Khadija Ahmad and her family are the only residents left in Dubai's old Bastakiya quarter, her house little changed since she arrived as a new bride more than 70 years ago.Nestled among mushrooming skyscrapers and multi-lane highways, the rabbit warren of streets dating from the 1890s is one of the few reminders left of Dubai's past as a sleepy village where people earned money by diving for pearls.
In the 1990s, the government bought out most homeowners in Bastakiya to protect the run-down district from developers. Today, the area beside Dubai creek is home to galleries, cafes and restaurants, and to Ahmad and her family who declined the state's offer to buy them out.
To read the entire interesting article, follow this link:
Amran Abocar, Old Dubai Clings to Life as a New City Rises, El Economista.es, 28 May 2008.
Dr. Geoff Pound
Image: Restored building in Dubai's old Bastakiya quarter.
