Peak summer in the UAE has long been treated as a season of strategic skedaddling. People’s apartments are shuttered, automated out-of-office messages are switched on, restaurants are suddenly easy to book and anyone with a foreign passport or well-timed Schengen visa won’t hesitate to use them. And yet it was on just such a recently sweltering evening in Abu Dhabi when sensible people might otherwise be hightailing it for the airport that a full house squeezed into Saikindō – the sleek Japanese listening bar at the Four Seasons Hotel on Maryah Island – for the launch of Monocle’s Quality of Life special.

Joining team Monocle to raise a glass or three was a lively and engaged crowd of ambassadors, chief executives, cultural operators, editors, developers, airline bosses, local entrepreneurs and even a few familiar faces. The group had real reason to celebrate. Our summer double issue (available now on shelves and online) includes Monocle’s annual Quality of Life Survey, a testament to smart urban initiations in cities around the world, which has captured the attention of international news outlets. 

From the Abu Dhabi weekender in November last year following the launch of the Abu Dhabi 101 guide to recent Monocle Radio broadcasts across the emirates during a volatile period for the Gulf, Monocle has been steadily deepening its presence in the UAE. Our summer issue features a smart collaboration with the Abu Dhabi Department for Culture and Tourism, acknowledging that while the capital is an established destination for spending money, it is an increasingly enticing place to spend time – particularly the city’s ever-expanding cultural hub. 

Abu Dhabi is often framed through what it has built and is building, whether that be museums, universities, airports, residential islands or civic infrastructure – but what kind of city is emerging?

The Monocle party offered a useful snapshot in the guestlist alone. Executives and diplomats such as Her Excellency Nouf Al-Bushlaibi of Adnoc, Aldar CEO Saoud Khoury, the EU ambassador to the UAE, Swiss ambassador Arthur Mattli, Italian ambassador Lorenzo Fanara and representatives from the UAE’s ministry of foreign affairs mingled with Abu Dhabi Airports CEO Carsten Noerland and journalists including CNN anchor Becky Anderson and The National’s editor in chief, Mina al-Oraibi. 

The varied attendees demonstrate Monocle’s growing footprint is  about making a serious contribution to a city which takes the intersection of culture, infrastructure, aviation, diplomacy and design seriously.

As the party drew to a close, the room still had the hum of a soirée in full swing. Perhaps the attendees were keen to delay their return to torrid temperatures outside. Or perhaps, if the mood by the bar was anything to go by, Abu Dhabi needed an excuse to celebrate – and the launch of Monocle’s July/August issue was just the ticket.

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