Photo by Flickr user Lars Plougmann

What Urbanism Needs to Learn from Dubai

由专筑网李韧，邢子编译

在过去的30多年里，迪拜已经从一座满是灰尘的小城镇发展成为国际商务旅游中心。因此，许多城市都在竞相复制这种发展模式，而国家之间也在互相竞争着。这种发展模式主要以汽车、豪华别墅、摩天大楼、大型购物中心、智能城市为主，基本都是进行城市的重建。在非洲，这些全新的开发项目被冠以不同的名字，例如尼日利亚Eko Atlantic城市、卢旺达视觉城市、毛里求斯Ebene Cyber城市、肯尼亚Konza科技城、坦桑尼亚Safari城市、刚果Le Cite du Fleuve等等，这些其实都在模仿迪拜的模式。

近期，我和非洲设计师Safiya Yahaya进行了沟通交流，这是一位在迪拜工作的建筑师，他谈及了这种瞬时的城市化对于传统陆地城市的塑造方式。

In the past three decades, Dubai has grown from a dusty desert town to a strategic hub for international business and tourism. As a result, several cities in the developing world have been competing to outdo one another in the race to replicate this development model—an urbanism largely built around the automobile, luxury villas, gleaming skyscrapers, massive shopping malls, and ambitious “smart” cities, designed and built from scratch. Across Africa, these new developments go by different names: Eko Atlantic City Nigeria, Vision City in Rwanda, Ebene Cyber City in Mauritius; Konza Technology City in Kenya; Safari City in Tanzania; Le Cite du Fleuve in DR Congo, and several others. All are mimicries of Dubai.
Recently I talked to African designer Safiya Yahaya—an architect who works in Dubai—about how this instant urbanism is shaping cities on our native continent.


Photo by Flickr user Ryan Lackey

Mathias Agbo Jr（下文称为MAJ）：你已经在迪拜生活了几年，是建筑师也是设计师，负责过一些城市的标志性项目。你对于迪拜的了解不同于游客，那么作为迪拜居民兼设计师，你有什么感受呢？

Safiya Yahaya（下文称为SY）：幸运的是，我亲眼目睹了这座城市这些年的改变。我在2011年来到迪拜，当时这座城市刚刚经历了经济危机，而建筑业的发展也刚刚回温，其发展的速度非常快。这些建筑在当时看来如同一夜闪现，每座建筑都似乎在超越着之前的发展。这些在现在看来都非常惊人。这个国家几乎是建筑师的梦想，这里有着世界上最具挑战的建筑项目。这会给你一种错觉，那便是只要你能克服种种挑战，你就能在这里建造任何作品。

我接触的第一个项目是一座360°的观景平台，位于72层高空之中，现在这是世界上最高的酒店。迪拜的竞争非常激烈，因此我也需要跳出各种限制思维，同时必须要充满雄心壮志。我常常认为，如果你想感受建筑师对于作品的炫耀，那么你只要在这座城市中穿梭即可。

“我常常认为，如果你想感受建筑师对于作品的炫耀，那么你只要在这座城市中穿梭即可。”

Mathias Agbo Jr.: You’ve lived in Dubai for some years now, and have also worked as an architect and designer on a handful of signature projects across the city. You know a different Dubai from what we experience as tourists. How has the experience been as a Dubai-resident and designer?
Safiya Yahaya: I was lucky enough to have witnessed up close a lot of the city’s change over the years. When I first moved to Dubai in 2011, it had just come out of one of its worst economic slumps. It was obvious that the construction industry was picking up pace again, and very quickly, compensating for time lost. At the time it seemed like buildings would literally appear overnight, each one trying to outdo the other with some amazing feat of engineering. It was amazing to watch, especially later on from within the industry. This country itself is an architect’s dream, home to some of the most iconic buildings of our century. It gives you a sense that you can really build anything here, if you can overcome the challenge of figuring out how to make it work for the desert.
The first project I worked on was a 360o observation deck, 72 stories in the air, in what is now the world’s tallest hotel. There’s a lot of competition here when it comes to grandeur and that has certainly taught me to think out of the box, nothing is too ambitious or completely out of the question. I always say if you want to know what it looks like to see architects showing off, all you have to do is drive from one end of this city to another.  
“I always say if you want to know what it looks like to see architects showing off, all you have to do is drive from one end of this city to another.”


