About 30 years ago I recall a 20/20 or 60 minutes episode about an Prince in a tiny, backwards country called Dubai talking about how he intended to use the oil wealth to build a city greater than NYC for world trade, business and architecture.
I thought it funny as hell the guy was riding around in the desert in a Mercedes 300 from oasis to oasis. He should be credited as being one of the great visionaries of the prior century.
yes, that’s true — the Emir of Dubai has been a visionary. The other Emirs in the United Arab Emirates (which consists of quite some Emirates, including Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi etc.) are getting into the act now