The Abnormal Population Growth and Urban Sprawl of an Arabian Gulf City: The Case of Abu Dhabi City

Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The capital went through a radical transformation from a nomadic settlement before the 70’s of the 20th century to a metropolis that ranked as the world’s fourth favorite city in 2013. It became “the safest city in the world” for the fourth time in January 2020. Abu Dhabi and other Arabian Gulf cities have evolved rapidly in the second half of the 20th century, due to investment of oil and gas revenues. Abu Dhabi’s population has been growing significantly at an average annual rate of 5.2% during the last two decades. To this end, the total population of the city has grown rapidly by 1000% over the last 42 years. According to the first census conducted in 1975, the total population of Abu Dhabi was 120,000 inhabitants, which increased in 2019 to more than 1.3 million. This increase makes Abu Dhabi’s population one of the fastest growing cities in the world in terms of annual population growth rate. Abu Dhabi city is a good example of a rapidly developing city. Until 1969 the city was characterized by its slow-growth economy. Its population lived in traditional houses made of palm fronds with poor infrastructure. The rapid development of the city transformed Abu Dhabi from a small poor and isolated fishing village into a global financial and leisure center. Its built-up area increased from only 54 square kilometers in 1975 to 758 square kilometers in 2019. This rapid spread (1300% in 44 years) makes the city one of the fastest growing cities in the world. The researcher applied the topical approach with the use of analytical and cartographic techniques to reach the aims of the study to understand the issue of population growth and its effect on urban sprawl in Abu Dhabi city during the period 1960 to 2019 which has been fuelled by economic growth and technological advancements.


Introduction
The United Arab Emirates is marked today by the extraordinary changes brought about by urbanization. According to 2018 estimates by the United Nations, most of its population (87%) are living in urban centers. Comparing it with other developing countries, it is found that this rate of urbanization is one of the highest in the world (United Nations, 2019). The urban expansion that has occurred in most of the seven Emirates' urban centers is shown not only in the spectacular growth of the major cities particularly Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, but also in the rapid development of medium-sized towns such as Al Ain, Ras El Khaimah, Ajman and El Fujairah.
Abu Dhabi city has evolved rapidly in the seventies of the 20th century, due to investment of oil and gas revenues. The fast-economic growth resulted in the extensive jump in urbanization. Since 1971 in the aftermath of the establishment of the United Arab Emirates with Abu Dhabi as its capital city, it has been receiving large numbers of expatriate and migrant guest workers whose presence has dramatically changed the geography of the emerging state. The need for expatriate and migrant guest workers coincided with the recent economic boom, which was fuelled by immense oil revenues. The government invested in colossal projects aimed at building the country's infrastructure. Consequently, Abu Dhabi and other large urban centres in the United Arab Emirates witnessed a great boom in population and in urban development which continue unabated.
The size of population of Abu Dhabi city was very small up until 1975. The majority of the population including the citizens were engaged in fishing and trading activities. But the total population has grown by nearly 1000% over the last 40 years. Whereas in 1975 the total population was 120,000 inhabitants, it has increased to more than 1.323 million in 2019. This increase makes Abu Dhabi population as one of the fastest growing cities in the world in terms of annual population growth rate. In a related context, expatriate and immigrant guest workers have contributed profoundly to this population growth since they constitute approximately 90% of the total population. Such expatriates originate from many different countries but mostly from Asia and the Arab world. Asians, constitute at least 65% of the total population. A small percentage of expatriates originate from Europe and the United States. Foreign labourers are engaged in all fields of works. Furthermore, they play a very significant role in the development of the city (Elessawy, 2020).
Abu Dhabi city is a clear case of a rapidly developing city. From 1975 to till present the urban area has expanded enormously, and the rapid development of the city has transformed it from a small fishing village into a global business, financial and leisure hub. During the last two decades, Abu Dhabi city's built-up area expanded like never before. The economic growth accelerated and so did the level of investment. This resulted in more planned development projects to support the urban sprawl of the city and to change deserts into modern urban neighbourhoods (Allawi, 2017). The total built-up area has increased from only 13 square Kilometres in 1975 to 758 square kilometres in 2019. And that implies that Abu Dhabi's urbanised land area increased by 1700% in only 44 years (Elessawy, 2020). This astonishing rate of growth makes the city one of the fastest growing in the world. (In brief, Abu Dhabi has undergone significant urban change and population growth over the past decades, which transformed it from a small desert trading centre to a global business hub and an economic centre.
