When oil engineer Alan Horan came to Abu Dhabi in the spring of 1960, the photographs he took with his trusty Zeiss Contessa camera captured images of a society on the brink of unprecedented change. Camels carrying firewood across Al Maqta causeway, people living in barasti huts made of palm fronds and mile upon mile of sparsely populated coastline offered a glimpse of a way of life that was about to change forever.
Fast forward to 2024 and the sheer scale of that change would have surprised even those who were planning a modern future for Abu Dhabi at that time. According to figures released this week by Statistics Centre – Abu Dhabi, the emirate’s population crossed the four-million mark for the first time after a 7.5 per cent surge last year. Over the past 10 years, Abu Dhabi's population has increased by 51 per cent, rising from 2.7 million in 2014 to more than 4.1 million today.
Such change has proved good for Abu Dhabi. The energy and dynamism brought by this growing population of citizens and residents alike helps to drive the emirate’s economy; census results released last year found that the number of people in employment rose by 82 per cent since 2011 to reach more than 2.5 million individuals. But like all major change, it has required diligent management.
Rapid population growth and urbanisation bring about great opportunity but also some challenges. Other cities going through similar change have experienced strain on their housing supply and environmental stresses, for example on their water resources. There is plenty of evidence, however, that Abu Dhabi has been considering and planning to mitigate such challenges for some time.
Plan Abu Dhabi 2030, to take one example, is a forward-looking, long-term strategy for balanced urban growth, one that considers the emirate’s environment, land use and transport systems. The increasing development of the capital’s islands, such as Fahid Island – where sales of residential developments generated more than Dh3.5 billion ($953 million) last month – will give room for this increasing population to grow. Even the minutiae of everyday life – so-called personal admin – is supported by the city’s exceptional digital infrastructure, such as its successful Tamm app.
Significantly, coupled with Abu Dhabi’s rising population is the fact that more and more of people who are choosing to put down long term roots in the UAE. Such a development does not spring from nowhere; the emirate’s evolving visa rules, its advanced education and healthcare systems, as well as the possibility of buying property – to use either as a home or as an asset – all make the UAE a long-term home.
Few capitals are as young as Abu Dhabi, and the city has had the advantage of being able to plan and shape its future almost from scratch, embracing modernity without sacrificing its identity and heritage. As it continues to manage this transformation, a process that never really ends, older cities will be able to learn from this example of 21st-century urban development. It is possible that, in 50 years’ time, future Abu Dhabi residents will look at photographs taken of their emirate today and wonder if we too we able to grasp the changes that were coming.
