Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the UAE, chaired Tuesday’s Executive Council meeting at Emirates Towers, where the three initiatives were endorsed.
The Urban Centres Development Plan covers six principal centres and 42 supporting centres, representing 12 per cent of Dubai’s urban area. Officials expect the programme to increase property values in the targeted districts by Dh20 billion by 2040, although that figure is a projection rather than a realised gain.
The plan aims to raise the proportion of residents living around metro stations from 52 per cent to 74 per cent and increase public service coverage from 74 per cent to 85 per cent. Its approach combines housing, employment and transport facilities to reduce distances between homes and workplaces.
Dubai Municipality and the Supreme Committee for Urban Planning will oversee the programme in collaboration with other government bodies. The investment will be directed towards integrated communities, better access to public transport and more efficient use of existing urban infrastructure. The three priorities identified for the programme are quality of life, economic returns, and infrastructure efficiency and cost management.
Sheikh Hamdan said the initiatives followed the development vision of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, with the wellbeing of citizens and residents remaining a central consideration.
“Under the vision of Mohammed bin Rashid, Dubai has become an exceptional, inspiring, people-centric model,” he said, adding that investment in urban centres would help develop communities suited to changing expectations and sustainable growth.
The council separately approved the Sustainable Population Planning Policy, designed to connect demographic forecasts with economic strategy, land use and infrastructure investment. Authorities intend to use population data to identify future demand for transport, public facilities and other essential services.
The policy also seeks to improve the utilisation of existing infrastructure rather than rely exclusively on new construction. Government planners will assess how population distribution and anticipated employment growth affect service requirements across different districts.
Dubai’s population reached 4.58 million at the end of 2025, an increase of approximately 332,000, or 7.5 per cent, over the preceding year, according to the Dubai Data and Statistics Establishment. Its estimates put the average daytime population, including commuters and visitors, at 6.392 million.
Those figures underline the planning challenge facing an economy that continues to attract workers, businesses and visitors. Residential growth affects transport demand, public facilities and the distribution of employment, requiring coordination across agencies responsible for urban development and service delivery.
The population policy is also linked to the Dubai Economic Agenda, D33, through measures intended to encourage employment in high-productivity industries, attract skilled workers and support household incomes. These are stated policy objectives, rather than quantified outcomes of the council’s decisions.
A third approval establishes a Digital Authorisation System allowing individuals and companies to empower representatives to complete eligible government transactions on their behalf. Digital Dubai will develop and operate the platform, which will initially cover low-risk services not requiring notarisation or formal legal attestation.
The system will use UAE PASS to verify identities and enable authorisations to be created, managed and activated electronically. Officials say the platform is intended to simplify procedures and provide a consistent experience across participating government services.
Its performance targets include a fully digital service experience, a 90 per cent Customer Effort Index score and complete effectiveness against fraud, disputes and operational risks. These remain targets and have not been presented as achieved results. The proposed service will also provide real-time, paperless authorisations across integrated digital channels, subject to the eligibility of individual transactions.
Sheikh Hamdan cited Dubai’s second-place position in the 2026 Smart City Index while outlining the administration’s ambition to improve the accessibility and integration of digital services. The index ranking formed part of his explanation for the new authorisation mechanism.
The meeting was also attended by Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, First Deputy Ruler of Dubai and UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, and Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Second Deputy Ruler of Dubai.
Follow Arabian Post
Select Arabian Post as your preferred source on Google and MSN News for trusted business news and Arab politics and updates.
