It is basking in oil-fuelled cash at a time of global financial turbulence. And it has been spared the threatening ripples of the Arab spring. Yet Abu Dhabi, the wealthy capital of the United Arab Emirates, is not banking on immunity. Instead, it has been creating its own stress.
For months, the government has thrown itself into a spending review that is leading to a rethinking of priorities in an emirate that has been trying to transform its oil-dependent economy, developing whole new cities in projects ranging from vast cultural centres to a semiconductors industry.
The review has cast doubt on the future of Saadiyat Island, designed to be the sprawling site of a new Arab cultural city with world-class museums surrounded by hotels, golf courses and luxury villas. The timeline on the museums projects, including the Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim, has been extended.
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