Ruler of Dubai sets out plan to make Expo site a global destination

Committee led by Emirates Airline chief Sheikh Ahmed to oversee next stage of development

Christina Aguilera performs at the closing ceremony of Expo 2020 Dubai on March 31, 2022. There are now plans to make the legacy site a global destination. Francois Nel / Getty Images

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, has appointed a committee to oversee the development of the next stage of the Expo 2020 Dubai site.

The Supreme Committee will oversee the site’s transformation into District 2020, the city’s newest residential and business district, Dubai Media Office said.

It will be led by Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed, chairman and chief executive of Emirates airline and group.

Plans for District 2020 to use more than 80 per cent of the Expo 2020 site’s built environment have already been released.

When transformed into District 2020, it will become the UAE’s first 15-minute city, a cycle-friendly, traffic-free suburb of the growing metropolis.

It will include an autonomous-vehicle route, a 10-kilometre cycling track, interconnected, wide pedestrian pathways and a 5km jogging track.

It will also have space for 85 start-ups and small businesses when it opens to its first corporate tenants towards the end of this year.

_______________________________________

Ten Expo attractions that will stay as part of District 2020

_______________________________________

Ahmed Al Khatib, chief development and delivery officer for Expo 2020, previously told The National that District 2020 would open “in different phases between now and October”.

The Supreme Committee, which has a term of three years, will oversee District 2020’s development, including all projects, initiatives, programmes and activities.

It will supervise the transformation of the site’s infrastructure to accommodate the new facilities and look at investment opportunities with the private sector.

The committee will also look after global promotional and marketing activities for the area.

Other members of the Supreme Committee include Reem Al Hashimy, Minister of State for International Co-operation and director general of Expo 2020 Dubai, Mohammed Al Shaibani, director general of Dubai Ruler’s Court, Abdulrahman Al Saleh, director general of Dubai’s Department of Finance, and Helal Al Marri, director general of the emirate’s Department of Economy and Tourism.

Sheikh Mohammed has extended the terms of the Expo 2020 Dubai Preparatory committee and those of the Expo 2020 Dubai Bureau and its director general by six months.

First glimpse of Expo's residential village ahead of relaunch - in pictures