DUBAI PLACES AND NAMES

Dr. Jack Keilo

Supervised by: Jamal bin Huwaireb

The place names of Dubai tell numerous stories about the city, its history, its present, and even its future. Despite their great significance, place names belong to the simplicity and routine of everyday life; yet life would be impossible without them. The German-American philosopher Hannah Arendt describes the city as an “organized remembrance,” and from this perspective, place names become an essential functional necessity for all cities.

This book presents a qualitative study of many place names in Dubai, a city that holds a central position in the Middle East as its financial capital and as the region’s most important hub for air and maritime connectivity. The study draws its theoretical foundation from the author’s doctoral thesis, submitted to Sorbonne University in 2018, which examines place names in Beirut, Dubai, and Damascus.

The book shows how place names in Dubai, whether traditional or commemorative, remind us of its position as a global city and as part of a network of globalized cities. Many of the city’s place names also recount the story of the United Arab Emirates and its founding fathers. Arab culture likewise has a strong presence on Dubai’s map through its place names, as it represents the foundational culture of the United Arab Emirates.