Senior Dubai officials laid out a sweeping vision for the emirate's transport, trade and urban future at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Leadership Forum 2026, held Tuesday at Dubai World Trade Centre. Khalifa Al Zaffin, who oversees Al Maktoum International Airport, said the facility is being built out to eventually handle 260 million passengers a year, a capacity that would place it among the largest airports on earth.
Mattar Al Tayer, chairman of Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority, detailed a Dh34 billion expansion of the Metro's Gold Line and said the emirate is targeting driverless journeys for a quarter of all trips by 2030, alongside new air-taxi stations due to begin operating this year.
On the financial side, Essa Kazim outlined the Zabeel District project, a six-phase development running through 2040 with an estimated value of Dh100 billion. The Dubai International Financial Centre already hosts more than 6,000 technology firms and close to 30,000 tech professionals, he said, and is adding 7.1 million square feet of space to keep pace with demand.
Dubai Municipality's Marwan bin Ghalita described plans to plant 3.5 million trees and expand green cover across the city to 187 square kilometres, while Issam Kazim pointed to DP World's growing port network stretching toward Africa, including an $800 million investment in Senegal's Ndayane port with a planned capacity of 1.2 million TEUs.
Together, the announcements signal that Dubai intends to match the next decade's population and economic growth with matching investment in transport, finance and environmental infrastructure, reinforcing the emirate's bid to remain one of the world's most connected and fastest-growing cities.