13 minute read
LEGACY
THE BRIGHT FUTURE OF EXPO 2020
> Discover the future of EXPO 2020 at District 2020’s experience hub and find out about the innovative approach for a of humancentric, people-first city > ‘CITY OF FIRSTS’ to focus on creation of global innovation hub for high-growth sectors including smart logistics and Industry 4.0
In the past 30 years, Dubai has become a city synonymous with bold, dynamic developments that have continually reinvented the art of the possible. The future evolution of Expo 2020 Dubai – District 2020 – is the latest incarnation of that relentless pursuit of innovation and new design thinking, showing the rest of the world what the future will look like, today.
District 2020 will reveal its blueprint for a human-centric future city and its people-centred approach at its “Future of Expo 2020” experience hub. Located at the Rove Expo 2020 hotel, it will be open to all visitors throughout the six months of Expo 2020, from 1 October 2021 until 31 March 2022. Visitors will be able to see the vision for how the mega-event was designed to evolve into the future, playing an integral role in the sustainable urban development of Dubai as a new urban centre in the emirate’s growth corridor. Visitors will experience the transition of the Expo 2020 site into a fully integrated city of the future and visualise its evolution starting from March 2022 and continuing to grow to eventually house a population of 145,000 people. They will learn about District 2020’s mission to bring together people, businesses, spaces, technologies and industries. They will also have the opportunity to engage in opportunities within its innovation ecosystem and dedicated entrepreneurship programme, Scale2Dubai, for cross-sector collaboration and co-creation – with a purpose to create a smarter, more balanced, resilient and sustainable way of life.
District 2020 has set out an ultimate expression of a people-first, city of the future, to meet the demands of a new world economy – one driven by innovation and talent, and supported by the latest advances in technology and human-centric design. Inheriting cutting-edge digital and physical infrastructure from Expo 2020, District 2020 will evolve and expand on the timeless legacy of the six-month mega event, very much with a forward-looking identity. It is already recognised as a benchmark for wellbeing, sustainability and mixed-use urban design, with a raft of multinational companies (MNCs) and innovation-driven enterprises set to benefit from its future-ready environment, location and easy access to regional and global markets. >>>
As part of its strategic initiative to curate a global innovation ecosystem for the smart logistics, smart mobility, Industry 4.0, and smart cities sectors alongside technologies such as AI and IoT, District 2020 has already attracted some of the world’s leading industrial, tech and logistic giants, including Siemens, Terminus and DP World. In addition, the foundations for a commercial environment that actively supports synergies and integration between diverse stakeholders also makes it a highly attractive base for accelerating opportunities for start-ups, SMEs, academia, R&D and government entities.
Envisioned to be a ‘city of firsts’, District 2020 firmly echoes Dubai’s dynamic, forward-thinking approach by curating an environment that is, in effect, a ‘living lab’ – a place where individuals can realise their full potential and businesses can explore, develop and test new inventions and ideas, all within one of the world’s most hyper-connected cities.
Commenting on the innovative approach to designing a mega-event that paves the way for a future city, Ahmed Al Khatib, Chief Development and Delivery Officer, Expo 2020 Dubai, said: “There is nothing traditional or standard about the design-thinking behind the Expo 2020 site. From the outset, we have sought to bring to life a vision of the future with people at the heart of its design by curating a tech-enabled and integrated human-centric sustainable community where individuals and businesses have the best opportunity to succeed.
“From established MNCs to our Scale2Dubai start-up programme that offers support to the next generation of innovators and the talent that drives that progress, District 2020 will bring together an ecosystem of engaged diverse stakeholders that will benefit from and contribute to its purpose-driven community, collaborating and enabling each other to realise their full potential.”
“Industry acceleration and social advancement is the result of human behaviour and, in the design of this future city, we have sought to cultivate a balance that facilitates the best possible environment from which to realise both personal and professional advancement.”
With all amenities for city living available within a 15-minute walk, District 2020 has looked beyond the traditional, functional approach to urban and commercial development to create a balanced mixed-use fully-integrated environment that sets new benchmarks for the future of city planning. And with iconic architecture and attractions, an ultra-fast 5G network, autonomous vehicles, smart technologies across the community, and businesses focused in areas such as AI, IoT and 3-D printing, residents, workers and visitors to District 2020 may be forgiven for thinking they have stepped through a portal to the future.
