Dubai kind of makes me think of the early days of New York City. I feel like it is just reborn, Dubai now has nothing to do with what it was at the creation of the United Arab Emirates. It's building its own identity right now.
It seems that people wondering about Dubai's authenticity are looking for the wrong things in the wrong places. Yes there still exists the ancient Emirati culture, but that isn't the culture, the identity of Dubai as a whole. As mentioned before they only represent 8% of the population of city. If you are looking for the authentic Arab culture, you have to go into an Emirate's house, live their lifestyle -- still very different from any other. The rest of the population are all expats from all over the world each still living like they used to back home. While the Emirati (still wearing the traditional clothes) will go camping in the desert over the weekend to spend quality time with the family (still strongly valued in their culture), the European will go sailing around The World (inside joke: The World Islands recently built off the Dubai coast). I cannot comment about South Asian traditions as I do not know much about them, but each population brings along its culture.
The identity of Dubai as a whole is of a growing city made up of the amalgamation of many cultures. You cannot ask for the authenticity of a newborn city, only of its subparts.
I feel like Dubai is not an Arab city, it's a melting pot.
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