Yesterday, signs and billboards reading “Dubai 2040” started popping up across the emirate, signalling a new direction had come for the city that has become a world leader in so many different ways.
But what direction is Dubai headed?
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has the answer: Making Dubai the world’s best city to live in.
“We launched Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan with aims to make Dubai the world’s best city to live in. Areas dedicated to economic and recreational activities will double, our public beach areas will increase by 400 percent over the next 20 years and 60 percent of Dubai’s area will be nature reserves,” said Sheikh Mohammed on Twitter.
“The new urban plan aims to design life in Dubai for the next 20 years, provide the best quality of life and pave the way for the next major residential and economic developments in the city.”
The aim is to not only to raise the quality of life, but also to do so in a sustainable way, using the “highest standard of urban infrastructure and facilities” as they put it.
For Sheikh Mohammed, the plan harkens back to the vision of the late Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum had for Dubai in the 1960s.
“Our goal is to create a truly inclusive environment that not only meets the needs of Dubai’s diverse population, but also inspires them to tap into their creative and innovative capacities and realise their true potential,” Sheikh Mohammed said.
The new Master Plan is the seventh plan developed for the emirate since 1960. Between 1960 and 2020, the population of Dubai has multiplied 80 times from 40,000 in 1960 to 3.3 million by the end of 2020 and increased in cultural diversity to include people from over 200 nationalities, according to state news agency WAM.
With the new plan, population is eplanned to grow from 3.3 million in 2020 to 5.8 million in 2020, with a ‘day-time’ population of 7.8 million.
The urban and built area of the emirate has also grown a huge amount, multiplying 170-fold from 3.2 square km in the same period.
The priorities for the new plan include using resources more efficiently, developing vibrant communities and doubling green and leisure areas as well as public parks to provide a healthy environment for residents and visitors alike.
Dubai will also be getting new sustainable and flexible means of mobility to foster greater economic activity and attract foreign investments to new sectors, according to WAM. This will include a focus on environmental sustainability in specific.
The plan will also include safeguards that will preserve the emirate’s cultural and urban heritage, making sure that Dubai never loses the character that helped endear its residents and visitors to it over the decades.
The areas that will be developed include three that already exist as well as two new focal areas. The existing areas include Deira and Bur Dubai, the Downtown/Business Bay areas, and the Dubai Marina/JBR areas. The new areas include the Expo 2020 Centre, which will be the home of exhibitions and logistics, and the Dubai Silicon Oasis Centre, which will serve as a home for the tech and the digital economy.
New hospitals, schools, service centres, and leisure centres will be provided across of Dubai. In addition, all sections of the population will be catered to.
Nature reserves and rural natural areas will constitute 60 percent of the emirate’s total area. With new ‘green corridors’ to be set up to link the service areas, residential areas and workplaces, facilitate the movement of pedestrians, bicycles, and sustainable mobility means across the city, in coordination with developers and government departments.
It’s also not just parks—Public beaches will increase by as much as 400 percent by 2040, it was announced.
Hatta will also see its own focus within the plan, called the Hatta Development Plan.
The Hatta plan seeks to both develop and raise the profile of Hatta’s natural and tourism attractions, as well as protect its environment in partnership with the private sector, promoting tourism and preserve the natural beauty and identity of the area.
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