Abu Dhabi as we know it today, almost literally erupted from the sands in the early 1970s, the product of growing oil revenues and the ambition of Sheikh Zayed, the President of the UAE, for his new country.
This is Sheikh Zayed Street around 1973, looking across from Airport Road with the Corniche on the left. The first high rise buildings are under construction, for the influx of workers heading to the Arabian Gulf’s newest boom town.
It was one of those who took this photograph, Peter Alvis, recruited to work in the oil industry.
Very few of these early mixed-used buildings have survived the last 40 years, but the basic shape of the city remains unchanged, although the roundabouts seen here have been replaced by junctions.
Despite the best efforts of city planners, Zayed the First Street is still better known as Electra after the electrical shop that was one of the early fixtures. It is named in honour of the Ruler of Abu Dhabi from 1855 to 1909, popularly known as Zayed the Great and the great grandfather of the current President and Ruler, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed.
* James Langton
