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City Branding, Sustainable Urban Development and the Rentier State. How Do Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Dubai Present Themselves in the Age of Post Oil and Global Warming?

Author

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  • Martin De Jong

    (Erasmus School of Law and Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, 3062 Rotterdam, The Netherlands
    School of International Relations and Public Affairs, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China)

  • Thomas Hoppe

    (Faculty of Technology, Policy & Management, Delft University of Technology, 2628 CD Delft, The Netherlands)

  • Negar Noori

    (Erasmus School of Law and Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, 3062 Rotterdam, The Netherlands)

Abstract

In the past three decades Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Dubai have realised a meteoric economic rise. Whereas the former two can be considered ‘rentier states’ heavily depending on oil (and gas) revenues, the latter only leans on oil for a mere 6% of its gross domestic product (GDP). Although the economic rise has brought considerable welfare, it has also led these emirates to attain the world’s highest per capita carbon footprint. To address this problem Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Dubai seem to have formulated policies with regard to sustainable urbanisation and adopted strong branding strategies to promote them internally and externally. In this paper we examine which steps have been taken to substantiate their claims to sustainable urbanisation, in branding as well as in actions taken towards implementation. We find that all three have been very active in branding their sustainable urbanisation policies, through visions and policy frameworks as well as prestigious development projects, but that the former is substantially more impressive than the latter. Results also show there is a difference between Abu Dhabi and Qatar on the one hand, and Dubai on the other. Dubai has large number of small ‘free economic zones’, academic institutions for developing a knowledge economy, and smart and/or sustainable urban neighbourhoods, while Qatar and Abu Dhabi have a small number of very large ones. From the three, it is currently Dubai which has taken the lead in this development, largely completing its industrial transition with vast economic diversification and urban expansion. However, across the board this has had little effect on its ecological footprint.

Suggested Citation

  • Martin De Jong & Thomas Hoppe & Negar Noori, 2019. "City Branding, Sustainable Urban Development and the Rentier State. How Do Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Dubai Present Themselves in the Age of Post Oil and Global Warming?," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-26, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:12:y:2019:i:9:p:1657-:d:227411
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Simon Goess & Martin de Jong & Evert Meijers, 2016. "City branding in polycentric urban regions: identification, profiling and transformation in the Randstad and Rhine-Ruhr," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(11), pages 2036-2056, November.
    2. Yigitcanlar, Tan & Lee, Sang Ho, 2014. "Korean ubiquitous-eco-city: A smart-sustainable urban form or a branding hoax?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 100-114.
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    4. Negar Noori & Martin De Jong, 2018. "Towards Credible City Branding Practices: How Do Iran’s Largest Cities Face Ecological Modernization?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-16, April.
    5. Mihalis Kavaratzis & Ares Kalandides, 2015. "Rethinking the place brand: the interactive formation of place brands and the role of participatory place branding," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 47(6), pages 1368-1382, June.
    6. Federico Cugurullo, 2016. "Urban eco-modernisation and the policy context of new eco-city projects: Where Masdar City fails and why," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 53(11), pages 2417-2433, August.
    7. Zenker, Sebastian & Braun, Erik & Petersen, Sibylle, 2017. "Branding the destination versus the place: The effects of brand complexity and identification for residents and visitors," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 15-27.
    8. Haiyan Lu & Martin De Jong & Yawei Chen, 2017. "Economic City Branding in China: the Multi-Level Governance of Municipal Self-Promotion in the Greater Pearl River Delta," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-24, March.
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    Cited by:

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    3. Sha, Kritika & Taeihagh, Araz & De Jong, Martin, 2024. "Governing disruptive technologies for inclusive development in cities: A systematic literature review," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
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    5. Harith Yas & Abbas Mardani & Yas Kh. Albayati & Shamma Essa Lootah & Dalia Streimikiene, 2020. "The Positive Role of the Tourism Industry for Dubai City in the United Arab Emirates," Contemporary Economics, University of Economics and Human Sciences in Warsaw., vol. 14(4), December.
    6. Tarek Ben Hassen & Hamid El Bilali & Mohammed Al-Maadeed, 2020. "Agri-Food Markets in Qatar: Drivers, Trends, and Policy Responses," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-31, May.
    7. Chuloh Jung & Naglaa Sami Abdelaziz Mahmoud, 2023. "Exploring Customer Behavior in Shopping Malls: A Study of Rest Areas in Dubai, United Arab Emirates," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-22, June.
    8. Tan Yigitcanlar & Hoon Han & Md. Kamruzzaman, 2019. "Approaches, Advances, and Applications in the Sustainable Development of Smart Cities: A Commentary from the Guest Editors," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-11, November.
    9. Martin de Jong, 2019. "From Eco-Civilization to City Branding: A Neo-Marxist Perspective of Sustainable Urbanization in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-14, October.
    10. Negar Noori & Thomas Hoppe & Martin de Jong, 2020. "Classifying Pathways for Smart City Development: Comparing Design, Governance and Implementation in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-24, May.
    11. Moayad Shammut & Mengqiu Cao & Yuerong Zhang & Claire Papaix & Yuqi Liu & Xing Gao, 2019. "Banning Diesel Vehicles in London: Is 2040 Too Late?," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-17, September.
    12. Sabah Mariyam & Logan Cochrane & Shifa Zuhara & Gordon McKay, 2022. "Waste Management in Qatar: A Systematic Literature Review and Recommendations for System Strengthening," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-23, July.
    13. Antonio Manuel Gómez-Orellana & Juan Carlos Fernández & Manuel Dorado-Moreno & Pedro Antonio Gutiérrez & César Hervás-Martínez, 2021. "Building Suitable Datasets for Soft Computing and Machine Learning Techniques from Meteorological Data Integration: A Case Study for Predicting Significant Wave Height and Energy Flux," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-33, January.
    14. Harris Breslow, 2021. "The smart city and the containment of informality: The case of Dubai," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(3), pages 471-486, February.

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