{"product_id":"castles-in-the-sand","title":"Castles In The Sand","description":"\u003cp\u003e   Abu Dhabi--an obscure Middle Eastern principality that happens to be the richest city in the world. This book tells the story of Abu Dhabi''s ambitions to transform itself from a sleepy sheikhdom into a thriving international metropolis and a hub of business and leisure. It traces Abu Dhabi''s boom years from 2009 to 2011 from the perspective of a Westerner working for the Urban Planning Council, the government agency that planned and coordinated all of the massive development activity.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e   \u003ci\u003eCastles in the Sand\u003c\/i\u003e explores the drastic changes in Abu Dhabi''s built environment, where entire islands are forested with skyscrapers and billions of dollars in infrastructure are spent on a whim--while recounting the disorienting experience of an outsider encountering a society in which foreigners outnumber locals nine to one and modernity clashes head-on with centuries of embedded tradition. General readers will find a broad introduction to Abu Dhabi, and architects and planners will gain a firsthand glimpse inside an unprecedented experiment in city-building.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"MediaPlace","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57318551748990,"sku":"NW9780786477609","price":33.25,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1379\/1261\/files\/9780786477609.jpg?v=1778725096","url":"https:\/\/mediaplace.com\/products\/castles-in-the-sand","provider":"MediaPlace","version":"1.0","type":"link"}