Impact of Architectural Interventions and Urban Design on Social Cohesiveness and Sustainability: A Case of Dubai, Uae

The last three decades has observed the growth of United Arab Emirates (UAE) from a dusty desert region to a strategic centre for global business, grand expatriate community living, beaming skyscrapers and eclectic tourism. Due to this rapid transition, several cities exhibit an urbanism that is largely built around ambitious smart city models and are rapidly emerging as charioteers of socio-economic and cultural change.As architectural representations and urban designs are the expressions of socio-economic and cultural climate, this research focuses on contemporary architectural plans, urban designs and their relationship with social cohesiveness and sustainability of communities. This research is based on an extensive literature and research review and relevant case studies of selected mixed-use developments in the UAE. The key features of social cohesiveness assessed are social interactions, sense of belongingness, communal harmony and social ties. The key features of social sustainability are wellbeing, quality of life and future satisfaction of people.Encouragingly, the findings of the study conclude that good urban designs are related to specific economic, social, cultural and environmental benefits for a range of stakeholders, that physical layout and built form contribute exceptionally towards social cohesiveness amongst multicultural societies. The study also asserts a direct and positive association between high-quality neighbourhoods and socially cohesive behaviour and attitudes.