In article DRAWING ON SAND - Cities in the Making Steven Velegrinis and George

Katodrytis explains the principles of rapid evolution of Gulf cities such as Dubai, Doha,
Manama and Abu Dhabi that evolved from historically cities into fully formed urban
agglomerations.
Authors begins by explaining how significant role in the urban development of Gulf cities
have their origin settlements and tribal systems landownership. In 1960s Gulf sheikhdoms
wanted to develop their states, so they begins to develop projects on a scale that had not been
seen in the region. John R Harris produced the first master plan for Dubai in 1959. Sir
William Halcrow & Partners did the same for Sharjah in the coming years. Master plan for
Dubai from 1971 controlled building development and height but was missing density control
which encouraged a mercantile economy. This is period of high engineering cities which
continued until 1990s and after that the influx of expatriates and growing numbers of tourists
involved urbanism into business lifestyle hubs. As result of developers competition for
attention project becomes larger and bigger than ever. Burj Al Arab hotel, Palm Jumeirah
islands, Downtown Dubai are just some of globally notable projects.
Authors continue the story through explanation of the various typologies that make this
complex set of developments. Waterfronts communities and Coastal Resorts as one type of
new structures were designed by famous architects, but all of them remain undeveloped or
never realized. Another typology of this complex set was restoring traditional urban
environments which were focused on sustainability but mainly made as tourist destinations.
Furthermore, architects worked on transformation of huge desert lands into spacious cities.
Currently, in Saudi Arabia six metropolises known as economic cities are planned on
undeveloped lands to diversify the oil-based economy of the kingdom.
The period of financial crisis from 2008s to 2012s changed the market in Gulf by mowing
away investors from speculative developments. Instead of seeking for superlatives, projects
become more focused on livability and outdoor environment. Future of these cities according
to authors is also focused on inhabitants and modest levels of urbanism, but are still rapid
compared to any other city.