Smart Dubai: A Post-Modern Utopian Model

This paper investigates two polarities: first, the current state of Dubai city and secondly, Smart Dubai, and then draws on conclusion that defines the speculative role of design against well-being of its residents. Utopia, as per the literary work of Thomas More, who is best known for his sixteenth-century publication about an imaginary city on an island, and Bernardo Secchi, who is a world renowned twentieth-century contemporary urban theorist and planner, is a specific mode developed by the western culture to imagine the future, with the elaboration of the city and its design at its center. Dubai is currently undergoing an immense transformation to becoming a smart city. The UAE government created the post of Minister of State for Happiness in 2016. The rapid development in the city’s urban planning has been phenomenal in the recent years and many researches have highlighted the direct impact of strategic vision on Dubai’s society and communities, consequently their happiness; moreover, technological revolutions have long had direct impact on human lives throughout history. This paper argues the ideas of the concept of utopia and proposes Dubai as a post-modern dynamic model with alternative ways of happiness and well-being to its residents, advocating the role of design in accomplishing a utopian vision by amalgamating David Stairs’ particular choice of terminology ‘biophilia’ and ‘technophilia’.