5.5 Conclusions

The nomadic, conservative nature of historical customs of local people of the UAE is overwhelmed by foreign influx and modernity. To respond to the rapid modernization, and ever-changing public sphere, the UAE and its people are faced with no option but to reinvent their customs, even if those customs remain conservative when faced with Western influx, and the attractiveness of Western principles. The duality between modernizing and retaining customs, which may not be adjusted to what people see in their vision of modernization leads to confusion, within both government policy and residents of the country, a relative confusion which hinders successful developments. The UAE is yet to find a way in which to satisfy its needs for a cohesive public sphere. Yet this does not only lie in urban planning principles and government policy, but it also lies in the will of the people, who ultimately have the power to influence social interaction. The UAE requires maturity to find its identity. This development of identity must also be spurred by a decrease in the transience of the population, a less transient population is more likely to claim, and identify with urban spaces, which then in turn must be implemented by planners, with sensitivity to the context, culturally as well as environmentally. Only through a successful framework and will of the people, will the public realm of the UAE develop an attractive identity, an identity with informality included in its principles, an informality which would allow for the public realm to adjust to changing times. And times change rapidly in the UAE.