Dubai will have even more entertainment and tourism options in 2015, including several new theme parks and three times the current number of hotel rooms for a total of at least 141,000. Already home to the world’s first ‘seven-star’ hotel, Burj Al Arab, Dubai will have many more luxury hotels and resorts in 2015, including Hydropolis, the world’s first underwater hotel.
‘Vision 2015’ focuses on social services, health and education, and government excellence, and Dubai will offer many more private and public healthcare options in 2015, as well as more housing options for lower- and middle-income families to add to a growing number of fabulous upscale residential projects open to foreign buyers.
A wealth of educational opportunities, including branches of international universities, will be drawing students to such projects as Dubai Academic City, and new private primary and secondary schools will be providing world-class education to expatriates and locals. The public school system will have been brought up to international standards as well. Meanwhile, the public sector in general will be providing even more e-services and will be seen as an attractive option for ambitious and creative future employees, while the private sector will continue to launch ambitious projects at home and abroad.
Setting an example for the world
One project in the works reflects many of Dubai’s guiding principles. Pearls of Arabia, set for completion by 2010, honors Dubai’s past as a pearling center and focuses on its present and future as a global trade and tourism hub. It is to be set within the famed The World development of artificial islands forming a world map. Pearls of Arabia is designed to serve as a hub for retail and wholesale pearl-trading as well as a tourism attraction and a memorial to the emirate’s original industry. With Pearls of Arabia, Dubai’s economy comes full circle.
Overall, Dubai in 2015 will be as dynamic as it is today yet will be an even more attractive and desirable place to live, work and invest in. It will also be playing an even more prominent role on the global stage. As Sheikh Mohammed commented when he presented ‘Vision 2015’ last year, “As we have succeeded in the past, we will succeed in the future. We will write new pages in our nation’s epic of glory, pride and achievement. We will inspire our nation, and we will set the example. We will present to our world proof that we are capable of action, of imposing our presence, of communicating, interacting, coexisting, and cooperating with all other cultures and civilizations.”
