Dubai Media City

Dubai Media City (DMC), part of Dubai Holding, is a tax-free zone within Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

History and profile

The Dubai Media City was established in 2000. It was built by the Dubai government to boost UAE's media foothold, and has become a regional hub for media organizations including news agencies, publishing, online media, advertising, production, and broadcast facilities. The groundwork for infrastructure (such as fiber optic cables) was already laid for firms to set up easily and its visa and operational procedures are relaxed for firms operating within DMC.

Dubai Media City is the hub for the media industry in the GCC and Middle East, with more than 1,300 companies registered under the Free Zone, from where they serve the entire region. It also houses the International Cricket Council, the governing body of the game of cricket in the world. Earlier, before 2005, it was situated in London.

Censorship

On 16 November 2007, the Dubai government ordered Tecom (implemented by Du Samacom, by disabling their SDI & ASI streams) to shut down the Pakistani independent and private channels Geo News TV and ARY One World on the demand of the military regime of Pakistan led by General and President Pervez Musharraf. Later policy makers in Dubai permitted these channels to air their entertainment programs, but news, current affairs and political analysis were forbidden to be aired. Later, however, the conditions were removed but a marked difference has been observed in the coverage of Geo TV and ARY OneWorld.

Media City

Media City is a broad term that may refer to a diversity of phenomena, from specific real estate developments like MediaCityUK and Dubai Media City, to sociological/theoretical frameworks for the contemporary information- and media-rich urban environment (e.g. the work of Manuel Castells), to an EU-funded research project based in the departments of Architecture, Media and Urban Sociology at the Bauhaus University, Weimar, Germany.

According to Shannon Mattern, the Media City "is typically presented by scholars and designers as a product of modern times and modern technology — a spatial construction that came into being with the rise of photography and film and is evolving into our sentient cities of tomorrow."

References

External links

Dubai Media Incorporated

Dubai Media Incorporated (DMI) is the official media organization of the government of Dubai. It was established in 2003 as a government-owned company comprising a number of print, radio and TV channels under its umbrella including: Dubai TV, Al Bayan, Sama Dubai TV, Dubai One, Dubai Sports, Dubai Racing, Noor Dubai Radio & Noor Dubai TV, Dubai FM, Emarat Al Youm, Emirates 24/7, Tawseel and Masar Printing Press. Now renamed to DCN i.e. Dubai Channels Network in 2015.The chairman of the board of directors of DMI, Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, is also the deputy ruler of Dubai.

History

Before DMI was established, the government-owned media outlets were a part of the Dubai Department of Media. These included a number of TV channels which were launched and closed over many years prior to the establishment of DMI. These included Dubai TV, Dubai 33, Dubai Business Channel, Al Bayan Newspaper, Dubai 92 and Dubai FM.

After the establishment of Arab Media Group (AMG) in 2005, which is a part of TECOM Investments, the technology and media holdings management arm of Dubai Holding, all of the radio stations and newspapers were transferred under AMG, leaving DMI with only four TV channels (Dubai TV, Sama Dubai, Dubai One and Dubai Sports) and began, essentially, privatizing the media outlets of Dubai.

Dubai

Dubai (/duːˈbaɪ/ doo-BY; Arabic: دبي‎ Dubayy, Gulf pronunciation: [dʊˈbɑj]) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It is located on the southeast coast of the Persian Gulf and is one of the seven emirates that make up the country. Abu Dhabi and Dubai are the only two emirates to have veto power over critical matters of national importance in the country's legislature. The city of Dubai is located on the emirate's northern coastline and heads up the Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman metropolitan area. Dubai is to host World Expo 2020.

Dubai has emerged as a global city and business hub of the Middle East. It is also a major transport hub for passengers and cargo. By the 1960s Dubai's economy was based on revenues from trade and, to a smaller extent, oil exploration concessions, but oil was not discovered until 1966. Oil revenue first started to flow in 1969. Dubai's oil revenue helped accelerate the early development of the city, but its reserves are limited and production levels are low: today, less than 5% of the emirate's revenue comes from oil. The emirate's Western-style model of business drives its economy with the main revenues now coming from tourism, aviation, real estate, and financial services. Dubai has recently attracted world attention through many innovative large construction projects and sports events. The city has become iconic for its skyscrapers and high-rise buildings, in particular the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa. Dubai has been criticised for human rights violations concerning the city's largely South Asian workforce. Dubai's property market experienced a major deterioration in 2008–09 following the financial crisis of 2007–08, but the emirate's economy has made a return to growth, with a projected 2015 budget surplus.

City

A city is a large and permanent human settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town in general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.

Cities generally have complex systems for sanitation, utilities, land usage, housing, and transportation. The concentration of development greatly facilitates interaction between people and businesses, benefiting both parties in the process, but it also presents challenges to managing urban growth.

A big city or metropolis usually has associated suburbs and exurbs. Such cities are usually associated with metropolitan areas and urban areas, creating numerous business commuters traveling to urban centers for employment. Once a city expands far enough to reach another city, this region can be deemed a conurbation or megalopolis. In terms of population, the largest city proper is Shanghai, while the fastest-growing is Dubai.

Origins

There is not enough evidence to assert what conditions gave rise to the first cities. Some theorists have speculated on what they consider suitable pre-conditions and basic mechanisms that might have been important driving forces.