I live in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is an urban city located in the Middle East. The city is divided into several small districts. Each district has residents and some of them also have malls, restaurants, and other recreational facilities. The neighborhoods and districts in Dubai are all automobile suburbs and urban downtowns in relation to the descriptions in the module. I live in an area called Jumeirah, which is an urban suburb. It is located right in the center of Dubai, Jumeirah is divided into three parts and many people live here from the common public to the sheikhs of Dubai. The population of Dubai is approximately 2.6 Million however the population in Jumeriah is approximately 50,000 – 60,000 people. This place is extremely close to me as I have lived here for the most part of my life. The place is the center of Dubai, which makes it easy for me to easily travel.
The first city I chose is Manhattan located in the center of New York. Manhattan can be compared to Dubai as a whole, as they are both one of the most popular cities in the world. The reason this comparison can be made is due to the small size of Dubai. Comparing Jumeirah and Manhattan becomes slightly difficult as Jumeirah is a very small residential neighborhood in Dubai, where as Manhattan is much larger in terms of sustainability and population. The population of Manhattan is approximately 1.6 Million, which is much larger than that of Jumeirah. Both these places are urban areas located in a large city. Jumeirah’s residential area consists of buildings and villas, where as Manhattan has tons of buildings everywhere. In Manhattan people use buses, trains, and walk to get to their destinations. However, in Dubai the most common means of transportation is in cars. Due to this Manhattan is a lot more sustainable in terms of pollution and emissions.
Rocinha in Rio de Janeiro is another city that I will be comparing to Dubai. The population of Rio de Janeiro is approximately 6.1 Million people and is a lot larger than Dubai. The population of Rocinha is about 60,000 people, which is similar to that of Jumeirah in Dubai. The area Rocinha has a lot of houses and buildings similar to that in Jumeirah however, there are mountains and hills in Rocinha, which makes the layout of the area a lot more different from Jumeirah. Rocinha is a lot less developed than Jumeirah in terms of sustainability due to crime rates for example. Also, the conditions of these buildings and houses in Rocinha are much worse than those in Jumeirah that are much more cleaned and modern.
Hi Samarth, my name is Siying and here’s the link to my post: http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/03/18/urban-planning-7/
The urban environment of my hometown Guangzhou is similar to yours, it also have several districts but I live in urban downtown area myself. I agree that Manhattan more sustainable than Dubai in terms of transportation, and I think Guangzhou is similar to Manhattan in some way as we also have many options of transportation. I think you made a good comparison on these three cities’ urban planning.
Hi Samartha. My name is Ralph Diaz (my post is https://wp.me/p3RCAy-cat ). Your post really interested me because my roommate of the past 3 years lives in Dubai. Dubai is a cool place to me because the original city contained virtually nothing that would help sustain large scale life. From that nothing, the richest country in the world has developed. From the architectural wonders that exist in Dubai to the fact that the outdoor bus stations are air conditioned, Dubai is an absolutely amazing place. The scary thing about that fact is that without money, Dubai is not sustainable and it is not able to continue existing as it is today. Dubai is a place that must always rely on other countries to provide natural resources to sustain its population. Dubai has a long way to go to become sustainable in this respect.
Hi Samarth! Your post caught my eye as I noticed your hometown is outside of the US. I feel like you were able to give us an entirely different perspective coming from a different continent. It interests me that you noted that the neighborhoods of Dubai are automobile suburbs. I would have thought that such a large city would be more pedestrian-oriented. I wonder if this trend contributes to the large amount of automobile pollution in India.
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