The main objective of this study is to provide a better understanding of the issue of population growth and its effect on urban sprawl in Abu Dhabi city which has been fuelled by economic growth and technological advancements. In other words, how a small fishing village became a global business centre and tourist hub. The researcher applied the topical approach with the use of analytical and cartographic techniques to reach the aims: The rapid population growth and the abnormal urban sprawl.

Rapid Population Growth of Abu Dhabi City
Lack of clarity and scarcity of data during the period prior to 1975 is the main problem facing any study on population of United Arab Emirates. Most of the data relies on estimates. The first accurate demonstrative population census was conducted in 1975, with additional surveys carried out during the 80's and 90's and the most recent one is the 2005 census (Elessawy, 2020). Based on the different observations of the statistic figures and derivations, it was clearly notable that until the 1960's the population size of Abu Dhabi was insignificant and people were mainly recognized by basic professions, where most of of them were involved in little agriculture, rural handicraft, herding, fishing, pearl collecting and trade as sources of income. With the harsh climate and scarcity of water and other resources, the population was as small as 16,000 in 1960 compared to 1.3 million at present. Oil wealth has transformed the economy of Abu Dhabi dramatically. It enabled the country to move from a subsistence state to a modern high-income country. During the same period, the role of expatriate and migrant guest workers started to appear. At the same time the population began to increase to 32,000 by 1965 and to reach 120,000 in 1975 ( Figure 1). For that reason, this period was described as the stage of "small population size".
Following the economic and social development during the past decades, exceptional population growth has been observed. After the discovery and the increase in oil prices, the government of Abu Dhabi realised substantial new revenue streams which stimulated the confidence of the government as well as the resolve to build out the civic infrastructure of the emirate. Such investment into the economy as well as the political stability in the emirate encouraged blue chip companies, large contractors and foreign domestic investors interested in joint ventures with the government to establish their presence in the emirate as well as invest. Economic policies rendered the emirate as practically tax-free for companies were considered one of the most attractive reasons to establish a presence in Abu Dhabi. Consequently, many guest workers were needed to meet the need of the infrastructure boom and the construction of projects for development since the nationals were not skilled enough for the required projects (Elessawy, 2014). Most of the foreign labour forces were of Asian origin.
Since the end of 1973, substantial oil revenues helped the government to invest in economic and social infrastructure and to boost economic activities in general. Private investment, specifically, led to substantial urbanization which resulted in a 1000% increase in population from 1975 to 2019. Data in Table 1 and Figure 1 indicate that Abu Dhabi's population increased from 120,000 in 1975 to 1.32 million in 2019. This period of the first decade of the new millennium could be described as a truly substantial period of growth for Abu Dhabi as the population grew from 655,000 in 2005 to more than 1.3 million in 2019. The annual rate of population growth reached 5.2% and this implies that the population would effectively double in only 13.5 years. As a result of the emirate's population multiplying by a factor of five over the past five 45 years  Abu Dhabi easily ranks as one of the fastest growing cities globally. With a continuous decrease in both birth rate and death rates, it is impossible to consider the population growth in Abu Dhabi as a result of immigration alone. However, that being said, it was predominantly and undeniably driven by the increasing flow of guest workers who constitute approximately 90% of the population of the emirate over the last decade. According to the statistics in Table 2, the emirate observed a decline in population growth rate from 28.9 to 14.0 per thousand between 1985 and 2019.
Data in Table 2 indicates that the death rate has declined to about 1.0 per thousand representing the lowest death rate worldwide. This development is due to a number of reasons, mainly: 1) most of the population of the city are adults (19 -60 years old), the overwhelming majority of expatriates return back to their country of origin at or prior to the age of retirement; 2) the economic and social progress, which led to the improved quality of living and health standards; 3) enhancement in healthcare and education among the population; At the same time birth rate declined sharply from nearly 32 to 15.3 per thousand during the past 35 years. There is a clear difference in birth rates between the indigenous population and foreigners. The data below shows that birth rate amongst the indigenous population is 34 per thousand compared to only 17.2 for non-citizens. However, the differences in death rates are not the same (Elessawy, 2020).
