I would disagree. Dubai is not worth going if you want to see "real" Middle East, Deira old city is small and not that interesting. Dubai's selling point is exactly this absurd unplanned grandeour, skyscraper forests, ultra-luxury, biggest malls etc. Guess you can call it fake, although Burj Khalifa feels pretty real architectural statement to me. But if you wanna see old-school stuff, you can hop over to Oman, 40 min flight.