Dubai’s Radical Plan For 2040

dubai wants to become one of the world's most livable cities by 2040. the only problem well right now it's a bit of a mess [Music] expressways cut through neighborhoods there's pretty minimal public transport mega projects are disconnected from critical infrastructure and man-made islands are sinking its harshest critics say the city is a series of postcard attractions connected by big highways to sort that all out there's now a radical new plan to properly urbanize this desert city by 2040 but is it really possible to fix dubai [Music] now one big question that we're all asking what will dubai look like by 2040 it's getting to be a pretty familiar sight dubai's leaders gather for announcements of yet another incredible project the burj khalifa is lit up with dazzling leds and fireworks the press is inundated with glossy renderings and superlative statements people-centric urban plan but this project is different it's not a skyscraper or world's biggest something but an idea an idea that could fundamentally change dubai forever they say here in the uae forward is the only way the wind blows the 2040 master plan will see three existing areas redeveloped into new city centres two entirely new city centres created and brand new financial and technology districts established to boost innovation and invention 680 million dollars will go into planting 8 million square meters of green corridors for pedestrians and cyclists neighborhoods will be retrofitted to become miniature 15-minute cities with their own commercial and recreational centers and linking it all together will be a massive new public transport network that will be within 800 metres of half the population that means those people will never be more than about half a mile away from public transport a move that would effectively make the entire city walkable critical education and health facilities will be increased by 25 percent and 60 of the emirates will be purely dedicated to nature reserves and wildlife sanctuaries it's seriously impressive but when you think about it it's also pretty standard shouldn't all functioning international cities have public transport green space areas to have fun and financial hubs well yes but dubai isn't a regular city and it was never really built to be to understand why such a bold master plan is now necessary you kind of have to get your head around how we got here half a century ago dubai was a small trading port home to just 30 000 people but that all changed in 1966 when oil was discovered to most of us oil may be just the stuff that drives the car to arabia it's a revolution there isn't a thing it leaves untouched by middle eastern standards it was only a modest amount and neighboring abu dhabi had 10 times more but it was enough to fund then ruler sheikh rashid's grand ambitions he understood that in order for dubai to survive after the oil ran out they'd have to get the world's attention and investment do you not like the word crisis no it's a challenge in arabian palestine every day is a challenge for us challenge for the water challenge to something to eat and everyday challenge so we take it as a challenge sitting in pretty much the middle of the world dubai was always naturally well positioned to become an aviation superhub and with easy access to europe asia and africa the city's airport quickly became the world's busiest by international passengers the vultures of world commerce descend on sides little kingdom they're perfectly decent vultures just bankers and businessmen doing their job by minimizing sales and income tax the city also drew in companies and investors but it meant the government had to find a new dependable source of income with few taxes and a dwindling supply of oil they turned to tourism and quickly discovered they could lure people out of the airport with incredible mega projects and that's where dubai's build it and they will come idea or start it it was a policy that worked but one that some claim tended to prioritize the glitz and glamour it seemed to be that even if the project made little sense in itself if it could pull tourists and investors into the 50 degree desert heat then it would probably get the go-ahead that sometimes meant that construction of the projects was even ahead of the infrastructure one of the most famous examples is probably at the burj khalifa where it's been widely reported that the skyscraper isn't actually hooked up to the city's sewage system the world's tallest building could at full capacity hold 35 000 people and the city quickly realized it wouldn't be able to handle the amount of waste that they could theoretically or produce so instead of expanding the municipal sewage system it was decided that it would be more cost effective to have trucks arrive every morning and carry the waste to a treatment plant here's all the poop trucks all lined up how much merch and 10 000 gallons each some believe that you could then see this kind of thinking in a lot of the city's planning like the series of man-made islands that were entirely dependent on water taxis and private boats to survive or the city's reliance on highways with relaxed speeding laws that let those fast cars go as fast as they want [Music] it's all enough to make the 2040 plan for like a no-brainer and with dubai's population set to exceed that of singapore and hit 6 million by 2040 it's clear why the plan is so critical but will it actually work and will it be enough well everything that's been outlined makes sense and has proven to be a success in other cities the scale of the task to make it happen in dubai is biblical but then this place has a reputation for redrawing the boundaries when it comes to construction it's notoriously difficult to retrofit public transport networks into major urban areas often they have to skirt around existing major developments or dig under them at massive expense and so far plans for the new metro lines have tended to be eye-catching rather than practical with futuristic inner city sky trains mooted as a way to avoid underground tunnelling the challenge with planting trees is equally immense greening a city in the middle of a desert is never easy but previous attempts to do it haven't gone sour because of a lack of rainfall a plan to plant a million trees in 2010 fell apart because a major developer wanted to use the land instead for the 2040 plan to work the city will need to come to terms with the other benefits that dedicated protected green space can bring benefits that are all set out in the document that's kind of where the biggest challenge lies to really make the 2040 plan work the city needs an almost fundamental change in its thinking and approach it's the success of dubai's current strategy that makes shifting to a new one incredibly tough but it now seems ready to make the push dubai's rulers can see what it takes for a global city to succeed and are looking to replicate the impacts of other places so as a result we're going to see a major capital works program here in dubai we're going to see more entrepreneurship and more investment things that the city absolutely needs to stay viable into the future the master plan itself is just that a high-level roadmap go on social media and you'll see the kinds of people talking about it aren't urban planners or architects but everyday citizens on the street it's helping emiratis imagine the future of their city dubai's astonishing growth has dazzled the world and got everyone's attention but now it needs to evolve from build it and they will come to adapt it so they'll stay if you liked this video and you want to learn more about where construction is headed make sure you're subscribed to tomorrow's build [Music] you

Channel: Tomorrow's Build

Views: 2,028,358

Keywords: construction, architecture, engineering, Tomorrow's Build, tomorrowsbuild, TomorrowsBuild, tomorrows build, B1M, The B1M, Fred Mills, building, future, dubai, abu dhabi, dubai 2040 plan, uae, middle east, united arab emirates, burj khalifa, burj al arab, ain dubai, city, cities

Id: t8mIa6fFVFY

Length: 8min 6sec (486 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 04 2022

Reddit Comments

[u/oiseauvert989]

So they say. Will believe it when i see it but will always hate UAE for their modern day slavery.

[u/a_lurk_account]

Right off the bat, part of the plan involves urbanizing new areas. Ahh yes, the solve of car dependency is... sprawl?

Some of the claims sound good, for example: greening pedestrian areas and subway stations within 800m of any point of the city; but I'm pretty skeptical that they'll follow through on that when the jump-balls between prioritizing public transit and private development pop up.

And there's the rub: Dubai is a city that built around primarily private investment from people who had more money than sense; the public infrastructure isn't all that impressive compared to any other cities that developed in the late 20th early 21st century - it's the private development of massive displays of wealth that is impressive.

The poop story is a perfect example to prove my point "re-designing the sewer system to accommodate the increased volume was less cost effective than using trucks". Perfect example of a city doing the bare minimum in public investment to support the whims of a private investor.

And it's not like investors in the area are going to have more money as time goes on; their only real resource is becoming less important as (if) the world moves away from oil.