Rural to Urban Movement
The UAE is experiencing a large rural to urban shift as people from domestic and foreign rural areas are immigrating to the large cities such as Dubai. The domestic rural areas are very arid and harsh places to live in. These areas are also victim to mass desertification as climate change affects the entire country. This leads to the inability to grow crops on land that was once fertile. For these reasons, people are packing their bags and moving into the urban areas by the coast. The immigrants from other countries are coming to the cities of the UAE for economic opportunities as Dubai and Abu Dhabi are trade and economic centers.
Positives and NegativesAs with anything in this world, there are positives and negatives in every aspect. With urban development, there are consequences for every opportunity given. Some positives of urban living are: economic opportunities, higher education, increased communication services, and better access to public services. A few negatives of urban living are overcrowding (shown in the image to the right), pollution, unequal development, and increased crime rates.
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Challenges of Urban Sustainability
Due to the mass urbanization in the UAE, the country is facing many sustainability challenges. The cities of Dubai and Abu Dhabi .use and expend a massive amount of energy that is not sustainable without the use of renewable resources. The UAE has made attempts to implement solar, hydro, and wind power into use in order to combat this issue. In addition, climate change is a big deal in this arid country. As global temperatures rise, the more desertification impacts the land in the UAE. The land in the rural areas will be uninhabitable for humans or crops which will cause the urban areas to have a shortage of food. The UAE is currently a net import country when it comes to agriculture, and it is only going to keep getting worse. Despite this, the cities of Abu Dhabi and Dubai are ranked among the world's most sustainable cites according to thenational.ae.
Source: CIA World Factbook
https://www.thenational.ae/uae/environment/uae-leads-region-in-sustainability-according-to-report-1.70747
https://www.thenational.ae/uae/environment/uae-leads-region-in-sustainability-according-to-report-1.70747