From moonlit skylines to night beaches, Dubai focuses on human experience, WGS told
Dubai: Behind every stunning photograph of Dubai’s skyline and skyscrapers lie invisible forces that come up with an invisible infrastructure of thoughtful design decisions that transform the city from a collection of buildings into a memory-making destination, according to Marwan Ahmed Bin Ghalita, director general of Dubai Municipality.
Speaking at the World Governments Summit session on preserving human soul in cities on Thursday, he revealed that Dubai Municipality issued 37,000 building permits in 2025 alone while hosting more than 33 million visitors to its facilities. Yet the real achievement is not in the construction: it is in the experiences created.
Creating lasting memories
“Using a facility just for the fun of using the facility, this is not our joy. Repeating a visit to any facility, to an open space, to a park, to a beach — this is our aim,” the civic explained, emphasising that success is measured by how people utilise spaces and what memories they create.
The director general pointed to Dubai’s night beaches as a prime example of invisible infrastructure at work. While beaches worldwide close at sunset, Dubai changed regulations to allow nighttime access, taking extra safety measures to accommodate tourists arriving at all hours. The initiative has since been adopted by cities globally.
“The beauty of Dubai is when you come with a new idea, you change the rules for the benefit of the people,” he said, noting that behind every swing in a park lies research into what makes children happy enough to return again and again.
Blueprint for liveability
The Dubai Municipality’s core slogan is “Making Dubai more… every day,” often referred to as “Making Dubai more beautiful, sustainable, pioneering, and liveable every day.”
This human-centric approach extends to Dubai Municipality’s latest initiatives unveiled at the World Governments Summit. The Blue and Green Spaces Roadmap 2030, reviewed by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, includes projects worth over Dh4 billion targeting 1.5 million new trees, 120 parks covering 3 million square metres, and a 400 per cent increase in beach facilities by 2030.
The municipality also signed a partnership with China’s Shenzhen to implement the “sponge city” concept among other initiatives. Sponge cities have urban infrastructure designed to absorb and reuse rainwater through green roofs and permeable pavements and prevent flooding. The collaboration will also advance smart city development, low-carbon urbanism and AI-driven water management systems aligned with the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan.
Skyline meets nature
Renowned architect Dr Santiago Calatrava, founder of Santiago Calatrava LLC, who was also in the panel, shared his experience of witnessing Dubai’s invisible magic first-hand during the summit. Looking out from his hotel room three days before the session, he watched the full moon rise between the city’s skyscrapers, an interaction between human creation and nature that moved him deeply. He was equally enchanted by the view of the sunrise.
“There is a capacity by architecture to deliver interaction with nature, even at a big scale, that moves us,” said Calatrava, whose 45-year career has focused on public works designed for human experience. “We are part of nature… and the biggest products of our creation, like the skyline of our cities, can interact in a harmonious way.”
Youth-led future and team work
Dubai Municipality has embedded this human-centric philosophy into its workforce, with 45 per cent comprising young professionals empowered to make bold decisions about the city’s future. “They will be living in the city in the coming years, and their children will be there, so we are empowering them very well,” the director general noted.
The approach aligns with Dubai Municipality’s broader initiatives, including expanding green and blue spaces and implementing sponge city concepts to enhance urban liveability — all part of the invisible infrastructure that keeps people coming back to create new memories in the city.
The municipality chief Dubai’s collaborative spirit for the civic body’s success. “The cooperation between entities in Dubai to make a project of Dubai Municipality successful — this is the invisible infrastructure that nobody sees. But this is a team of Dubai that works together to create an added value to our projects,” he said, drawing applause from the audience.