In brief, the natural increase rate declined from approximately 29 to 14 per thousand from 1985-2019. This means that it has a low impact on the population growth in comparison to the increasing numbers of guest workers which has an important role in the population growth of Abu Dhabi city.
Natural increase leads to a rise of newly born nationals of certain group of age or a decline as a result of the death of certain group of age to such an extent that both cases occur once in the lifetime of an individual. However, the majority of guest workers represent middle-aged men who join the labour force and have an effective role in the development of the city urban expansion, economics and the demographic characteristics.
Economic progress engendered rapid population growth and significant changes in the structure of the labor market of the city. Like the case of most Arabian Gulf urban centers, the city labor market is dominated by expatriate and migrant guest workers. As shown in Table 3 the immensity of the growth in non-national workers over the last four decades is quote clear. Their numbers increased from approximately 87,000 in 1975 up to 331,000 in 1995. And during the following ten years it reached 574,000 in 2005. The inflow of immigrants has continuously increased and it doubled in 10 years to reach more than one million in 2015. The percentage of non-nationals increased continuously from 72% in 1975 to nearly 90% of the total population of the city in 2015.  The labour market is segmented along different lines with limited labour mobility due to wage rigidities, skill set differences and institutional and cultural factors. In the public sector, United Arab Emirates nationals are more highly paid than the expatriates who have got the same qualifications and who perform the same jobs. This together with the job security, social status and other benefits make the government the most attractive employer to almost all the UAE nationals. The private sector relies on foreign labour that is paid lower wages and work under fixed short-term contracts. Migrant workers account for 99% of labour in the private sector. The majority of foreigners in Abu Dhabi are male singles although the number of women has also grown during the previous few decades. Most of the women are housekeepers especially from Philippines, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Nepal. Most of the foreign men are hired in the service sectors which require mostly low skills, while foreign women are mainly employed in jobs that are related to domestic services and retail. On the other hand, a large number of highly-skilled migrant guest workers, who are particularly from European and western countries, are also attracted to employment in ur-ban centres for the following sectors: Oil and Gas, Finance, Education as well as Investment. The increase in non-nationals, mostly young men led to clear demographic, economic, cultural and social features, to the extent that the effect of foreign immigration with great numbers to the city has left a noticeably unbalanced population composition.
Data from Figure 2 indicates that Emirati nationals represent a minority in their city as a percentage of total population. Arabs and Europeans constitute small portion, but most of the city residents are Asians. Furthermore, Indians comprise approximately 30% of the total population in Abu Dhabi and they are to be ranked first because they export workers to Abu Dhabi. For instance, Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi workers form approximately 50% of the total population. While the remaining population comprises nationals of other countries including Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Sri Lanka, Nopal, Philippines, Afghans and other Asian nationalities. The number of employees from the UK, USA, and Europe in general has become 3.0% of the total population of the city. Simultaneously, the percentage of Emiratis is extremely low, approximately 11% only of the city's total population (Elessawy, 2020).
In 2019, the population density of Abu Dhabi city was 1750 people per square kilometer, and that makes it the second most densely populated city in the United Arab Emirates after Dubai city's density which is 2500 people per square kilometer. The density of population of Abu Dhabi city has decreased from 3400 people in 1985 to 2160 in 2005, and to 1750 people per square kilometer in 2019. This decline in the density was accompanied by a great urban expansion of the city out of the main island toward the new neighborhoods in the mainland. Mainly southward toward Khalifa City, Mohamed Bin Zayed, Musaffah and Al Shahama cities, and eastward toward the new reclaimed surrounding islands of Abu Dhabi islands as Yas, Al Reem and Al Saadiyat islands.  Thus, when one finds a population of a city having increased from 32,000 to 1.323 million in only 55 years (4000%), such as in the case of Abu Dhabi, one can comfortably label this an abnormality.

The Abnormal and Rapid Urban Sprawl of Abu Dhabi City
It is worth noting that the rapid population growth of Abu Dhabi city especially after 1973 when the city became a capital of the UAE and the oil boom continued to draw a large number of people to Abu Dhabi, necessitating further development. That dramatic population growth accompanied with abnormal urban growth to meet the continuous demand of housing for the foreign expatriates which they constituted more than 85% of population.
