Acknowledgement

The investigation and analysis of this thesis would not have been possible without the inputs and guidance of our professors Davide Ponzini and Stefano Di Vita. Their organisation and expertise made the process smooth and achievable in spite of the challenges faced in working remotely. Thanks to professor Davide for all the reference material, contacts and letters of permission provided on time as and when required.

My imense gratitude lies towards my co-author Sneha Santhosh Kumar whose knowledge and experience from living in Dubai for over 14 years allowed us to develop our case rich in facts based on experience. Her contribution throughout and especially in the Urban design section has given this research an all-round enrichment.

Other mentions of gratitude go out to the Municipality of Dubai for providing us the material we required, friends and acquaintances for taking part in our survey enthusiastically, Arjun Mani (MSc Aeronautical engineering) for taking on site pictures of one of our cases, Marcello Panzone for proofreading the Italian abstract, my family for their continued support, prayers and well wishes throughout this journey which has helped me finish this thesis to the best of my abilities and on time.

Thanks to God for all thy blessings.

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