The development of dwelling solutions in the United Arab Emirates and the impact of Covid-19.

In the early Seventies, after the union of the Arab Emirates, the government set welfare programs for its new citizens - at that time mostly Bedouins - to make the population sedentary and establish the new modern State. People’s needs had to adapt to a new lifestyle and the result of the urbanization plan had various turns; among them the creation or idealization of a new national identity. The last fifty years have seen a rapid urban development: contemporary institutions for education, health and leisure coupled with the increase in automotive transport have led to the transformation of towns into cities. These changes have inevitably impacted the aesthetics of the urban environment and the social organization. Dubai's government policies, cultural norms, and market forces have created neighborhoods characterized by ethnic and socio-economic enclaves and segregation. The city develops into neighborhoods inhabited by some prevailing nationalities mainly linked to the commercial vocation of the different areas. Native-born citizens have their own subsidized areas separated from migrant groups. The dwelling typologies developed in different ways, with large differences in the amount of space and in the quality of the interiors. In 2020, Covid-19 increased the discrepancy between people’s needs and well-being and their actual available space. This text offers a reflection on sustainability and well-being of the Dubai dwelling system, based on data collected within a large group of people of diverse nationalities through a survey on the house’s perception during pandemic.