TDSR VOLUME XXII NUMBER II 2011 19 The Prophecy of Code 46 : Afuera in Dubai, or Our Urban Future YASSER ELSHESHTAWY Using the premise of Code 46 — a science iction ilm whose setting blends existing cit- ies and locales to envision a global metropolis — the article argues that the city of Dubai is emblematic of its imagined dystopian future. The movie is pertinent since it relies on existing locales in Shanghai, Dubai and Seattle, rather than stage sets, and thus evokes a future that is thoroughly grounded in the present. Following a discussion of the role of dystopia in urban studies and science iction, the article shifts to an investigation of Dubai, focusing on its marginalized district of Satwa. Satwa is revealing because of its outsider status, its proximity to glamorous new developments, and the currently stalled effort to replace it according to a utopian urban renewal plan. The case of Satwa perfectly captures what can be termed the Dubai paradox, containing as it does both utopic and dystopic conditions, and as such, it evokes a poignant sense of realness and humanity, a recurring theme within the utopian discourse of science iction. The article concludes with a discus- sion of the relevance of such analysis to our understanding of globalizing cities. They don’t care what you think if you are afuera — to them you don’t exist. — Code 46 The director Michael Winterbottom’s 2003 ilm Code 46 presents a dystopian vision of a society in the near future in which major cities have been transformed into gated centers protected from the dangers and unpredictability of those on the margins of society — dubbed afuera, or “outside” in Spanish. The cities depicted represent an amalgam of the deserts and highrises of Dubai, the gleaming towers of Shanghai and Hong Kong, and the villages of Rajasthan. Within these cityscapes a new managerial class moves freely, seemingly uninterrupted, from one space to the next — an intentional strategy the ilm- Yasser Elsheshtawy is...