in 1964, the british government offered Sheikh Shakhbut of Abu Dhabi to build him an ideal Gulf city, replete with "hospitals, schools, shoping centers, recreation areas, industrial quarters and all the mod. cons. of the contemporary urban planner - a model of enlightenment for all to see" (D.Holden, Farewell to Arabia, 1966)
Shakhbut rejected the proposal.
What developed instead was a series of coastal cities, producing its own categories and vocabularies as a particular twist to a global urbanism.
Dubai/ Abu Dhabi/ Qatar/ Bahrain/ Kuwait