Unfortunately, I don't think that an article about Vietnam would generate as much traffic or eyeballs for Vanity Fair. I agree with you - there are much bigger issues going on in the world than Dubai's lack of culture, but it sounds like you should be reading The Economist instead of Vanity Fair.

Reading about Dubai is interesting to some people; I don't see the point in bashing it. At the end of the day, Vanity Fair is a business and they're trying to make something people want.