miami is freaking huge. I'm not really sure what point you're trying to make about it.
also, it's more than just Miami -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Florida_metropolitan_area
I interpreted the comment that I replied to to mean that Dubai being a strip along the coastline meant that it didn't look like a real city. I would say that it's probably more of an indicator that it's got nice beaches than anything else.
Miami was the first strip like city that sprung to mind as a counterexample, but as you say, it is huge, so it probably wasn't the best comparison.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&...
Also bear in mind the relative populations of New York, Beijing and Dubai. No surprise Dubai looks "tiny".
Not that I'm standing up for Dubai - I didn't like it at all when I went there and it has some very serious problems. I think the demographics don't match the form of the city very well - the city is too large and the buildings are too grand to match the people who are actually there (who are mostly construction workers it seems).