“Third Places” in Dubai
Finding or creating urban spaces for relaxation and social connection beyond work and home
Dear City Person,
I walked in my neighborhood and the surrounding ones almost daily, for several hours each day, in Ramadan which was on March of this year. During these walks, I tried to pay attention to where I can find “third places,” which are spaces outside of home (the “first place”) and work (the “second place”) where people can relax and connect with each other. I will be sharing my reflections on this and photos of what most caught my attention in today’s newsletter.
Before I do so, I will share a video by Andrewism on YouTube that provides an overview of what are “third spaces” in urban design, their role in helping people connect with each other outside of work and home, and critiques of that concept.
Some house keeping before I dive in…
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Here is the video below.
It already contains subtitles but, if it would be easier to have a transcript because you are using a screen reader, then I would recommend clicking here to be taken to its YouTube page which has a transcript below it.
Questions for readers…
Feel free to respond to them by clicking on the button below to share a public comment or by replying privately to this email on your email provider…
Have you heard about the concept of “third places” before watching this video?
What are past or present examples of “third places” that you have seen in the cities you have lived in or visited so far?
What kinds of “third places” do you wish to see more of where you live?
Do you have ideas to create your own informal “third place” where you live, no matter how small?
Finding Third Places in Dubai
During a webinar hosted by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, I got to hear Dr. Pamela Collins, the chair of their mental health department, mention a study she had done with one of her students on what cities can do to be more mental health friendly.
They found that easy access to public spaces where people can meet each other outside of work and home was important in promoting mental wellbeing. They saw that it was not enough to simply have these spaces there. Rather, they need to be in a location that is:
Easy for anyone to use such as being free of cost or low cost
Safe
Comfortable
Welcoming and free of discrimination regardless of one’s background
Easy to get to even if one does not have a car and even if one works at odd hours
Easy to navigate regardless of disability.
During my daily walks in Ramadan, I was thinking of what examples do we have in Dubai that may fit any or all of what makes a “third place” accessible. I often hear from people who have either never lived in Dubai or have done so briefly that there are no non-commercial public spaces to hang out in the city. This is an overgeneralization but I do believe that such spaces are limited and fragmented and thus tend to take effort to find depending on where one lives.
Having said that, I have noticed that this has improved in certain areas and taken a step back in others over the years. I also believe that the public is not aware enough about the many free events and workshops offered by public libraries and creative institutions throughout Dubai—a third space that I would encourage more people to utilize and support. Some are accessible by metro and bus. While most are in English and Arabic, there are certain ones that have events in other languages which I wish to see more of given that more than 200 nationalities live in Dubai alone.
I am privileged to be living within a 10-minute walking distance to the beaches in Jumeirah so it has been a part of some of my walks this Ramadan. I had previously written a newsletter and a poem about people watching at one of the quieter parts of the beach which you can read in one of my older posts by clicking here. Here’s a quote below from that newsletter that captures one of the negative aspects of development that I observed in the beaches after moving back to Dubai:
“One of the many things that brought up reverse culture shock for me was noticing how the beaches I used to frequent in my childhood became increasingly commercialized and crowded or privatized by hotels.”
One of my concerns about the increased privatization of beaches by hotels is that people are not allowed to access them without either being a guest or being a customer at one of their restaurants, bars, cafes, or spas. This thus limits these spaces to people from upper middle to upper classes. Jumeirah Road used to be previously called “Jumeirah Beach Road” because the beach used to be visible from the road while driving and it was a beautiful view. As more hotels and buildings crowded up the view, the road was renamed and “Jumeirah Beach Road” was instead used to name a different neighborhood and shorted to “JBR.”
The crowding of hotels further make the beaches less accessible for practicing Muslim women who wear hijab or niqab. I remember growing up in Dubai that more beaches used to have a day or two each week that was designated for women and children only. This allowed these women the privacy and comfort to take off their hijabs and niqabs to enjoy the beach and swim without worrying about male strangers seeing their hair or bodies. Since hotels are mixed gender spaces, as more of them took over more spaces in the beaches, it became impossible to maintain this without the women being easily seen by male hotel guests and staff.
Some women who wear hijab are comfortable to swim in “burkinis” or to even go into the water with their clothes on or to enjoy the water from afar while walking, jogging, or seated on a picnic blanket or chair as I have frequently seen in my visits to the beaches here. However, not all of them are comfortable being in a mixed-gender space due to differing levels of conservatism and understanding of the faith or personal comfort.
