After months of covering the transformation underway in Qatar and throughout the Middle East, I finally arrived in Doha Saturday night. So far the city has engaged and fascinated me in a way similar to how I have fawned over my past travel destinations including Sarajevo, Montevideo, Salvador and Kosovo.

The mix of the old and new is heavily weighted towards the new, but remnants of Qatar's past still thrive. And my walk along the Corniche was a vivid display of both Qatar's accomplishments and its still hugely untapped potential.

On a crisp desert winter night, I found myself scoping out the new skyscrapers in the northern shore of the Corniche. The walk was necessary after a huge meal in Souq Waqif, and yet proved inspiring for the way in which I observed designers and developers are pushing the bounds of architecture and design. My five day immersion course in all of what boosts and challenges Qatar has just started, but my infatuation is only at a very early start.

North Corniche at night

North Corniche at night

Pearl Monument, southern Corniche

Pearl Monument, southern Corniche

About The Author

Leon Kaye

Leon Kaye is the founder and editor of GreenGoPost.com and its advisory division, GGP Media. Contact him to discuss how he can work with your organization or event. His focus is making the business case for sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR). He writes for San Francisco-based Triple Pundit, Inhabitat and now The Guardian, for which he writes about corporate responsibility, water, and green building. He has also written for AIA's Architect Magazine. Leon works out of Fresno and Silicon Valley, California, and when he has free time, he enjoys hiking, gardening, cooking, weightlifting, and planning his next trip to one of the 60 countries he has visited. He has an MBA from USC's Marshall School of Business and is also a proud graduate of the University of Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC) and Cal State-Fresno.