The city of Abu Dhabi is located on an island in the Arabian Gulf off the Central West Coast. Most of Abu Dhabi city is located on the island off Abu Dhabi itself, but it has many new residential neighborhoods on the mainland such as The total built-up area of the city increased from only half a square kilometre in 1955 to 758 square kilometres in 2018 (see Figure 4). This abnormal urban growth is apparent in the city's size, territory and urban morphology. The discovery of oil has proven to be one of the principal drivers of Abu Dhabi's development. In a scrutinized study of urban growth maps of Abu Dhabi reveals that the city can be divided into four different stages of urban development. These stages can be described as follows:   Every stage has its own specific urban characteristics as shown in the following study.
Stage I: Urban Origins of Abu Dhabi before 1970 We can divide the urban history of Abu Dhabi during this period into two different phases, the first one describes the poor situation before 1967 followed by the second phase, which showed the first actual uprising beginning of a new urban center from 1967 to 1972. Until the end of the sixties of the twentieth century Abu Dhabi settlement was a very poor and isolated fishing village with slow growing economy and population. The inhabitants lived in houses made of palm fronds called (Arish), due to the lack of resources and particularly capital, so the expansion of its area was limited. In 1955, the total built up area estimated by only one-half square kilometer inhabited by a small population (less than 15 thousand) concentrated on the northern coast of the island.
Although oil was discovered in 1958, only a few developmental steps were taken towards improving living conditions (Elsheshtawy, 2008). The ruler Sheikh Shakhbout wanted to maintain the tribal and Bedouin society. The primary structure that dominated the capital's landscape was the ruler's large rectangular fort and residence with towers at the corners. There were several houses spread along the seashore and between Qasr Al Hosn fort and the beach. The majority of these were made from palm fronds (Arish), while others belonging to the more affluent merchants were built using coral and stone.
At the back of the town there were "some indifferent wells" and the shallow pits yielded water at a place of three to four miles away from the town (Maitra & Al-Hajji, 2001).
As a further hindrance to development in 1961, the ruler imposed a ban on any new construction whereby any contractor/developer had to get prior construction permits, which was not always forthcoming. The ruler also disliked non-Abu Dhabi Arab merchants (Davidson, 2007). As a result, the town remained in a persistent state of underdevelopment with many residents leaving for nearby Dubai which was flourishing. A few steps were taken towards improving living conditions such as the construction of a new school which was opened in 1958 (Elsheshtawy, 2008).
From 1961 to1966, the city's development remained modest, even after it began exporting oil in 1962, due to its conservative governance system. Shakhbout was also reluctant to spend large sums of money on development. Even the con- Separately, a series of essential public projects were constructed. Old houses were slowly torn down and replaced with simple, functional buildings that lacked any kind of ornamentation (Elsheshtawy, 2008).
The second half of 1969 saw a dramatic decline in the urban development; several projected works were cancelled while some already showing above the ground were abandoned. The incentive for this action was a sudden awareness that free spending had stopped the flow of cash. Government debts were not be- It is worth noting that, in the early 1970s to the late 1980s there was a surge in construction activity and the emergence of Abu Dhabi from a small fishing village to an internationally recognizable urban settlement, something which is symptomatic of an "instant" city whose existence is derived from its relatively sudden oil wealth. This is also associated with the emergence of the United Arab Emirates as a political entity in 1971 after seven the emirates decided on a confederation. Furthermore, a decision was made to choose Abu Dhabi as the capi-  (Dempsey, 2014). Some of the main elements of the city, recognizable today, originated at that time.
