Speaking for Dubai - Everyday life is pretty good if you have a good-paying job in a good company/work environment. Most services are abundant and cheap which makes life outside of work easier/convenient. Work-life balance is not the best for many, and the job market is extremely competitive. It still has most of the problems you complained about though, overcrowding. Traffic has been a nightmare basically everywhere lately. To be honest, I think most places that are great to live in have this problem, at least to some degree