Here is a long Wired piece on the social & economic climate in Dubai. Below, I noted that there is something in the "Muslim" experience that seems to result in a subset of individuals who have psychopathic tendencies becoming prominent figures, Dubai is a counter-example, "the other end of the distribution," so to speak, as it seems rather familiar in its motivations and values to the typical Westerner.

Here are some statistics on the city of Dubai:

Population: 1,040,000
Ethnic mix:
60% Indian, Pakistani and Filipino, 25% Emiratis, 12% Arab and 3% Western ex-pats.
Religion:
57% Muslim, 20% Hindu, 20% Roman Catholic and 3% other.

The Economist City Guide seems to indicate that Dubai has a moderate religious climate (the fact that places like Dubai and Oman have Hindu temples must enrage the Salafi/Wahhabis of Saudi Arabia, since it could argued that this is reintroduction of polytheism to the Arabian peninsula). Even this site that tracks persecution has little to say negative about Dubai, though religious equality is not the norm, naturalization is limited to Sunni Muslims, and Non-Muslims may not proselytize publicly or distribute religious literature.

Prostitution and sex are not difficult to come by in Dubai City, though bring condoms! (according to the The World Sex Guide) Some Muslims aren't happy about this situation.

Of course, perspective is important, there are 200 million Arabs, and we are talking here about a city dominated economically by self-selected non-Arabs (though mostly Muslim). A general assertion of the squalor of the Arab world can not be refuted by Dubai unless you live in a world of idealized forms and truths. Rather, Dubai might serve as a goal, a light which some people might wish the Arab would drift toward (a glow of hedonistic capitalism & the pleasures of the flesh in the distance).