post a Comment
<< Home