Dubai is pouring billions into “building a city that does not pause,” Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed said, as it looks to bounce back from the economic fallout of the Iran war. The emirate’s executive council, chaired by the crown prince, approved an 18 billion-dirham ($4.9 billion) spending plan for a raft of new measures aimed at improving the attractiveness of the UAE’s most populous city, while the ruling family is also plowing resources into its largest developer, Emaar, and Emirates airline is running an international TV ad campaign using the slogan “We’re back.”
The spending plans include cutting red tape for new businesses, setting up an Islamic finance technology center, and building an elevated highway parallel to the main artery, Sheikh Zayed Road, that could alleviate the gridlock that is a mainstay of residents’ complaints.
Emaar, meanwhile, is forging ahead with a $54 billion “city within a city” — dubbed Dubai Estate and among the developer’s largest-ever projects — with backing from Dubai Holding, AGBI reported. In May, the sprawling firm owned by the ruling family became Emaar’s largest shareholder.