Gulf circuits of accumulation intersect most starkly within the real estate sector, which helps to explain the prominence of new malls, towers, and residential developments that exceed one another in extravagance. A key feature of this intersection is a reworking of the Gulf urban space, now characterised by privatised and fragmented enclaves that market tourist and commercial activities to select participants. This neoliberal reimagining is centred on building gated communities with practices of exclusion; locations that provide constant play for local and international elites while denying entry to the majority. Today, inherent to the new ‘Khaleeji Dream’ is an aspiration for exclusivity through not only material possession, but more importantly, physical separation.

Adapted from Adam Hanieh – Capital, Labor, and State: Rethinking the Political Economy of Oil in the Gulf