Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the UAE, and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, approved policies and models to enhance urban planning, housing, and digitalisation during a meeting of The Executive Council.
The initiatives align with the Year of the Family announced by Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, and the Dubai Social Agenda 33 launched by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, under the slogan Family: The Foundation of Our Nation.
The meeting at Emirates Towers was attended by Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, First Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of the UAE.
Sheikh Hamdan approves new urban planning model for Dubai residential areas
The Executive Council approved a planning model for citizens’ residential areas that focuses on creating communities and enhancing quality of life and stability.
“Guided by the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, citizen welfare and family empowerment form the foundation of Dubai’s future plans, driving efforts to make it the best, most beautiful, and most advanced city in the world. This model focuses on creating socially interconnected, service-integrated communities that enhance quality of life through homes, neighbourhoods, parks, schools, and their service centres,” Sheikh Hamdan said in a statement.
The model introduces a planning concept to align housing needs to standards, enhance citizen and family welfare, and support the Dubai Urban Plan 2040. It focuses on creating communities that reinforce the concept of the Fareej and its cohesion.
The model promotes mobility through shaded walkways connecting service centres to residential areas and paths for walking, running, and cycling. It activates the role of open spaces by transforming parks and squares into hubs for activities.
New residential planning model to create 18,500 housing units in Madinat Latifa
The plans include the addition of 152 parks across Madinat Latifa and Al Yalayis, with a walking distance of 150 metres to the nearest park. Over 33 kilometres of cycling paths will be added, along with parks featuring activities and facilities. Community majlis and wedding halls will be built.
The project supports the 20-Minute City concept and introduces community parks as a network of green spaces.
In Madinat Latifa, the model allocates around 11 per cent of the area to green and open spaces, with 12 kilometres of walking and cycling paths.
It provides for services including schools, early childhood centres, mosques, health clinics, and commercial hubs. Plans for the area envisage facilities encompassing 3,000 hectares, housing 141,000 people, and including 18,500 residential units and 77 parks.
In Al Yalayis, the model introduces a green corridor linking residential areas and offering recreational, service, and commercial facilities. The plans provide for facilities spread over 1,108 hectares with the capacity to house 66,000 people, including 8,000 residential unit plots and 75 parks.
Dubai Planning model introduces 20-minute city concept with green corridors
The Executive Council approved the Digital Resilience Policy, a framework to strengthen resilience and enable a digital government, economy and society.
“We have one of the most advanced digital infrastructures in the world. To fulfil the objectives of the Dubai Digital Strategy launched in 2023 – digitalising life in Dubai, strengthening the digital economy, and empowering society – we continue to develop a robust digital government model and maintain the continuity and efficiency of digital services. The Digital Resilience Policy has been approved as a key tool to enhance digital leadership in a comprehensive and proactive way,” Sheikh Hamdan said.
The policy aligns with the Dubai Resilience Strategy and complements the Digital Transformation Strategy aimed at simplifying people’s lives and strengthening the economy using technologies, including intelligence.
Compliance with the policy will ensure continuity of services, strengthen protection for systems and infrastructure, safeguard assets, and improve leadership dashboard indicators.
The policy is built on a methodology that strengthens preparedness, response, recovery, and transformation. It ensures operations, reduces response time, and optimises availability of infrastructure, while maintaining confidence and fostering private sector cooperation. It introduces communication mechanisms, a governance framework, and performance indicators for initiatives.
The policy emphasises the importance of efforts between public and private sectors to safeguard assets, such as data centres, networks, cloud platforms, and user devices.
Sheikh Hamdan approved the plan for The Executive Council’s 2026 Agenda, which focuses on achieving the priorities and targets of the Dubai Plan 2033 through its economic and agendas.
The Executive Council reviewed the achievements of the 2025 agenda and approved the 2026 plan, which focuses on implementing Dubai Plan 2033 priorities through economic and agendas, and the supporting plans. It covers sectors including development, infrastructure, economy and investment, entrepreneurship, security, justice and safety, and public services.
