Shipping and Development in Dubai

A small town on a sandy creek half a century ago Dubai is now the largest trading commercial leisure and transport entrepot in the Gulf and wider region. This book explains the reasons for the emergence of Dubai and its distinctive development trajectory arguing that the decision in the 1970s to invest in infrastructure made possible by shipping containerization laid the foundations for its future expansion.<br/>The book shows that in contrast to its competitors' hydrocarbon rentier economic model Dubai's creation and expansion of ports and airports together with 'value-added' logistics and business-friendly enhancements were used to out-compete regional rivals. Drawing on a range of primary and secondary sources including interviews with logistics business-people government records memoirs it fills a significant lacuna in the history of Dubai's development and emergence as a global trade hub.