Thessiger explored it.
Lawrence recruited from it.
In 1930 Abu Dhabi was a vast expanse of desert known enigmatically as the Empty Quarter, where nomadic tribes eked out a living with goats, camels and trade.
Then came oil and by 1939 the first concessions were being negotiated by the ruling families. The first proper shipment did not leave until 1963. First onshore and then offshore fields came on line and the emirate was propelled to the top table as money flowed in faster than imaginable. The desert gradually gave way to development. By 1950 a small town of two storey buildings had sprung up. By 1970 these were demolished to make way for ten storey blocks. In the 1980’s these were removed to provide building land for twenty storey replacements.
Currently, there is a further wave of demolition and construction as buildings, forty stories and more are erected.
The trend illustrates Abu Dhabi’s cash happy attitude to investment and heritage.
Little, if any of the old town remains. Aerial photos from the 1940’s are unrecognizable as even the coastline has been changed by massive ground works and land reclamation. This a disposable society on a scale far beyond the West. It is not only cars and household appliances that are replaced long before their useful life has finished. Serviceable buildings are pulled down daily as modern versions in steel and glass take their place.
But the flip side of this excess is also the key to understanding much of the cash rich Arab world. Some say there is a thrifty mentality to the Emiratees that seems at odds with their new-found wealth. Like a lottery winner who still buys from the supermarket value range, something deep within ties them to the frugal existence of the past.
They commission multi-billion dollar projects but insist on savings that westerners would regard as fundamental. The demolition of buildings constructed on the 1970’s and 1980’s is partly to do with the desire to have newer, more modern replacements. But it is also a matter of necessity in some cases as foundations were often inadequately cheap and so the life span of many buildings was seriously compromised before the first brick was laid.
Even modern buildings are often topped out without window cleaning facilities. Sometimes, Indians scrub and mop the windows, twenty stories up, from precariously swinging gantries. More often than not, the buildings are not cleaned. The desert blows in and in time everything looks shabby. Unattended, the desert would be three feet deep on Al Hamda street within the year.
But there is a delicate balance here, between doing enough to keep up appearances, whilst still saving on the bottom line.
The skilled Arab knows which is which.
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