Cities, Globalized Hubs, and Nationalism in the Persian Gulf

This article examines the three major cities of the Persian Gulf region—Doha, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai. At the regional level, all three cities have become transportation hubs, and Doha and Abu Dhabi have become educational and cultural centers. At the global level, however, only Dubai has succeeded in becoming a key node in international networks of finance, commerce, services, telecommunications, logistics, and transportation. The others' aspirations to become global cities are undermined by continued reliance on oil and gas revenues. On balance, while these cities are comparatively successful regional hubs, their long-term position as global cities is far from certain.