Can you imagine Dubai without the Metro? UAE official reveals secret to city’s transformation from 1950s

Can you imagine Dubai without the Metro? UAE official reveals secret to city’s transformation from 1950s

Foreseeing the future and taking risks is in the DNA of this country, says Dubai Future Foundation CEO

Published: Mon 6 Feb 2023, 11:18 PM

“Can you imagine Dubai today without the metro? It started as an innovative vision that people doubted in the beginning.”

At the opening of Innovation Talks, Abdulla Mohammed Al Basti, Secretary General of the Executive Council of Dubai, said that ‘innovation’ should not be spoken about as a value. He said that the city’s transformation from the 50s was an act of innovation started by the late Sheikh Rashid.

“The work of widening the creek, building the Dubai airport in the 60s, and building Jebal Ali are all part of this innovation. He wanted the city to be at the centre, and he built things which were considered at the time to be innovations and weren’t considered even logical to people in the region,” he said, adding that His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, continued this vision and the adoption of this value.

“We see many projects that many people didn’t understand in the beginning. The metro, for example, people would talk about whether or not we need