A tale of 3 cities - Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar

A great slideshow article by the Financial Times on the architecture and brand of the 3 cities vouching to be the biggest, baddest, brashest or the coolest and most cultural can be found here.

I was in Qatar last year and I couldnt help but notice something missing. It was oddly calm, and almost felt that I was in Dubai in the early 90s! Eg: one could smoke indoors :-D

After seeing the webcast on FT.com it is quite clear to me that the 3 cities are undergoing a battle to rebrand and differentiate themselves. However, I cant help to wonder how well defined their strategies are.

Eg: If its all about attracting foreign real estate investment in Dubai then why was there a comment recently by a senior Police official that "Foreigners are the greatest threat to the national security of the UAE"!? Surely, they must know that foreigners are also 90% of the contributors to their GDP, and 90% of consumers of their imported chewing gums, shawarmas, to their swanky hotel rooms. Infact the expatriate population has lived in these cities for decades now without a peep for their rights, citizenship or any other political representation.

Another thing that baffled me was the 6 year limit for workers. I mean come on guys! IF you want us to leave we will, but do you know that for any economy to grow you need a solid immigration population that becomes its cheap labor supply, new consumers and moves up the existing society strata?

Oh well.