Furthermore, certain segments of conservative Muslims, regardless of gender, not only avoid drinking alcohol but also avoid being in any space where alcohol is being served or where it can be easily seen. Since hotels in the UAE are allowed to serve alcohol even in the beaches they own, they tend to be avoided by this specific subculture of Muslims. While I personally do not wear hijab and do not mind being in mixed-gender spaces or in spaces where alcohol is being served even as I myself avoid drinking it, I still wish for the return of designated times or spaces where more people, regardless of level of religious conservativism, can feel welcome to enjoy the beach as they are part of our community.
Aside from the increased encroachment of hotels, I have mixed feelings about certain parts of the beach becoming more packed with restaurants and cafes. On one hand I can enjoy them, on the other hand they are less welcoming for people below a certain income bracket and reduce the amount of free space available for them to enjoy the beach as customers crowd them up.
While some may argue that Jumeirah is already a dominantly upper-income area, I have seen middle income and blue collar workers frequent the beaches to relax and socialize at certain days and times so I believe that creating welcoming spaces for their wellbeing is important. Many may not be aware that, per the World Bank, 70% of the UAE population is blue collar worker1—far from being a small demographic—and they contribute greatly to the country. Even if they did not, their wellbeing should still be important to us all as fellow human beings.
All this is not to say that there have not been any positive developments in these beaches. I am grateful for the positive aspects of the developments and hope they are maintained and improved upon. I hope that this progress does not get stalled by private commercial entities so that more people can access third spaces that are necessary for their wellbeing.
Here are the positive developments in the Jumeirah beaches that I have observed that help keep parts of them accessible as “third places:”
the addition of shaded chairs and tables which don’t require people to spend money or buy anything to use them. At night, the shade above the tables/chairs are lit.
designated paths where people using a wheelchair or cane can access the water which also connects to paved parking lots. Parking is free for everyone on Sundays and during public holidays and it is paid in other days. Certain parts of the beaches in Jumeirah are more accessible by certain bus lines than others but not all paths from the bus stops are wheelchair/stroller friendly.
free access to a jogging trail, a walking path (which is also wheelchair/stroller accessible from certain parking spots), and a cycling/scooter path which go parallel to each other. These paths are well-lit at night.
bicycle parking and option to rent a bike or electric scooter
access to free drinkable water using filtering standards set by the World Health Organization. However, one needs to have refillable bottle on hand to use it but I have seen blue collar workers refilling empty plastic bottles they had previously drunk from. I only saw them in limited parts of the walking path and wish there can be more. However, certain households in the immediate neighborhood have donated drinkable water taps for passersby to drink from and keep them by their gates but it is not clear how well these are maintained as it is the responsibility of each household to do so.
designated spaces for swimming at night that are well-lit for a life guard to view from afar. Spaces that are not designated are not allowed for night swimming.
Certain parts having free “beach libraries” which is are small shelved kiosks with books to borrow and a bin where one can donate books to contribute to the library.
certain parts having free exercise equipment which don’t require electricity to operate. I did use some of these during my walks. Here is a photo of two I spotted in my walks below:
Most people who use the beaches do not use them to meet new people but rather to hang out with friends or family or to enjoy it solo. However, I did see a specific intergenerational Emirati neighborhood directly facing the coastline where the addition of walking, jogging, and cycling/scooter paths and shaded seating in part would make it more likely that they would spontaneously run into each other and socialize with one another, which is another characteristic of a “third place.”
I saw their children, teenagers, adults, and elderly utilize these paths by the beach in different ways. They would do so mostly in late afternoon or evening hours as they do not enjoy the heat like Westerners do, especially if they tend to wear traditional attire that can make them feel more hot in earlier hours. This is more so the case in Ramadan when practicing Muslims are fasting from both food and drink during day time hours but I have still observed this pattern outside of Ramadan.
I noticed that another feature that made this neighborhood appear much more well connected compared to my immediate neighborhood is that almost every household has a “majlis” that was not gated to the point I could easily see and overhear the hosts and guests from the beach.
A “majlis” is a traditional gathering space that is separate from the private parts of one’s home for the purposes of socializing with guests and neighbors. It can be incorporated into the same building as the home or be a separate indoor space or outdoor seating area placed in front of the home. This keeps the immediate dwelling private while also having a public space to connect with others at the same time.
