Uniform urban landscapes mean that the Homogenization
of landscapes is occurring. Homogenization is the process in which people,
products and places become the same. Urban landscapes are becoming the same.
They have same infrastructures, same stores and companies in the cities. The
towns are dominated by chain stores which make all the towns look similar. These
towns are called clone towns. Dubai is a great example of a uniform urban
landscape.
30 to 50 years ago, people in Dubai
used to live like nomads and lived in tents. Their economy was moderated by
fishing, pearl diving, date farming and camel herding. The life of 7star hotel
was something that is so far off from the lifestyle in 1970s at Dubai. Now
Dubai is considered as one of the most advanced city in the world. This title “one
of the most advanced city” was given to the city because Dubai looked just like
New York or other large cities.
Dubai in 1980s
Dubai now has 7star hotel which is the
only 7 stared hotels in the world. Lots of malls with Transnational
Corporations are thriving in the city of Dubai. The airlines like Emirates have
increased the tourism in Dubai. Dubai started to host global sporting events
such as IRB Rugby sevens, Race to Dubai Golf and ATP Tennis.
Dubai Today
Number of cities is increasing however
their uniformity do not change. This leads to more and more clone towns that have
no unique taste or culture.
I like how you used dubai as an example of a cloned city. You are very right in that it looks like a lot of cities in america. Would you also find it weird that their religion is totally different from people in the States and yet would have almost exactly the same urban landscape. - Charles Acuna
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ReplyDeleteIt was interesting to know that Dubai has developed from nomad lifestyle to such a beautiful city within 50 years. I think Dubai is definitely one of the cities that represents the general landscape and the style of a city.
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