{
  "id": 7933055,
  "title": "Abu Dhabi after 35 years: Pakistani expat’s love letter to the city she calls home — ‘You won't get lost here'",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/17/abu-dhabi-after-35-years-pakistani-expats-love-letter-to-the-city-she",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-09-17T02:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Gulf News",
    "slug": "gulf-news",
    "url": "https://gulfnews.com/lifestyle/abu-dhabi-after-35-years-pakistani-expats-love-letter-to-the-city-she-calls-home-you-wont-get-lost-here-1.500677308"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "For over four decades, Shehla Sohail has called Abu Dhabi her home. Born and raised in the UAE, she spent 35 years living in the city, witnessing its evolution from a quiet coastal town to a bustling modern metropolis. Despite the changes, Sohail remains fond of the city, appreciating its peaceful ambiance. She fondly recalls the simple days of visiting parks like Electra Park, where people would play badminton and football, as well as the early days of Marina Mall, which was once the most popular destination before newer malls sprang up. While the climate has become more intense over the years, Sohail's sense of familiarity remains unwavering. She insists that one can never get lost in Abu Dhabi, finding that the city's layout is easy to navigate. After 40 years, Sohail has no intention of leaving, finding the city's infrastructure and lifestyle to be utterly convenient.",
  "summary": "You don't need ChatGPT to show you what 90's Abu Dhabi looked like. You can just ask those who actually lived there through the 80's and 90s. And that's what we did; we spoke to Abu Dhabi-based Shehla Sohail, who has lived in the UAE for a little over 40 years, and in Abu Dhabi, 35 years. She did her schooling and university in UAE, went to Pakistan briefly, where her daughter Sunaira was born,…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}