Some cities simply shouldn't exist, but yet here we are.

Take Las Vegas for example. An adult carnival doesn't just magically sprout in the middle of the desert without some governmental policies making it possible.

Building cities to attract tourists in the middle of harsh climates like desert are very impractical. It doesn't rain in the desert, so you have to be creative about how to get enough water to sustain a population and its accompanying industries.

Dubai, like Vegas, Riyadh, Doha, and a few other desert megacities has managed to figure out. But unlike Vegas, which capitalizes on the legalization of gambling, and Riyadh and Doha, which would likely crumble if oil were to cease to exist, Dubai has moved past its reliance on fossil fuels to create a sustainable world-renowned city with a diversified economy.

It's remarkably impressive to witness.

The closest comparison I have to Dubai is Singapore, which is also a city that shouldn't exist. But the sheer scale of Dubai dwarfs Singapore. It dwarfs Las Vegas.

It even dwarfs New York City, which I didn't think was possible.

While New York is more condensed, with skyscrapers one on top of the other, Dubai's are slightly more spaced out while giving the appearence of density, which is a bit of a mind warp when it came to my perspective of scale. It makes the city feel massive, albeit entirely unwalkable.

In their defense, who wants to walk around in a city that pushes 100º F (40º C) for 9 months out of the year?

What to do in Dubai?

This is an entirely unanswerable question.

Not because they're aren't things to do. In fact, it's because there's so much to do.

You could probably spend a year in Dubai and still be checking things off your bucket list.

But, some general highlights include:

• The Burj Khalifa: still the tallest building in the world, but not for much longer
• The Dubai Mall: a mall that feels like it was built to the scale of 10-foot tall humans
• The Palm: despite all of Mother Nature's talent, I'm pretty sure that island didn't appear naturally
• JBR: a beachfront with shops, vibes, and people wearing swimsuits that make you question whether you're actually still in the Middle East
• Dubai Marina: an inland bay that almost felt like I didn't need to be Emirati royalty to live there

There is much, much more to add, but you get the point. There is plenty to do in Dubai.

However, it brought up an interesting observation that became apparent after only a few days in the city.

Hardly anything in Dubai is actually natural or authentic.

They've built this experience, that experience.

This unique structure, that unique structure.

But, besides desert tours that happen outside of the city, it's all human-made, curated so that you can never get bored, but perhaps also never fully content either.

As a tourist that is. There's no doubt the quality of life as a resident is extremely high and everything you need is at your fingertips: little to no taxes, well-paying jobs, amazing food, great healthcare, and more.

But, after a couple days of being wowed by the city and accompanying lifestyle, I couldn't shake a creeping feeling that I had about Dubai.

It felt...distopian.

Two Sides to Every Story

I came to be surprised at how clean Dubai was.

There was no trash anywhere.

Every sidewalk was clean and tidy.

Public spaces were neat and orderly.

I actually noticed this on my trip to another budding Middle Eastern desert oasis, Doha, as well, but I chalked it up to the fact that it was a relatively new city and probably hadn't yet accumulated the grit and grime that comes with time.

On the other hand, Dubai has been building skyscrapers for 25 years now. A drop in the bucket compared to some European cities, but plenty of time to accumulate some wear and tear.

Nope. Dubai was spick and span. It was at this point that I noticed that the city simply employes an absurd amount of people in the cleaning sector.

An example: In America, a restaurant toilet might get cleaned once a day. This keeps it clean, but also makes it feel used.

In Dubai, once you finish using the restroom, there is almost always a guy there cleaning the toilet immediately after you finish, before the next person takes their turn to go.

Extrapolating this example on the scale of all public spaces in the city keeps things clean. Almost so clean that it doesn't feel real.

I like things to be sanitary and orderly like anyone else. But I realized while in Dubai that most cities feel like they've been lived in, which give them some charm–something I've always taken for granted.

It's hard to hate on a city for feeling too clean, but here we are.

It also makes you wonder about the people employed to keep the cleanliness, and most service-based jobs in the city for that matter.

The Other Side

Dubai, along with New York City, are the most expensive places I've ever been. But I did get to explore another side of the city for an afternoon.

While visiting Deira, an older part of the city, I found some nooks and crannies where prices dropped dramatically as did the opulence. With this came an increase in migrant workers milling around and a decrease in the number of tourists.

So yes, Dubai does have another side. I'm not here to comment on working conditions or the ethics of bringing in migrants, most of them from South Asia, to occupy service-based jobs, but it's objectively true that this city was built on the backs of migrants.

It's largely maintained through the work of migrants.

At the very least, we should appreciate that this desert paradise wouldn't be possible without migrants.

Conclusion

Dubai was really cool to see.

It's impressive that a city built on oil has so succesfully weaned off its dependence on fossil fuels and become a thriving and sustainable in such a difficult climate.

No doubt I was awestruck by the grandeur the first few days I spent there.

Once I got over that however, I got a similar feeling to Singapore, whereby I became less and less enamored by the manufactured experiences, and longed more and more for some natural beauty.

And a walkable city.

That's not to say Dubai wasn't glamorous. It was almost too glamorous.

But that's not for me.