The combination of the presence of multiple majlises, the immediate doorstep access to the beach, and the additional facilities added to make the beach more comfortable for daily use were all aspects of the built environment that helped to facilitate social connection between the neighbors.
Aside from the beaches, I also walked in the residential areas and relaxed in the free tiny parks and playgrounds that many neighborhood mosques in Jumeirah have available to the public such as this one I photographed below.
I tend to see young men and boys play in those that have free basketball or football fields in the late afternoon or evening hours. Since I have never seen women use them, I often was never sure if it would be acceptable for me to do so.
As for the mosque playgrounds and parks, I have seen mixed-gender families use them so I would feel more comfortable there. During Ramadan, if a playground was empty I would go on one of the swings and re-live my childhood while getting a good workout!
I find that having a public space to play such as using the swings in these parks or the free gym equipment by the beaches helps me feel a sense of belonging to the space as my inner child feels welcome.
A question for readers before I continue...
When was the last time you were playful or silly in public? What made that possible for you?
What I have shared so far only demonstrated examples of how formal built environments, whether from government/developer or household level contribute to creating third places. But what most caught my attention during my walks was finding what appear to be informal third places added by laypeople in random public areas I least expected. Below is a photo of one informally placed public seating area I spotted while walking in Jumeirah Road.
The placement of this seating area directly next to a busy road on an undeveloped sandy plot away from residential buildings does not appear to make it tied to any home as would be seen with a private outdoor majlis. It was also clearly not part of any nearby restaurant or cafe. Benches placed by the Dubai Municipality seem to follow a specific design and placement pattern, but this was not the case with this one.
The way the chairs, carpet, and potted plants (not all shown in this photo) have been intentionally placed had me think that this is not furniture that was disposed by the neighboring homes. This seating area was hard to pay attention to when driving in a car so I never noticed it until I walked in the area. As I sat on of the the benches while looking up at the date trees, I wondered about what can lay people do to informally create “third places—” one of many ways to care for one another.
I would love to hear from you, dear reader, on what ideas you have and whether you have seen examples of this being done.
A Book about Third Places I Stumbled Upon
While looking up research on the link between third places and mental health, I ran into this book which I haven’t read called “Finding Your Third Place: Building Happier Communities (and Making Great Friends Along the Way)” by Richard Kyte.
Click here to buy an e-book version and click here to get a physical copy. I tried to search if I could find the book on WorldCat website but the page was not working with me today but I would recommend clicking here and typing the name of the book to see if any library near you may have a copy you can borrow.
I am saving this book for future reading but, if anyone has read this book already, I would appreciate hearing your thoughts on it whether by commenting on this post by clicking on the button below or sending me a private reply to this email if you are viewing this on your email provider. I would also appreciate recommendations on any other books about third places.
Announcement:
Those of you who read my last newsletter know that I am in the process of switching careers from counseling psychology into public health. Click here and scroll down to the announcement section to learn more if you did not read it already. Below is an update since I had written that announcement:
I got accepted into Johns Hopkins hybrid MPH program and will be starting an in-person orientation and in-person classes in June 1st.
While most of the classes throughout the program will be online which I can do from Dubai, certain classes like the one I will be attending this summer will take place in-person in Baltimore, Maryland. This will allow me the flexibility to network in both cities. I have the option to transfer to a full time in-person format at a later time, as there are certain perks that are only open for that format. But I want to first get a feel for Baltimore and the current political landscape in the US before I decide if it would be worth doing so.
I will be in Baltimore from May 5th to June 25th to get a feel for the city, network, see friends who live nearby, and attend the in-person portion of the summer classes.
I would be open to meeting readers who are in Baltimore/DC area so feel free to send me a private message on Substack or to click reply on your email provider to let me know if you are!
I would also appreciate if anyone can connect me with people in the area who have interests in any of the following: social support, peer support, loneliness, social connection, program development and evaluation, community participatory action research, urban mental health, or preventative mental health from a systemic or dialogic/deconstructionist perspective.
I will be traveling in May and June so won’t be able to publish a newsletter on either of those months. So next newsletter will be on July and will highlight my reflections visiting a community garden by the Sharjah Architecture Triennial.
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Hayyakum,
Reema
The World Bank. (2020). Demographic trends and urbanization. https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/260581617988607640/pdf/Demographic-Trends-and-Urbanization.pdf