For global cities like Dubai, airports are the beating heart that drives their ability to act as centres for international aviation and finance. They are also major employers that are vital to national economic growth.
When Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, announced plans this week for a new terminal at Al Maktoum Airport with a total investment of Dh128 billion ($34.8 billion), it became clear that this will not only profoundly affect travel and tourism in an increasingly interconnected Gulf, but will transform the communities that make up this 3.3 million-strong emirate.
Major urban growth and development is expected over the next decades as Dubai expands southwards, and an entire city springs up around the new airport. Demand for residential and commercial real estate in Dubai South and its adjacent areas is certain to rise. However, such development is about more than bricks and mortar – to create sustainable communities, these properties must be held together with the social glue of viable public transport, good schools, shops, clinics and hospitals. That will require focused and co-ordinated planning with a long-term vision for the future.
Dubai has decades of experience in managing rapid urbanisation. Its current 2040 Urban Masterplan is the emirate’s seventh development plan since 1960 and shows that rapid population growth fuelled by economic success – between 1960 and 2020, the population grew from 40,000 to 3.3 million – can become the foundation for a stable and prosperous metropolis.
Dubai Expo City – part of the legacy left by Expo 2020 Dubai – is an example of what can be achieved. The site of the World’s Fair is now a flourishing urban community that has accesses to public transport and a range of amenities. The site also has ambitious plans to be powered entirely by renewable energy. This environmental focus and making Dubai’s urban landscape climate-proof will be critical in the years ahead – the storms and floods that disrupted life in the emirate and the wider UAE this month highlighted the need for robust and resilient urban planning, construction and regulation.
But there are opportunities, too. When another global financial hub, Hong Kong, opened its new international airport in 1998, it was rightly regarded as a considerable logistical feat. The move from Kai Tak Airport, right in the middle of Hong Kong, to a new site 30 kilometres away on the city’s western fringes acted as a driver for development. In terms of transport, new road and rail links were constructed, as well as two new bridges and a third tunnel across Hong Kong’s harbour. The 330-hectare site of the previous airport has become a focal point for redevelopment, underpinning Hong Kong’s economic growth.
In a time of international and regional uncertainty, the audacity of Dubai’s ambitions are a rejoinder to global pessimism. There is no doubt that this plan will have major implications for all those who call the emirate home. The challenge now is to keep the city as innovative, accessible and liveable as it is today.
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The Settlers
Director: Louis Theroux
Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz
Rating: 5/5
The years Ramadan fell in May
LILO & STITCH
Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Rating: 4.5/5
Brief scores:
Toss: Sindhis, elected to field first
Kerala Knights 103-7 (10 ov)
Parnell 59 not out; Tambe 5-15
Sindhis 104-1 (7.4 ov)
Watson 50 not out, Devcich 49
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Fixtures
Tuesday - 5.15pm: Team Lebanon v Alger Corsaires; 8.30pm: Abu Dhabi Storms v Pharaohs
Wednesday - 5.15pm: Pharaohs v Carthage Eagles; 8.30pm: Alger Corsaires v Abu Dhabi Storms
Thursday - 4.30pm: Team Lebanon v Pharaohs; 7.30pm: Abu Dhabi Storms v Carthage Eagles
Friday - 4.30pm: Pharaohs v Alger Corsaires; 7.30pm: Carthage Eagles v Team Lebanon
Saturday - 4.30pm: Carthage Eagles v Alger Corsaires; 7.30pm: Abu Dhabi Storms v Team Lebanon
ARGYLLE
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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MATCH INFO
Schalke 0
Werder Bremen 1 (Bittencourt 32')
Man of the match Leonardo Bittencourt (Werder Bremen)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
FINAL SCORES
Fujairah 130 for 8 in 20 overs
(Sandy Sandeep 29, Hamdan Tahir 26 no, Umair Ali 2-15)
Sharjah 131 for 8 in 19.3 overs
(Kashif Daud 51, Umair Ali 20, Rohan Mustafa 2-17, Sabir Rao 2-26)
SPECS
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The years Ramadan fell in May
Fixtures
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More from Aya Iskandarani
Everton%20Fixtures
%3Cp%3EApril%2015%20-%20Chelsea%20(A)%3Cbr%3EApril%2021%20-%20N.%20Forest%20(H)%3Cbr%3EApril%2024%20-%20Liverpool%20(H)%3Cbr%3EApril%2027%20-%20Brentford%20(H)%3Cbr%3EMay%203%20-%20Luton%20Town%20(A)%3Cbr%3EMay%2011%20-%20Sheff%20Utd%20(H)%3Cbr%3EMay%2019%20-%20Arsenal%20(A)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
More coverage from the Future Forum
UAE v Gibraltar
What: International friendly
When: 7pm kick off
Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
Admission: Free
Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page
UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)
Expo details
Expo 2020 Dubai will be the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia
The world fair will run for six months from October 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021.
It is expected to attract 25 million visits
Some 70 per cent visitors are projected to come from outside the UAE, the largest proportion of international visitors in the 167-year history of World Expos.
More than 30,000 volunteers are required for Expo 2020
The site covers a total of 4.38 sqkm, including a 2 sqkm gated area
It is located adjacent to Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai South
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Honeymoonish
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Elie%20El%20Samaan%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENour%20Al%20Ghandour%2C%20Mahmoud%20Boushahri%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
About Karol Nawrocki
• Supports military aid for Ukraine, unlike other eurosceptic leaders, but he will oppose its membership in western alliances.
• A nationalist, his campaign slogan was Poland First. "Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first," he said on social media in April.
• Cultivates tough-guy image, posting videos of himself at shooting ranges and in boxing rings.
• Met Donald Trump at the White House and received his backing.
