Three architectural plans from the 1970s document one of the biggest boom periods for the Arabian Peninsula. The 1973 National Plan of Dubai emulated skyscrapers in the Far East while the 1988 Downtown Dubai Urban Design plan, drew inspiration from the city’s Medieval architecture. The 1970s was also a key period in the growth of Dubai’s financial industry and industry. According to a report by the Economic Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ECAP), economic activity between 1974 and 1982 was approximately 65% of GDP.
The 50-year-old Emirates Skytel Center is an early photograph of the entrance to the Dubai International Financial Centre. Image Credit: Emirates Skytel Center
The more recent Downtown Dubai Urban Design Plan with its a depiction of concrete, its a continuation of that. Image Credit: Downtown Dubai Urban Design Plan
UAE students learn culture
The UAE has built a powerful reputation for its nurturing of young thinkers from throughout the region. At the end of October, part of a competition to identify the U.S. country with the most religious and cultural diversity, counted 134 countries, and Iraq topped the chart. But even in the non-Islamist sector, there are emerging powers among the Arab world. To learn more about the dynamic, fast-growing Arab region, see ‘Arabians Need to Learn Culture’