Since the end of the 20th century the governments of various Gulf states have been attempting to diversify their oil-dependent economies. This has resulted in a new type of urbanism, which the author refers to as post-oil urbanism. The first model of post-oil urbanism was the Emirate of Dubai with its pioneering efforts during the 1990s when it initiated its economic transformation into a service hub by introducing open market policies. This liberalisation included the local real-estate market, which opened up for international investment. This new strategy made Dubai a role model in...