REAL/ESTATE GIANTS
Leading real estate developers executives, Francis Alfred, CEO at Sobha Realty, Eng. Khaled Ababneh VP – Projects and Commercial at Deyaar Development, and Raja Alameddine, CEO of Lootah Real Estate Development, sat down with Kasun Illankoon to discuss a variety of topics such as market demands, managing during the pandemic, automation in construction, and the rise of sustainable projects in the UAE
Opposite page, left to right: Raja Alameddine, CEO of Lootah Real Estate Development. Fancis Alfred, CEO, Sobha Realty. Eng. Khaled Ababneh, VP – Projects and Commercial at Deyaar and Chairman of Deyaar Community Management.
MARKET CONFIDENCE, THE PANDEMIC, AND EXPO 2020 DUBAI BOOST
Expo 2020 will leverage the power of World Expos and the UAE’s unique position as a global focal point to bring together 191 countries and millions of visitors. One of the first events of this scale to take place since the start of the pandemic, the six-month experience brings together businesses of all sizes, international organizations, and government entities from across the world, to come together to foster a more diversified and resilient global economy, inspire a vibrant business environment and drive sustainable growth.
The run up to Dubai Expo 2020 is likely to generate approximately US$23 billion in GDP. The construction and real estate sectors, were faced with a softened impact of the pandemic in H1 2020, possibly benefitted from the expansion in Dubai’s hotel and residential capacity that is required to accommodate the 25 million expected visitors.
According to a report from Property Finder, the growth of the monthly sales transactions and their values leading up to Expo 2020 has been phenomenal, but none as significant as September 2021. September not only had the highest value of real estate sold in a single month since December 2013 but also crossed the AED 100 billion mark for the year.
The global COVID-19 pandemic put a lot of industries on hold, but Dubai’s quick decision-making allowed developers to continue to construct, deliver projects, and launch news products in the past 18 months. This is something that was expressed by Francis Alfred, CEO at Sobha Realty:
“Despite the pandemic, we managed to continue with our construction and hand over our projects. We expect to see this momentum continuing and that’s what we have been seeing the last few months and with Expo 2020 Dubai in full swing it will give more confidence for developers like us to continue producing innovative projects in the UAE.”
One of the innovative projects that Sobha Realty recently launched was ‘Waves’ – a residential tower at The Waterfront District in Sobha Hartland, the eight million square feet freehold master development in Dubai’s Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum City. Waves, scheduled for completion in September 2023, will comprise 35 residential floors coupled with the best-inclass amenities. Offering panoramic waterfront views, the tower has a total of 592 units of varying sizes – including one- and two-bedroom apartments – and 12 retail units.
Waves is strategically located to offer residents maximum view of the picturesque waterfront feature and the Dubai skyline including Burj Khalifa. The tower blends an urban lifestyle and contemporary sophistication with uninterrupted serenity and open vistas. Deyaar Development too were not held back during the pandemic, announcing the launch of their luxury skyscraper project, Regalia. The 70-storey project is scheduled for completion in 2024 with a total cost of Dhs 750 million.
Eng. Khaled Ababneh VP – Projects and Commercial at Deyaar Development, said the project was a testament to the firm’s resilience during the pandemic but also showed the increased demand for high-end properties.
Raja Alameddine, CEO of Lootah Real Estate Development. Raja Alameddine, CEO, Lootah Real Estate Development, commented, “Our aim is to help our customers unlock the value of capital through real estate investments for residential and commercial purposes. Our strong, diverse and high-quality portfolio along with the resilient attitude of our operations and sales team has resulted in outstanding financial performance in the first quarter of 2021.”
Raja added: “The infrastructure of the country and the government efforts and facilities provided allows Dubai to be both sustainable and resilient. We are happy the way the market is evolving, and the trends being set in the past three to four months is unprecedented. We’re back to levels that we were seeing five years ago. So, we’re quite optimistic about it and we are definitely coming to the market with new ideas and projects.”
