In February 2023, I sailed through Dubai. "Sailed," as in, on the web, because Dubai has all the hallmarks of a virtual world. This concept city was planned and built over three generations, in the middle of the desert. Everything is very carefully designed: the road junctions, the railways, the building blocks with their water features and palm trees. In this world of developers, one feels like one is in a blueprint or an architect's model, like those proudly displayed in various public places. Or in a science fiction universe. Because the ambition of the current sheikh is to offer the world "the best of the future," as can be read in his book and on the signs visible throughout the city. In Dubai, order reigns, everything is controlled. Screens are everywhere, as are the police. Will this reality become ours? Under what control and in what artificiality will we agree to live? Perhaps one day archaeologists will find the city buried in the sand, or will it vanish like a mirage, as suddenly as it appeared.

In February 2023 I "browsed" Dubai. “I wrote "browse", because Dubai has everything of a virtual world. This concept city was planned and built over three generations, in the middle of the desert. Everything is carefully drawn, the road junctions, the railways, the blocks of buildings with their ponds and their palm trees. In this world of developers we feel like we are in a blueprint or an architect's model, like those that are proudly displayed in different public places. Or in a science fiction universe. Because the ambition of the current sheik is to offer the world “the best of the future” as we can read in his book and on the signs visible throughout the city. In Dubai, order reigns and everything is controlled. The screens are everywhere, and so are the police. Will this become our reality? What kind of control and artificiality will we accept to live under? Perhaps one day archaeologists will find the city buried in the sand, or it will disappear like a mirage, as suddenly as it appears.