UAE then and now: when Bur Dubai had the city's only traffic lights

Fifty years on, Al Fahidi Street remains a bustling centre of commerce and humanity

Today, life in the Emirates moves in the fast lane. In a regular series to mark the 50th anniversary of the UAE we take a little trip back in time to see just how much the country has changed.

Half a century separates these two photographs of Bur Dubai, yet it is still recognisably the same place.

The view is looking down 34th Street towards Al Fahidi Street, then, as now, a bustling centre of commerce and humanity.

What is old in 2021 was new in 1971. There is the apartment block, since rebuilt, which is the central focus of the photo, but also something else, easily overlooked at first glance, now a part of everyday life.

These are traffic lights, the first in Dubai, despite the seeming absence of traffic back in the 1970s.

Dubai Creek in 1966 with an already developed Bur Dubai across the water on left.

The pace of development only increased since then with new buildings sprouting in Bur Dubai. This shows Al Fahidi Street in 1971 looking towards Port Rashid.

Life revolved around Dubai Creek during this time. It was also the site of the legendary Plaza Cinema that can been seen on the right, while the Dubai Police pipe band parades through the streets. The Plaza was renamed the Golden Cinema in latter years. It closed in 2015.

The wind towers of Bastakiya in Bur Dubai in the 1970s. The area has been renamed Al Fahidi in the years since. The distinctive curves and circular roof of Deira Tower can be seen on the right.

The Bur Dubai side of the upper Dubai Creek in 1972. The new Dubai Airport is on the other side of Creek with little between it and the Creek.

The junction of Fahidi Street and 34th Street in Bur Dubai in the 1970s. The apartment block in the centre is a classic of its time, with clean lines and balconies shaded from the sun.

Al Fahidi in Bur Dubai, previously known as Bastakiya, was home to many wind towers.

A water taxi, or abra, is rowed across Dubai Creek in 1963.

The architecture of Bur Dubai is striking, such as the Al Fardan Building. Many were built in the 1970s and 1980s and contrast with the modern neighbourhoods.

The Rivoli Building in Bur Dubai area in Dubai. Scores of buildings in Bur Dubai feature motifs such as shaded balconies and arches.

Bur Dubai at night. The area is known for its vibrant street life.

Bur Dubai is also the site of a Hindu temple and the roads around it get crowded around festivals such as diwali.

Despite rules such as mask wearing and distancing brought in to curb Covid-19, Bur Dubai retains its spirit. Here a man sits at his stall in the neighbourhood on October 17, 2020.

The clean architectural lines of the Al Moosa Building in Bur Dubai.

Another side of Dubai. The Al Moosa Building in Bur Dubai.

The facade of the Golden Cinema (Plaza) in Bur Dubai. It closed in 2015 amid the rise of multiplexes and changing tastes.

The photograph was taken by Len Chapman, who runs the Dubai As It Used To Be website.

Mr Chapman moved to Dubai with his young family in 1971, making their home at Al Owais building on Al Fahidi Street, one of the city’s earliest high-rise apartment blocks.

The traffic lights were switched off at midnight, he recalls, and became a source of irritation for drivers, who furiously honked horns if it was felt they stayed too long on red.

“When the traffic lights switched on at 6am, drivers started pressing their horn buttons. Apartment residents did not need alarm clocks.”

Mr Chapman has other memories of those days. On the ground floor of Al Owais building was V V & Sons, then the city’s go-to place for electrical and hi-fi goods. Founded in 1958, the company is still in business.

In the absence of supermarkets, shopping was at K M Brothers grocery (also still going strong), while bread was sold from the back of a van that arrived every evening.

The building on the corner on the right of the photo is another survivor from the 1970s, but pedestrians now walk on pavement rather than the sand sidewalks of those earlier years. On the left, the flag of Dubai can be seen hanging from a shop front.

Mr Chapman lived on Al Fahidi Street for only four months before moving to Jumeirah, but his stay in Dubai lasted more than 30 years. He now lives in Australia but keeps memories of those days alive through his website.