Abstract
Dubai is a city of contradictions. On the one hand, it has been home to spectacular economic and population growth for the better part of fifty years. On the other hand, that growth has come despite considerable human rights abuses. Paradoxically, it has been described as a “centrally planned free market economy.” The Jebel Ali Free Zone and the artificially built Palm Islands serve as examples of how to combine guided and unguided development. Despite these successes, the choice to build in Dubai at all is an odd one; 31% of Dubai’s population is projected to be underwater by the year 2100. Nevertheless, Dubai’s unique configuration of factors of production, human capital, public policy, and organization contribute to the unique local economic landscape of “The Gateway to the Middle East.”
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Ahmed, G., Amponsah, C. T., & Johnson, D. S. (2019). Gender differences in entrepreneurial attitudes and intentions: The case of Brand Dubai. International Journal of Business and Emerging Markets, 11(4), 315.
Ahmed, G. T. S., & Vinayagamoorthy, P. (2013). Information seeking behaviour of business school students: A special study of universities and colleges located in Academic City, Dubai, UAE. Global Science Research Journals, 2(3), 51–60.
Akinci, I. (2020). Culture in the ‘politics of identity’: Conceptions of national identity and citizenship among second-generation non-Gulf Arab migrants in Dubai. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 46(11), 2309–2325.
Alzarooni, A. (2021). Sustaining Emirati family businesses: A Dubai business system case study. The British University in Dubai, 6–306.
Audretsch, D. B. (2015). Everything in its place: Entrepreneurship and the strategic management of places. Oxford University Press.
Badran, A. (2018). Smart-governments for smart cities: The case of Dubai smart-government. In Smart Cities in the Gulf: Current state, opportunities, and challenges (pp. 59–82). Singapore.
Brien, A., Anthonisz, A., & Suhartanto, D. (2019). Human capital in the Dubai hotel industry: A study of four- and five-star hotels and the HR challenges they face. Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism, 18(2), 240–258.
DeNicola, C. (2005). Dubai’s political and economic development: An oasis in the desert. Doctoral thesis. Williamstown, Massachusetts: Williams College.
Dubai FDI Monitor. (2015). Dubai FDI Monitor & Ecosystem. https://www.dubaifdimonitor.ae/dubai-fdi-ecosystem/
Dubai International Academic City. (Ed.). (2022). MENA’s largest educational hub. Retrieved May 30, 2022, from https://diacedu.ae
Davis, J. (2018). Higher education in Dubai. Coming of age!. Retrieved June 29, 2022, from https://f.datasrvr.com/fr1/718/52793/40_Higher_Education_Dubai_-_Digital.pdf
Elessawy, F. (2018). The embodied impact of immigrant guest workers on the urban demography of Dubai City. Bulletin de la Société de Géographie d'Egypte, 91(1), 28–47.
Gurol, J., Zumbraegel, T., & Demmelhuber, T. (2022). Elite networks in the transregional dimension of authoritarianism: Sino-Emirati relations in times of a global pandemic. Journal of Contemporary China, 1–14.
Haine, A. (2021). UAE receives 6000 long-term visa applications from entrepreneurs and investors. Retrieved June 29, 2022, from https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/economy/uae-receives-6-000-long-term-visa-applications-from-entrepreneurs-and-investors-1.861889
Horovitz, J., & Ohlsson, A. (2005). Dubai Internet City: Serving business. Asian Journal of Management Cases, 2(2), 163–209.
Kasarda, J. D., & Lindsay, G. (2011). Aerotropolis: The way we'll live next. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Khamis, J. (2015). Indians, Pakistanis make up 37% of Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman population. Gulf News, 6.
Martinus, K., Sigler, T., Iacopini, I., & Derudder, B. (2019). The role of tax havens and offshore financial centers in Asia-Pacific networks: Evidence from firm-subsidiary connections. Asian Bus Manage, 18, 389–411.
Mathias, M., Fargher, S., & Beynon, M. (2019). Exploring the link between integrated leadership-in-government and follower happiness: The case of Dubai. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 85(4), 780–798.
Moussavi, Z., & Aghaei, A. (2013). The environment, geopolitics and artificial islands of Dubai in the Persian Gulf. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 81, 311–313.
Nurmohamed, R. (2020). Shari’a law and its impact on the development of Muslim and non-Muslim business relations in The United Arab Emirates. Law and Development Review, 13(2), 443–472.
Pai, R. J., & More, B. (2018). Sustaining social entrepreneurship through networks in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, 9(3), 215–233.
Qazi, M. H., & Shah, S. (2019). Discursive construction of Pakistan’s national identity through curriculum textbook discourses in a Pakistani school in Dubai, The United Arab Emirates. British Educational Research Journal, 45(2), 275–297.
Sameh, H., Abd El-Aziz, H. M., & Hefnawy, N. H. (2018). Building a successful city branding case study: Dubai. Journal of Al Azhar University Engineering Sector, 13(48), 1058–1065.
Signé, L. (2022). What the United Arab Emirates can teach resource-rich countries in Africa. Retrieved June 29, 2022, from https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2019/12/19/what-the-united-arab-emirates-can-teach-resource-rich-countries-in-africa/
SME. (2013). The state of small & medium enterprises (SMEs) in Dubai, a report by Dubai SME an agency of the Department of Economic Development. Retrieved June 29, 2022, from https://sme.ae/SME_File/Files/SME_Report_English.pdf
Soto, R., & Haouas, I. (2012, November). Has the UAE escaped the oil curse. In Economic research forum, Working Paper (No. 728).
Statista. (Ed.). (2021). Share of internet usage in the United Arab Emirates in 2021, by frequency. Retrieved May 29, 2022, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/1273993/uae-internet-usage-by-frequency/
Statista. (Ed.) (2022a). Dubai - Global business cities report January 2022. Retrieved May 29, 2022, from https://de.statista.com/statistik/studie/id/66393/dokument/dubai/
Statista. (Ed.). (2022b). Largest sovereign wealth funds worldwide 2022. Retrieved June 29, 2022, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/276617/sovereign-wealth-funds-worldwide-based-on-assets-under-management/
Sustainable City. (Ed.). (2022). Climate change!. Retrieved May 28, 2022, from https://www.thesustainablecity.ae/home/
Taha, S., Osaili, T. M., Vij, A., Albloush, A., & Nassoura, A. (2020). Structural modelling of relationships between food safety knowledge, attitude, commitment and behavior of food handlers in restaurants in Jebel Ali Free Zone, Dubai, UAE. Food Control, 118, 1–8.
UAE Government. (Ed.). (2020). Environmental challenges. Retrieved May 28, 2022, from https://u.ae/en/information-and-services/environment-and-energy/environmental-challenges-in-the-uae
Vision. (2021). https://www.vision2021.ae/docs/default-source/default-document-library/uae_vision-arabic.pdf?sfvrsn=b09a06a6_6
Welt. (Ed.). (2022). Wie man Solarzellen in der Wüste dauerhaft zum Laufen bekommt. Retrieved June 12, 2022, from https://www.welt.de/wissenschaft/article237481973/Elektrostatische-Reinigung-Warum-sie-ein-Schluessel-fuer-die-Solarenergie-aus-der-Wueste-ist.html
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Baird, N., Blevins, J., Scheerschmidt, T., Vecchi, N., Weiße, L. (2023). Dubai: A City of Contradictions. In: Audretsch, D.B., et al. The Strategic Management of Place at Work. Future of Business and Finance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29463-1_20
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29463-1_20
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-29462-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-29463-1
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)