What Dubai's Newest Theme Park Reveals About Its Urbanism

Riverland Dubai, the Persian Gulf emirate’s latest theme park, opened this week to fanfare in the local press. It features a half-mile sea-foam green river traversing four zones with buildings that evoke different places and eras: 17th-century France, late 19th-century France, colonial India, and the United States of the 1950s. All of the zones have a sanitized, rarefied look that glosses over any of the messy realities that each place and era saw. Instead, they have a myriad of shopping and dining options, and there’s a Polynesian-themed hotel for those who desire an overnight stay. Entry to the park is free of charge, though it serves as a gateway to ticketed venues such as Legoland Dubai.

The odd historical and cultural choices, the Epcot-like feel, and the aura of consumerism make Riverland Dubai ripe for caricature. It would be easy to describe it as simply another Dubai project that uses pastiche and extravagance to draw attention and business.