At first glance, the urban landscape of Bahrain appears similar to most of its Gulf neighbours: a healthy scattering of new high-rises, sail-shaped buildings, malls disguised and replicating city centres, and gated residential compounds, all seemingly randomly arranged along engineered coastlines and connected by an imposing infrastructure of highways, tunnels and bridges weaving through the flat landscape. However, present-day Bahrain faces unique challenges that distinguish it from other countries in the region, such as the depletion of the oil that supported its rapid growth. Whereas the island led the Gulf into the age of oil-based economies prior to the Second World War, it now has the potential to lead it out with the cultivation of the appropriate development policies.
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