DUBAI // Since 1991, Dubai Municipality has restored more than 185 buildings in old Dubai, an effort which, it hopes, will culminate in United Nations World Heritage Site status.
The municipality submitted its application to Unesco in 2014 and is working on observations it received from the organisation’s experts before resubmitting in January 2016, said Eng Rashad Bukhash.
The proposed area will include Shindagah, parts of Bur Dubai and Al Ras. The municipality is upgrading the pavement, lighting and signage and building more public facilities.
As part of the plan, a complex of 50 restored traditional houses in Shindagah will offer greater opportunities to interact with the UAE heritage, said Mr Bukhash.
The area will offer more galleries and museums, as well as schools and workshops where visitors can learn traditional crafts such as wooden carvings, making of daggers and basket weaving.
“The idea is to show that Dubai is not only modern, we have history, we have culture, we have archaeology that goes back 5,000 years,” he said.
It is expected that by 2020, the year of the city’s world expo, an estimated 12 million tourists per year will be visiting the area.
The municipality is hoping to have Dubai Creek registered as a world heritage site by 2017.
vtodorova@thenational.ae