A rendering of Eko-Atlantic City, Lagos, Nigeria. Image via ekoatlantic.com

MAJ：在过去的20年，迪拜就像是城市主义品牌的隐喻，是第三世界的理想模式。这些城市要么模仿迪拜的建筑与城市模式，要么会从迪拜的发展中汲取经验。我曾经听到一些新城市主义者称其为“非洲的迪拜”，你认为这些城市模式在非洲能够可持续发展吗？

SY：虽然迪拜的发展很成功，但其中也有许多缺陷，因此这并不是一个可持续发展的城市模式。现代迪拜只有几十年的发展历史，因此我们还没有看到这座城市在达到某个转折点时所发生的事情。这座城市发展非常快，例如住房，这里的住房过于饱和，许多别墅与公寓都没有人居住。你应该可以预见这种模式的缺陷。

迪拜模式非洲化的问题在于，这是一种认为城市模式可以交互的假设。这些模式并不适用于非洲城市以及人口，或者某些条件。那么也正是这种方式，使其在非洲变得无法可持续发展。包含这些全新开发项目的现有城市常常将其边界拉得过远，以至于无法满足开发商的基本需求。在上世纪70年代，在迪拜开始发展之前，它基本上就是一块空白、不存在前提的画布。而非洲城市就没有这样的优势，它们有着一系列的自身问题，诸如住房赤字、人口增长、贫穷等等，而这些问题会影响全新的开发，同时也会影响到城市化进程。

MAJ: Over the past two decades, Dubai became a metaphor, for a certain brand of idiosyncratic urbanism; an aspirational model for several cities in the third world, especially across Africa. These cities have either designed new neighborhoods that replicated the architecture and urbanism of Dubai, or even built from scratch new “spin-off”’ cities that aped Dubai. I’ve often heard boosters of some of these new cities refer to them as the “Dubai of Africa.” Do you think these urban models are sustainable in Africa?
SY: Despite its successes, Dubai has numerous pitfalls that would suggest it’s not a sustainable model for a city. Modern Dubai as we know it is only a few decades old. The truth is we haven’t really seen the full effect of what happens when the city reaches its inevitable tipping point. It’s already struggling in a lot of ways from growing too fast, too soon. Housing is one example. It’s severely oversaturated with thousands of villas and apartments sitting completely empty. You can already see the city’s recipe for success getting stale.
The problem with the African spin-offs of the Dubai model is the presumption that urban forms are interchangeable. These models oppose a lot of the essential conditions that are unique to African cities and the people that inhabit them. It’s this cut-and-paste approach at making a new city that makes it unsustainable for Africa. The existing cities that will be home to these new developments often stretch the boundaries of the urban plan too far to accommodate the whims of developers. You also have to remember that in the 1970s, before any sort of real development kicked off in Dubai, it was basically a blank canvas; there was hardly any definitive premise to build from. African cities do not have that advantage. They are weighed down by an entirely unique set of issues. A housing deficit, population growth rates, and poverty, for instance, cannot be isolated from these new developments and because of that are bound to threaten the success of these new cities.


Drawing of Benin City made by an English officer, 1897. Image via Wikimedia

MAJ：其中也存在文化层面的问题，非洲城市需要适应迪拜模式城市化的文化意义，以及其对于每座城市都存在的破坏可能性。这一点非常重要，因为陆地城市存在已久，其历史甚至能够追溯到殖民主义之前。举例来说，在尼日利亚中西部城市Benin的前殖民时期，这座城市的规划很好，当葡萄牙人在1485年第一次来到这里时，他们都非常惊讶于其城市规划水平。近期我看到一位英国士兵在1897年制作的Benin城市模型，其城市景观的程度足以反应其深刻的文化水准。

但是我们也必须承认，在全球化时代，确实有一些陆地能够适应迪拜化城市元素。但是这不是可以牺牲其他原则的理由，同样这也不应该成为城市的发展模式，或者为了这种模式而毁掉其他的住所，人们应当在其中寻求平衡。

依据你在迪拜的经验和对非洲城市的洞察，当大陆城市复制迪拜模式时，应该注意哪些内容？

MAJ: There’s also a cultural dimension to this: African cities need to appreciate the cultural implication of wholesale Dubai-styled urbanism and the potential it has to upset pre-existing socio-cultural conditions in each city. This is important because most big cities on the continent have been around for centuries and even had their own thriving urban models long before Colonialism. For instance, take the case of pre-colonial Benin City in Mid-West Nigeria; the city was so well-laid out that, when the Portuguese first set foot there in 1485, they were astounded by its fractal urbanism and the level of sophistication that went into its planning. I recently saw a sketch of Benin City made by a British soldier circa 1897 (the same year British forces burned down the city), and I was also impressed by the symmetry and proportionality of its urbanscape and above all its cultural responsiveness.
But it’s also fair that we acknowledge that there’s a place for a few elements of Dubai-styled urbanism on the continent, especially in the present age of globalization. This can’t be at the expense of everything else, neither should it become the de facto urban development model, nor should thriving settlements be destroyed to create them. It’s possible to find a balance somehow.
With your local knowledge and experience in Dubai as well as your native insight of African cities, what attributes of Dubai would you recommend that we replicate on the continent?


