Dubai may be famous for its love for luxury and consumption, but thanks to its sustainability and the many eco-friendly initiatives, it was ranked the 36th smartest city in the world. Planning even more green building technologies and smart engineering, it will probably move forward in the list sooner than we can imagine.
The latest list of the World’s 50 Smartest Cities is featured in the October issue of National Geographic’s Travel Magazine. Dubai’s 36th position may sound low, but it actually shows that the city’s efforts to achieve a more eco-friendly, sustainable environment weren’t in vain. For a desert city like Dubai this is very important as there are a number of serious environmental issues, including the rapid urbanization, the water shortage, the huge consumption of electricity and the fact that the main energy source still remains the natural gas. However, the authorities are introducing various green projects, with the most recent being the solar panel energy.
Earlier this month, the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) announced it is preparing a draft legislation, which will allow property owners to install rooftop solar power systems. This is just one of the initiatives aimed at more sustainable lifestyle in Dubai. Diversifying its energy mix, by 2030, the emirate plans to receive only 71% of the electricity from gas. 12% will come from nuclear, 12% from clean coal and another 5% from solar power. So, the city is expected to become much more sustainable and smarter in the foreseeable future.
Besides Dubai, National Geographic has named San Francisco, Paris, Mumbai, Rome and Paducah, Kentucky as the 5 smartest cities in the world. According to Ian MacFarlane, a consultant for National Geographic Channel’s Smart Cities program, “city needs heart and soul”. Smart cities don’t have to be among the world’s mega cities and they don’t have to be best at everything. Rather, they need to have a sustainable lifestyle, to be well-connected locally and internationally, and to be places “where people come first”.
