Dubai: Changing Forms With Demography

Abstract

Dubai is a living example of how people play an important role in moulding the shape of a city. It started off as a small settlement in the deserts of the Middle East along a natural creek. The old city is a testament of how the natural growth led to the birth to the vernacular architecture of the region to combat its extreme climate. From a group of fishing villages, Dubai went on to become a hub for global business. It has eventually weaved itself from its people, their culture, traditions, social norms, etc. Its architecture of has undergone dynamic transformation with amazing innovation over the recent decades. Dubai has paced faster than any other city on earth and grew into eminence over a few decades. Built on the Arabian deserts with scarce resources like water, food, building materials, etc, Dubai is now one of the greatest cities in the world. With global warming being a major concern, the world is moving towards a holistic approach of sustainable living. The city has always exhibited its feat of excellence, and is now aimed at becoming the most sustainable city. This paper is an effort to study the architectural styles of the past, their sustainability and how it has evolved though these years. The study is a summary of the vernacular architecture processes that allowed its occupants a comfortable indoor environment in the hot desert conditions.