RISING FROM THE DESERT

WITH ITS CUTTING-EDGE ARCHITECTURE, COMMITMENT TO ART AND CULTURE, AND FOCUS ON SUSTANABILITY, COULD DOHA, QATAR, OFFER CITIES ACROSS THE WORLD A BLUEPRINT FOR THE FUTURE?

- WHITNEY RONINSON

During my time as editor in chief of Elle Decor, my colleagues and I talked a lot about the future. Conversations about everything from architecture and building materials to inclusive, universal design would make us consider how these elements might influence our collective tomorrow. And, inevitably, these conversations would focus on the trajectory of cities. What would they look like? How sustainable would they be? Would there still be cars? Would humans figure out a way to coexist more harmoniously?

Today, these questions are more pressing than ever as the effect of the pandemic on our urban centres is furiously analysed. In the COVID-19 age, it seems everything about the way our cities were created needs re-examining—and even, in some cases, reimagining.

As we ask ourselves what cities of the future should look like, we naturally look around for examples. Places like Shanghai, Tokyo, and New York City seem to fit the description on paper: each has vast neon-tinged skylines, sprawling (albeit sometimes out-of-date) public-transportation infrastructures, and a renewed focus on the pedestrian experience, thanks to forward-thinking projects like the High Line—an elevated park on an abandoned railway line that brought a little bit of nature to Manhattan’s far west side.

But to me, the designation ‘futuristic city’ isn’t a formula— it’s an ever-changing experiment that evolves to meet the needs of the people. And I’d argue that no city better encapsulates that definition than Doha, the capital of Qatar.