Dubai plans to house 9.5 million people

Dubai has unveiled its plans for the emirate to house 9.5 million people, more than four times its current population.

Abdullah Rafia, Assistant Director General of Dubai Municipality, told Dubai Chamber's CEO conference that Dubai, like many countries around the world, needed to respond to rapid population growth, with the world's urban population expected to expand by 70 per cent by 2030.

"Here in Dubai, all of the population is urban,” he said.

And so the organisation has carried out a citywide plan that sets out future density and population levels across the whole of Dubai, reports The National, with the urban area of the emirate expected to cover one-third of space, with a maximum capacity of 9.5 million people.

There is no deadline for the plan to be implemented, but Rafia emphasised that the changes needed to occur for the city to grow. Part of the plan is a new, sustainable city to house up to 160,000 people, called Desert Rose. The concept design has been completed for the city, with infrastructure designers already hired.

"It is something that can be built real fast," he added, noting the need to be sustainable with the city "very close" to zero emissions. Indeed, Saeed Al Abbar, chairman of the Emirates Green Building Council, told the council that technology and standards have improved so much that the most sustainable designs mean that homes can now produce more energy than they consume. As well as new builds, improvements will be made to existing buildings to help make the city more environmentallty friendly.