Work on Dubai Expo 2020 site begins

Words by BSBG Media Team, Wednesday 12 October 2016

Construction has commenced on the first infrastructure project for the Dubai Expo 2020 site within the Dubai South district masterplan. The first of four infrastructure projects is focused on the Expo village, where participants and representatives from across the world will reside during the event.

The initial phase of construction, which was formerly initiated at the start of last week, will see the sewerage systems, water, electricity and telecommunication cabling installed. This will be followed by the second phase, involving deep infrastructure work, which is yet to go to tender.

BSBG is looking forward with great anticipation to the development stages of the Expo site, and to making the largest possible contribution toward the legacy of the event. Already the practice is involved in some capacity, and is currently in discussions about other opportunities. Stay tuned to find out more when they are announced.

New infrastructure

The infrastructure projects are to cost a total of AED 1.3 billion, according to the Expo 2020 Bureau, the entity tasked with delivering the event. The Bureau has thus far invested AED 1.95 billion, and has a total budget of AED 25 billion to deliver the event. Ahead of the main construction phase, a staggering 4.7 million cubic metres of sand has been removed from the area in preparation.

Announcing the beginning of the works, Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum expressed his faith in those working to make Dubai Expo 2020 an event which leaves a lasting legacy not only for the UAE, but the entire Arab World.

The infrastructure work on the site is expected to be completed in October 2019, a full year ahead of the launch of the event.

Dubai Expo 2020 will begin in October 2020, lasting for six months, with estimated figures suggesting that 25 million people will attend the event from 180 different nations.

Dubai South and the Expo 2020 site

The celebrations when Dubai won the right to host the Expo back in 2013 were quite extraordinary, marking what many in the UAE see as the emirate’s chance to really show the entire world what it’s capable of, and to extend the warmth and generosity of Emirati hospitality to its largest ever audience. The design of the site and indeed the theme of the event (connecting minds, creating the future) are both geared towards openness and collaboration, something that the UAE has embraced wholeheartedly across the last two decades as more nationalities and people arrive in the country.

Already Dubai has the world’s busiest airport with Dubai International, but Al Maktoum Airport, situated next to the Expo site, is currently being expanded to meet the expected rise in visitors over the next ten years. The expansion of the new airport will see annual traveller capacity move from its current level of seven million to 25 million by 2025.

Dubai South is not only home to the Expo 2020 site and what will become the world’s busiest airport, it is also the Dubai Government’s flagship urban project, billed as a ‘city that defines itself by the happiness of the individual’.

The masterplan project has been conceptualised to sustain a population of a million people, and will also create 500,000 jobs in every sector imaginable, according to the Dubai South website.

Dubai Expo 2020 in numbers

25 million visitors are expected

70% of attendees will come from outside the UAE

Over 200 participants including nations and global organisations

The Expo site measures 4.38 square kilometres

More than 30,000 volunteers are being sought to help with running the event

The event will last 6 months

AED 25 billion is the Expo 2020 budget

Predicted income generated from the Expo is $23 billion*

*According to research conducted by Jones Day analysts

BSBG Media Team

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