Dubai's Trade Centre, the city's first skyscraper, will be preserved as part of an effort to save the "footprints of the city". Image via Shutterstock

SY：这座城市其实有些可以保留内容。迪拜很大程度上是在往超现代方向发展，它的各个方面都在提醒着这一要点。你甚至可以从95公里之外就看到哈利法塔的钢筋与玻璃，但同时它们有时也表达了当地标志的认同。传统规划元素仍然流行于老城区和部分新区。那么随着时间的推移，新与旧能够共存，你能够看到城市的遗产、风塔、沙漠等等。现代化钢筋与玻璃仍然有着阿拉伯几何母题，而这些元素则来源于几个世纪以前。

这不仅仅存在于吸引游客的博物馆或清真寺，它还存在于商业或公共建筑之中。这座城市从未有过如此完美的形象，但是这就是其最初的想法。在城市中，保留了对于环境与文化的敏感语言。而非洲城市则不存在这些，亦或是它们没有把这些反应在当前的城市之中。我很高兴你提到Benin，因为这是殖民主义淡化非洲城市规划的很好案例。这让我觉得十分魔幻，因为传统与现代在这里相遇。

SY: One thing that comes to mind is the city’s deliberate attempt at preserving its identity. Dubai leans heavily towards the ultra-modern and it makes a big point of constantly reminding you of that. There is no escaping it. You can literally see the giant steel and glass structure of the Burj Khalifa from 95 km away. But it also gives several nods to its local identity in between. Traditional planning elements still prevail in the older districts and a lot of the newer ones. With that comes a constant juxtaposition of old and new. You’ll see references to the city’s Pearl Diving heritage, wind towers, and the sandy colors of the desert. Modern steel and glass structures inlaid with motifs of palms and Arab geometric patterns that go back centuries.
This doesn’t just happen in museums or mosques to draw in tourists either; it’s a genuine part of commercial and civic buildings as well, places where everyday life happens. The city has by no stretch of the imagination achieved this perfectly, but the idea is there. There is a defined language of identity sensitive to the environment and the culture that has been preserved. That is something that can’t be imitated but must be defined within its own context. African cities, by and large, don’t have that anymore, or at least it just isn’t reflected in the current landscape. I’m glad you brought up Benin City because it’s a great example of how Colonialism watered down most of the vernacular approaches to design and planning that had up to that point worked well for African cities. It makes me think that maybe the magic happens somewhere down the middle, where vernacular and contemporary planning solutions meet.


© Marc Goodwin

MAJ：我认为非洲城市需要谨慎考虑的是另一个方面，即技术和自动化，这也是迪拜目前正在大力投资的一个方面。我研究了一些城市的发展趋势，例如“迪拜自治交通策略”的推出，其中的一个目标是在2030年，迪拜城市中25%的交通系统将发展为自治模式。这一策略针对迪拜这种低失业率的地方非常有效，但是在非洲就不好说了。

以非洲最大的两个经济体为例，即尼日利亚和南非，其中的失业率都高达20%，那么在这种前提下，大规模的自动化必定会加剧失业，导致局面的恶化。另外，非洲各地的城市应该像迪拜一样，更加注重犯罪预防、侦查、交通管理等方面。这可能会改善当前非洲大陆所遇到的一些危机。就当前来说，大多数非洲城市的警力资源都有些紧张，因此人工智能能够更高效，但是对于技术的应用仍然应该存在选择。

MAJ: Another aspect I believe African cities need to copy cautiously is the deployment of technology and automation; an area Dubai is presently investing heavily in. I have keenly followed some of its emerging urban trends, like the launch of the ‘Dubai Autonomous Transportation Strategy’ – the highlight of which is the ambitious plan of transforming 25% of the total transportation system in Dubai to autonomous mode by 2030. This strategy works well in a place like Dubai, where the unemployment rate is presently less than 2%, in contrast to Africa where the rates are much higher.
Take the case of Africa’s two largest economies: Nigeria and South Africa which are both contending with unemployment rates of well over 20%; automation on this scale will certainly result in instant loss of jobs; further worsening an already bad situation. On the flipside, cities across Africa should invest heavily in artificial intelligence AI for crime prevention, detection and traffic management like Dubai has. This has the potential to significantly correct some of the challenges we currently experience with policing across the continent. At the moment, the police manpower across most African cities is overstretched; hence with AI, it is possible to do much more with fewer men. Overall, though, we need to be selective about the kind of technologies we adopt on the continent.