In October 1973, the Arab-Israeli war led to an oil embargo that caused oil prices to spike. While the "oil shock" reverberated through much of the western world, triggering shortages and slowing economies, the additional revenues ac-  This period is characterized as giving Abu Dhabi its first push toward modernization and changing its landscape to be a true urban center. Apartment buildings were rapidly constructed to satisfy the high demand generated by an expatriate population while work began on new residential areas for Emirati nationals featuring low-cost houses and villas. Community services such as mosques, clinics, schools, and markets were also provided in residential neighborhoods.  During the 1980's Abu Dhabi witnessed another wave of massive urbanization due to the increase in oil prices (Hume, 2008). In 1988, 'The Master Directive Plan for Abu Dhabi and its Environs' ("MDP") was divided into four five-year phases from 1990 to 2010. The plan was introduced to manage uncontrolled development, enhance the efficiency of the urban land-use system, formalize community planning and facilitate sufficient residential zoning for both citizens and non-citizens to satisfy the housing needs of different population segments.
The MDP resulted in massive suburbanization in the mainland that challenged the city's physical and environmental sustainability (Alawadi & Benkraouda, 2017).
The 1980's are characterized as the city's "second facelift" (Hume, J., 2008), with several factors markedly affecting the urban structure of the city during this period: First, the mediocre quality of the first generation of buildings, as well as a heavy turnover of tenants and a housing filtering process, resulted in demolition and reconstruction efforts (urban renewal) throughout the city.
Second, the formalization of building regulations allowing building heights up to 17 or 20 stories resulted in a substantial period of vertical expansion. Separately, renewal inside "superblocks" saw a change in the building form from first-generation low-cost one and two-story housing into medium-rise (up to seven stories) apartment buildings. Moreover, in the central area high-rise buildings proliferated in place of medium rise buildings. Consequently, densities increased in these areas.
Finally, in 1981, the government via the Khalifa Committee expanded into the Department of Social Services and Commercial Buildings (DSCCB) and pressed on with facilitating the process of building projects on behalf of Emirati nationals, from the design brief to construction and from maintenance to rent collection. As a result of increasing high buildings, Emirati nationals were relocated to the periphery, or to the "pristine" parts of the city away from the densely populated areas. The older buildings were sublet to expatriates and then to less affluent households. Some of the vacated low-cost or traditional houses were also internally subdivided by citizens and rented to low-income expatriates. After many years, with little or no maintenance, the buildings became dilapidated and earmarked for demolition. The fresh investment flows from wealthy Emirati nationals provided more reason to knock the buildings down and utilize scarce land for a denser occupation with higher buildings (Othman, 2006).
Economic, social and physical transformation of the city and the major developments in urban structure continued via rapid urban expansion during the 1980s. The urban area expanded enormously as the government invested into improving the road system, building tunnels, bridges, container terminals, trade harbors as well as industrial and residential areas. During the same period financial, business and administrative centers were established in different parts of the city. This attracted a large number of foreigners to seek employment with com- In the early 1990s, Abu Dhabi took a strategic decision to emerge as a major international-quality metropolitan area. The MDP was prepared to guide the economic and physical development of the city into the 21 st century. Anticipating rapid urban growth, and given the limited area on the island, the plan recommended several "extensions" to the city. These included the development of the islands surrounding the city particularity Saadiyat and Hudariyat.
Further growth towards the mainland was suggested along two axes: highways leading to Dubai and Al Ain. The MDP also recommended the conversion of Mussafah from an industrial area to a residential area. Furthermore, the direction of growth would be limited to the Dubai and AI-Ain axes (ADM, 2003).
During the 90's of the 20 th century significant developments were approved or directly sponsored by the government including the bus terminal station, the municipality building, the equestrian club, more hotels, restaurants, Abu Dhabi mall, retail shops, and additional office buildings/complexes. The sewerage network was in its third phase, and greening the city had reached its prime: When once there was once only one big tree, by 1995, there were about 130 million trees in the emirate (Salloum, 1997) and 33 public parks in Abu Dhabi were established (ADM, 1996). were permitted in the Tourist Club area. In some residential sectors, low-cost houses were demolished and replaced with villas or three-to-six story investment properties (Makhlouf, 2006). Demolitions took place for more than 200 The city continued to expand horizontally, and implementation of traffic light systems replaced most of the roundabouts in the city and carriageways were expanded from two to three lanes. The city also grew vertically, as buildings were demolished and reconstructed at greater heights. The development was expanded onto the mainland, several bridges and tunnels were built, and building heights in the central business district ("CBD") were further increased while lower densities were achieved towards the south of the island and on the mainland. Aluminum cladding and reflective glass were the materials of choice during this period. Mangrove planting and green area development were also heightened.
