Date of Defense
11-6-2025 6:00 PM
Location
F1 - 1124
Document Type
Dissertation Defense
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy in Architectural Engineering
College
College of Engineering
Department
Architectural Engineering
First Advisor
Dr. Sahera Bleibleh
Keywords
Place Attachment, Everyday Urban Experience, Spatial Behavior, Expatriate Communities, Migration, Dubai, UAE
Abstract
Dubai, a global city where expatriate communities make up the majority of the population, offers a unique context to explore how urban environments are both shaped by and shaping people’s experiences. With rapid growth of migration and deep cultural diversity, the city exemplifies how top-down planning and bottom-up lived experiences interact to influence how individuals form emotional and spatial connections to place. This dissertation investigates the concept of place attachment through the lens of spatial behavior, lived experience, and inherited practices, with a focus on expatriate communities in Dubai. It asks: How do expatriate communities in Dubai experience and express place attachment through their everyday spatial practices? The study frames place attachment as a process of “bridging borders,” where individuals negotiate between their place of origin and their place of residence, forming emotional, cultural, and spatial continuities that transcend geographical boundaries and challenge traditional notion of belonging. This inquiry unfolds across two intertwined scales. On one hand, it explores the individual and communal spatial experiences of place attachment through everyday practices, such as walking, eating, worshipping, and gathering. On the other hand, it connects these intimate experiences to larger urban and migration dynamics, situating them within the structural forces of citymaking, migration and policy. In doing so, it reveals the complex interplay between formal systems (e.g., urban planning, zoning, and regulation) and informal lived realities (e.g., daily routines, cultural rituals, and community ties) that co-produce the experience of place in a highly transient city. Adopting a phenomenological qualitative approach, the study draws on the lived and inherited experiences of expatriates in Dubai, examining how social and symbolic space, such as food venues, religious sites, and personal gathering spaces, become everyday anchors. These sites not only ground individuals emotionally but also serve as platforms for recreating fragments of cultural identity and heritage from their places of origin, while also enabling new spatial engagement with the city. The findings highlight that place attachment in Dubai is shaped by the intersection of planned urban form and unplanned human experience. The coexistence of these layers transforms Dubai into a site of negotiation, adaptation, and meaning-making. Importantly, the study challenges
the idea that place attachment is tied only to permanence or long-term residence. Instead, it argues that emotional depth and cultural memory can flourish even in transient, hyper-planned environments, given the right social and spatial conditions. This research contributes to wider academic discussions in urban planning, migration studies, and social sustainability, calling for more focus on the lived, informal, and emotional dimensions of urban life, especially in cities shaped by migration, diversity, and impermanence. Ultimately, it offers a nuanced understanding of how expatriate communities form meaningful, lasting connections to places they may never formally call their own.
Included in
BRIDGING BORDERS: EXPLORING PLACE ATTACHMENT AS SPATIAL LIVED EXPERIENCES OF EXPATRIATE COMMUNITIES IN DUBAI, UAE
F1 - 1124
Dubai, a global city where expatriate communities make up the majority of the population, offers a unique context to explore how urban environments are both shaped by and shaping people’s experiences. With rapid growth of migration and deep cultural diversity, the city exemplifies how top-down planning and bottom-up lived experiences interact to influence how individuals form emotional and spatial connections to place. This dissertation investigates the concept of place attachment through the lens of spatial behavior, lived experience, and inherited practices, with a focus on expatriate communities in Dubai. It asks: How do expatriate communities in Dubai experience and express place attachment through their everyday spatial practices? The study frames place attachment as a process of “bridging borders,” where individuals negotiate between their place of origin and their place of residence, forming emotional, cultural, and spatial continuities that transcend geographical boundaries and challenge traditional notion of belonging. This inquiry unfolds across two intertwined scales. On one hand, it explores the individual and communal spatial experiences of place attachment through everyday practices, such as walking, eating, worshipping, and gathering. On the other hand, it connects these intimate experiences to larger urban and migration dynamics, situating them within the structural forces of citymaking, migration and policy. In doing so, it reveals the complex interplay between formal systems (e.g., urban planning, zoning, and regulation) and informal lived realities (e.g., daily routines, cultural rituals, and community ties) that co-produce the experience of place in a highly transient city. Adopting a phenomenological qualitative approach, the study draws on the lived and inherited experiences of expatriates in Dubai, examining how social and symbolic space, such as food venues, religious sites, and personal gathering spaces, become everyday anchors. These sites not only ground individuals emotionally but also serve as platforms for recreating fragments of cultural identity and heritage from their places of origin, while also enabling new spatial engagement with the city. The findings highlight that place attachment in Dubai is shaped by the intersection of planned urban form and unplanned human experience. The coexistence of these layers transforms Dubai into a site of negotiation, adaptation, and meaning-making. Importantly, the study challenges
the idea that place attachment is tied only to permanence or long-term residence. Instead, it argues that emotional depth and cultural memory can flourish even in transient, hyper-planned environments, given the right social and spatial conditions. This research contributes to wider academic discussions in urban planning, migration studies, and social sustainability, calling for more focus on the lived, informal, and emotional dimensions of urban life, especially in cities shaped by migration, diversity, and impermanence. Ultimately, it offers a nuanced understanding of how expatriate communities form meaningful, lasting connections to places they may never formally call their own.