Expo City Dubai closes two attractions ahead of Cop28

Two popular attractions at Expo City Dubai have closed, it has been announced.

Rashid's Garden and Garden in the Sky will be taking a “brief pause” from October 1.

The venue made the announcement on X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday.

However, it did not say why the two attractions would be closed.

Garden in the Sky is an observation tower and “flying park” in one, offering 360-degree views of the 4.38sq km Expo 2020 Dubai site.

Expo City Dubai is undergoing a major makeover as it prepares for thousands of global climate delegates at Cop28.

The futuristic neighbourhood – which previously served as the vibrant venue for Expo 2020 Dubai – is being infused with age-old architectural designs to share the story of Emirati heritage with the world.

Leading companies announce move to Expo City Dubai

Sections of the sprawling site have been handed over to Cop28 organisers ahead of the climate talks, which will run from November 30 to December 12.

The space is still open to visitors, but some attractions will be shut off next month to prepare for the 70,000 Cop28 visitors, expo officials revealed.

“The minute you will enter, the city will no longer be as we know it,” Hend Al Mheiri, director of special projects at Expo City Technology, told The National in an interview.

“At the moment, the city is undergoing major, major preparations in many areas.

“But given the nature of this event and to keep it interesting, any person visiting Expo City Dubai will not be able to see much because it's all covered.

“We are trying to keep the excitement until the event time.”

The specs: McLaren 600LT

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Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8

Transmission: Seven-speed automatic

Power: 600hp @ 7,500rpm

Torque: 620Nm @ 5,500rpm

Fuel economy 12.2.L / 100km

Landfill in numbers

• Landfill gas is composed of 50 per cent methane

• Methane is 28 times more harmful than Co2 in terms of global warming

• 11 million total tonnes of waste are being generated annually in Abu Dhabi

• 18,000 tonnes per year of hazardous and medical waste is produced in Abu Dhabi emirate per year

• 20,000 litres of cooking oil produced in Abu Dhabi’s cafeterias and restaurants every day is thrown away

• 50 per cent of Abu Dhabi’s waste is from construction and demolition

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F1 The Movie

Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Rating: 4/5

Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.