The urban growth of the city was not limited to the horizontal expansion on Abu Dhabi Island, nor the new neighborhoods on the mainland, but rather the nearby islands. The waterfront of Abu Dhabi was, and is still, utilized extensively to the benefit of the city and the emirate and was substantially extended by adding new land (by raising land levels of the adjacent islands to that of the city). Thus, contemporary architecture has transformed Abu Dhabi city into a world-class tourist destination (Mtapuri & Giampiccoli, 2017 (Numbeo.com), and also ranks highly on multiple established "quality of life" league tables.
Today Abu Dhabi city is one of the international hubs of services, commerce, and leisure. Central to this planned urban growth is the construction of a series of mega projects that are sometimes described as cities within Abu Dhabi city.
Principal among these projects are: Al-Saadiyat islands to the east, and southern ward along with Al-Ain, and Dubai highways ( Figure 5).
In 2020, the spread of COVID-19 pandemic and the collapse of oil prices had a severe effect on both the population and the urban growth not only in Abu Dhabi city, but also across several GCC oil exporting countries. These have resulted in a negative impact on investment in many publicly funded development projects where budget cuts have been instituted or projects have even been frozen. These difficult circumstances have had a profound impact on contractor's abilities and skills to keep the workforce fully mobilized and able to make progress with the work on site. Also, these harsh conditions had an impact on a large number of people working in the service sector and rely on this sector for earning their living in jobs in hospitality, tourism, entertainment, logistics, property and retail. Many of Abu Dhabi's hotels and restaurants are internationally acclaimed, but now nearly half the restaurants and hotels are expected to go out of business in the next few months alone For a country that relies on a 90% expatriate population for much of its economic activity, the stakes are even higher: if residents can no longer find work. They are likely to return to their home countries of origin. Job losses and salary cuts as a result of the economic downturn will result in subdued demand for properties from local buyers. Also travel restrictions will reduce international demand. In fact, the economic contraction and its fiscal implications will be most acute and will have a severe effect on the growth of the population as well as the urban growth of the city in the near future.

Conclusion
Abu Dhabi city, the capital of the United Arab Emirates is a good example of a rapidly developing city. Abu Dhabi and other Arabian Gulf cities have evolved tremendously since the second half of 20th century, due to investment of oil and gas revenues from 1975 till present time. The city's population increased from nearly 100,000 in 1975 to more than 1.3 million inhabitants in 2019. The abnormal population growth has been achieved by attracting large numbers of foreign guest workers from many countries, mostly from Asia. The inflow of expatriates has played a significant role in changing the population size and the urban built-up area which has expanded enormously. The rapid development of the city transforms Abu Dhabi from a small poor village into a global business, financial and leisure hub. During the last two decades, Abu Dhabi city's built-up area expanded like never before due to economic growth and investment level acceleration. Development projects were planned to support the expansion of the city, thus transforming deserts into a city of the future. The total built-up area increased from only 13 square kilometres in 1973 to 758 square kilometres in 2019, as Abu Dhabi's area increased almost 5000% in only 45 years. This renders Abu Dhabi one of the fastest-growing cities in the world.
The urban sprawl of Abu Dhabi city is generally distinguished by two main regions; the island which has the earliest developments, and the mainland which has seen multiple new extensions created since the 1970's. The island jutting out into the Arabian Gulf has created a natural limit for the horizontal growth of the city, and increasing number of high-rise buildings. This has contributed to a continuous increase of population density in the island, and resulted in obtaining compact communities which favored closeness and diversity. However, moving outside the island, to the South, a horizontal low-density sprawl started to consume the mainland. The expansion carried along changes in the urban form and the general perception of the city. Leapfrogging developments have generously emerged in the mainland, consisting of mainly residential land use and a very low-density population. The city is known in the region today for its greenery; the former desert strip today includes numerous parks and gardens.
This changing urban form in combination with the hot and arid climate of the area has contributed to bringing the city to one of the highest per capita ecological footprints. In brief, Abu Dhabi has undergone significant abnormal urban changes and great population growth over the past five decades, which has transformed it from a small desert village to a global business and tourism hub and economic centre.

Conflicts of Interest
The author declares no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this paper.