New
New
Year 9

Dubai: A global city

I can explain Dubai's development and global role.

New
New
Year 9

Dubai: A global city

I can explain Dubai's development and global role.

These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

Switch to our new teaching resources now - designed by teachers and leading subject experts, and tested in classrooms.

These resources were created for remote use during the pandemic and are not designed for classroom teaching.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Dubai grew from a small port to a global city.
  2. Oil wealth funded rapid development.
  3. Tourism, trade, and finance now drive the economy.
  4. Urban growth raises environmental challenges.

Keywords

  • Economy - the way a country produces, uses and manages money, jobs, goods and services

  • Global city - an urban area that has strong international connections and advantages over other places

  • Infrastructure - all the basic systems in a country, such as transport and power supply

  • Development - the improvement in people's quality of life within a country or region

  • Impact - to have an effect or influence

Common misconception

Dubai is only rich because of oil.

Whilst oil funded Dubai’s early growth, it now contributes only a small part of its GDP. Tourism, finance, and trade are the dominant economic drivers today.


To help you plan your year 9 geography lesson on: Dubai: A global city, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Students should understand that resources triggered development but did not sustain it alone — leadership and investment choices also mattered.
Teacher tip

Equipment

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

Loading...

Prior knowledge starter quiz

Download quiz pdf

6 Questions

Q1.
Match the keywords to their meanings:

Correct Answer:inequality,When people or places have very different levels of wealth

When people or places have very different levels of wealth

Correct Answer:GDP,The value of all goods and services a country produces

The value of all goods and services a country produces

Correct Answer:petrostate,A country that earns much of its income from oil

A country that earns much of its income from oil

Correct Answer:export,Sending goods to be sold in other countries

Sending goods to be sold in other countries

Q2.
What is the main export of many Middle Eastern countries?

Wheat
Gold
Correct answer: Oil
Fish

Q3.
Countries that rely mainly on oil exports are often called a .

Correct Answer: petrostate

Q4.
Which Middle Eastern city has grown rapidly thanks to oil wealth?

Correct answer: Dubai
Cairo
Tehran
Istanbul

Q5.
Which country has large oil reserves but still faces economic problems?

UAE
Correct answer: Iraq
Qatar
Kuwait

Q6.
“If a country has oil, it will be rich and developed.” Which statement is most accurate?

Oil always brings equal development
Oil makes all countries rich
Correct answer: Oil can bring wealth, but not all countries manage it well
Oil automatically solves poverty

Assessment exit quiz

Download quiz pdf

5 Questions

Q1.
Match the keywords to their meanings:

Correct Answer:economy,How a country produces and manages jobs, money and goods

How a country produces and manages jobs, money and goods

Correct Answer:infrastructure,Systems like transport and electricity that support a country

Systems like transport and electricity that support a country

Correct Answer:global city,Internationally connected and competitive urban area

Internationally connected and competitive urban area

Correct Answer:development,Improving people’s quality of life

Improving people’s quality of life

Correct Answer:impact,To have an effect or influence

To have an effect or influence

Q2.
What did oil help Dubai do in the 1970s and 1980s?

Become a global centre of farming
Correct answer: Improve its infrastructure and economy
Reduce its global trade links
End tourism in the region

Q3.
What sector now brings in the most money to Dubai’s economy?

Oil
Agriculture
Correct answer: Tourism, finance and trade
Fishing

Q4.
Which is most likely to have a strong impact on Dubai’s economy?

Correct answer: Growth in international tourism and investment
Global demand for camel racing
Changes in global oil prices only
Decline in desert temperatures

Q5.
What is a more accurate statement than "Dubai is only rich because of oil"?

Oil is the only source of Dubai’s wealth
Oil is not important in Dubai’s economy
Correct answer: Tourism, finance and trade are now more important than oil
Dubai no longer earns any money from oil