Are Arab Gulf cities on their way to extinction? Is their fate obsolescence? Or, are they the model for our urban future? In this wide-ranging book Yasser Elsheshtawy takes on these tough, but necessary, questions aiming to examine the very nature of the Arab Gulf city and whether it can sustain its existence throughout the 21st century. Having lived in the region for more than two decades he researched its marginalized and forgotten urban settings. By being embedded in these spaces, and reconciling their presence with his own personal encounters with transience, he discovered a resilience and defiance against the forces of the hegemonic city. Using subtle acts of resistance, these temporary inhabitants have found a way to sustain and create a home in the midst of a fast changing and transient urbanity. The stories recounted in this book through case studies and in-depth analysis give hope to cities everywhere. Transience is not a fait accompli. Rather the action of citizens, residents and migrants – even in the highly restrictive spaces of the Gulf – show us that the future metropolis may very well not turn out to be a ‘utopia of the few and a dystopia of the many.’