“We have witnessed outstanding demand from customers and investors ever since we launched this project. They are excited by its bold architecture, elegant interiors, smart city technologies, branded built-in appliances and premium social, wellness, and recreational amenities. With Expo 2020 Dubai set to begin next month, the real estate market will go from strength to strength as we continue to deliver value to Dubai’s residents and the wider business community.”
Lootah Real Estate Development reported a surge of 450 percent in sales in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the same period last year.
The long-standing real estate developer has stated its total sales reached record quarterly amounts, increasing a massive 2400 per cent compared to the sales of the last quarter of 2020.
AUTOMATING IN CONSTRUCTION
While the word “automation” may conjure images of robots taking over jobs, the reality is much more nuanced. In construction, for instance, automation is less likely to diminish employment opportunities than it is to increase productivity. Indeed, automation—alongside the global need for new and updated infrastructure and better and more affordable housing—can help shape the direction of the industry.
For Sobha, Francis mentions the advantage of being a backward integrated company which allows to make big reforms and transformations in their project: “We are a backward integrated company and choose to do everything in-house to maintain the promise of Sobha’s quality and craftsmanship. Whichever market we choose to expand in, we will be involved in all aspects of delivering the project and maintaining the standards we are renowned for.
One thing which we have taken up as the future is offsite fabrication, modular construction, because this enables us to have better quality control.
We are scaling up the almost thousands of units being delivered every year on year, and we believe that to get into that lean process management, better quality management, this will help us.”
Francis added: “Technology is a good disrupter to the construction industry and forced the industry to be more innovative.
The way we are doing our entire design to construction process is completely digital. By going digital it allows you better control on quality and the process. It’s very important to have a process, which allows you to scale bigger.This is the decade where construction and real estate developers will get more innovative with technology and robotics.”
Eng. Khaled emphasized other aspects of technology has been a new driving force when it comes to their project such as drones and although has been there for a while, BIM too has taken centre in these projects, and 3D Printing too. >>>
Fancis Alfred, CEO, Sobha Realty.
Eng. Khaled Ababneh, VP – Projects and Commercial at Deyaar and Chairman of Deyaar Community Management.
However, there are challenges that Khaled foresees when it comes to embracing technology, “With all automation, you will have challenges as well, which is, I mean, the labor, the will people, how they will really react to this.”
Khaled admits that technology and automation is here to stay and that it’s a positive for developers like Deyaar.
“At the end you will need it in design, you will need it in building, and you will need it for safety as well which is another advantage you gain from using new technology. We can see that the way forward is to be innovative and develop and use new technologies.”
Raja is of the belief that apart from new technology and automation that prefabrication needs to play an equal role because it helps in reducing wastage, improves sustainability, and improves social living for the residences as well, which has been at forefront of Lootah’s residential projects. “Prefab is very important because it’s a controlled environment as compared to onsite works. When you do prefab, wastage is minimized, recycled, and reused. It’s not just about efficiency, efficiency leads to sustainability, which leads to cost saving, and a lot of other benefits to the developer and to the customer as well.”
Sustainable projects are getting more popular around the world and with UAE’s aim to be Net Zero by 2050 this has incentivised more projects to go the green route. However, there are stumbling blocks when it comes to executing these projects such as the cost of procuring the right materials for the project. Main contractors see this as an obstacle during the tendering process where they aim to present the lowest possible costing to win the project.
Raja, however, believes that the responsibility starts with the developers but also emphasise why the end user would also benefit,
“The developer sets the specifications, and the contractor needs to abide by it. So, if anybody must introduce sustainability, it has to be the developer.”
“The end user is going to be able to save between 20 and 30 percent on their operating cost. The more efficiently that property is operating, the less expenses, and the value of the property goes up. If the end user ends up paying 10 or 12 percent more as capital cost, they will recover it in two to three years and then it’s a benefit for the end user.”
Francis believes that for developers to be more proactive it goals and objectives for all projects they need to incorporate sustainability
“It has to be the principle of your development and you choose to make a more sustainable, environmentally friendly living for your customer.”
“It goes to the kind of materials you use, right from the light fittings to the sanitary fittings to consuming less power as well.”