Foster + Partner's vision for DP World Cargospeed, a system that proposes the high-speed movement of freight within cities. . ImageImage via Foster + Partners

SY：我必须承认，对于全自动化我并没有那么焦虑。随着自动化程度愈发普遍，全新的领域与行业同样会出现，然后取代那些过时的行业。问题在于，非洲城市是否能够成为人们未来工作地的选择点。因此城市根据自身的特征生成并且保留了数据，然后在遇到问题时进行解决，那么这些数据就极具价值。当前有的数据能够帮助绘制空间解决方案，有趣的是能够看到其对于非洲城市问题的回答，例如“新地区的形式是否会影响商业的繁荣？”，亦或是“新兴产业聚集于何处？我们该如何适应其增长？”开普敦在这方面已经做得很好，主要是围绕新兴企业与大学创建生态系统。但你是否有发现，当涉及尼日利亚的工作时，其中的信息存在一些隔阂？

SY: I have to admit I’m not entirely on board with the whole automation anxiety.  As automation becomes more widespread new fields and industries are going to emerge to replace the ones it made obsolete. The question is whether our African cities will be the type of places where people can acquire the new skills they’ll need for the jobs of the future. That’s why there’s a lot of value in cities generating their own data in order to react appropriately to what’s coming. I’ve seen how data could be instrumental in crafting spatial solutions in the Gulf. It would be interesting to see how it answers questions in African cities. Questions such as, “Does the form of these new districts affect the prosperity of its enterprises?” or “Where are the emerging industries clustering and how can we accommodate their growth within the city?” I know that Cape Town is already trying to do this, creating eco-systems around tech start-ups and universities. Have you found that there are any particular gaps in information in your work when it comes to Nigeria specifically?   


Photo by Flickr user McKay Savage

MAJ：好问题。获取数据对于尼日利亚来说是严峻的挑战。据统计，尼日利亚是非洲大陆资源最为丰富的地方。多年来，NBS同样在不断地提供可靠的国家数据。不幸的是，就城市层面而言并非如此。我们的城市无法从NBS中分解这些数据。当前，我们也不能够明确有多少人居住在阿布贾的不同地区，同样无法明确其中的常住人口和临时人口数量。

如今，大多数城市都建立了自己的地理信息系统，该系统在警务、规划、交通管理方面都极具潜力，但是人们总是将其应用在土地管理等其他方面。总而言之，我认为所有这些都是更深层次的典型问题，尼日利亚的大多数城市都跟随政府在发展，是主体的分支，而不是成为自治体。因此，这些城市也无法取得快速发展。

SY：有趣的是，我们能够见证非洲城市如何随着智能技术策略而形成。我有时会想到其中结合了当前非洲建筑师的设计策略，而这些建筑师正是推动非洲大陆传统设计复兴的主要因素，我对此持乐观态度。

MAJ: Good question. Access to data is a very serious challenge for cities in Nigeria. On a country by country basis, Nigeria is listed as having one of the most resourceful national statistics bureaus on the continent. The NBS has consistently provided credible national data over the years. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case at city level; our cities have been unable to break down this data from the NBS. Presently, we are unable to say precisely how many people live in Gwarimpa or Maitama districts in Abuja, or what percentage of those, are permanent or transient residents.
Today, most cities across the country have set up their own Geographical Information Systems GIS agencies but sadly, they are using this for land administration and nothing else, in spite of the potential it has for policing, planning and traffic management. Overall, I think all of this, is a symptom of a much deeper problem – most cities in Nigeria are run like typical government offices – an arm of its unwieldy bureau, rather than as autonomous corporate entities. Consequently, these cities are unable to innovate as quickly as a corporation would.
SY: It’ll definitely be interesting to see how African cities take shape as smarter tech solutions come into play. I’m especially optimistic when I think of the effect it will have in combination with the current movement of African architects who are pushing for a renaissance of traditional design across the continent.


Dubai Trade Centre. . Image via Shutterstock


Architect Safiya Yahaya at one of Dubai's many malls. Image by Safiya Yahaya


During the design week, d3 also hosted a number of other exhibitions and retail events. Exit Through the Design Shop was a mobile shopping experience by Dubai-based retailer s*uce. Image Courtesy of Dubai Design Week


via Shutterstock