The coastal strip between Sharm El Sheikh airport and the town of Naqb offers a glimpse of the changing nature and volatility of the middle east. The post Arab Spring climate of tension, optimism, fear, and uncertainty may not fully penetrate the compounds along this desert strip, with tight security and a military presence aiming to protect tourists from seeing a country in transition, but it nonetheless provides the backdrop to a fascinating atmosphere. With oil money funding a construction boom of luxury resorts, shopping malls and mansions, Sharm El sheikh is well on the way to becoming the next Dubai.

The analogy with Dubai is also apt because it carries a warning – the boom in Dubai could only occur as a result of the construction carried out by migrant workers lacking the most basic rights, but the main benefits have flowed to an already wealthy elite. Those workers have seen none of the benefits of building the average premiership footballers holiday destination of choice.

The situation in Egypt may not (yet) involve the level of abuse of Dubai, but it is clear that the local community will end up seeing very little of the development. Whilst the mega-5 star complexes offer the opportunity for employment as low wage waiters, cleaners, and porters, (make sure you supplement these wages with generous tips) the heightened security and social structure ensures that the majority of profits will head elsewhere in the Middle East. With little reason to leave the compounds, most tourists do not brave the local markets with their culture of bartering and (what seems to us) aggressive sales tactics, and thus do not provide an opportunity for the local population to demonstrate entrepreneurial flair and benefit from the region’s undoubted potential. It is a story of inequality and the failure of development to truly benefit the poor that is sadly repeated elsewhere all too often.

Whilst wandering along the seafront looking over the red sea at Saudi Arabia – another country whose oil wealth has achieved little other than enriching a corrupt and brutal elite– I was struck by the similarities between this coastal strip and another coastal strip closer to home. It is undeniable that Cardiff bay has been transformed by billions of pounds of investment – both public and private – in major schemes such as the barrage, luxury apartments and the numerous new office blocks. Yet yards away lies one of the most deprived areas in Wales, an area that has gained little from the billions nearby.

From Egypt to our own Cardiff bay it seems there are some fundamental truths about the casino capitalism of boom and bust. Economic growth does not trickle down to the poor, spending billions on construction and infrastructure projects is not really regeneration, and tackling poverty and social justice requires more than attracting tourists and oil money.

James Roberts