Author: Mohan Nasre

Most places that call themselves smart cities are still largely working on the “smart” part. Dubai tends to skip the talking phase and move straight to doing. And this latest move is a pretty clear example of that. The emirate has just kicked off a large-scale AI training programme for its government workforce. Not for a handful of tech specialists tucked away in some innovation department — but for staff across the board, at every level, in departments you wouldn’t necessarily associate with cutting-edge technology. The message is pretty clear: if Dubai is going to run on AI, the people…

If you’ve ever tried to navigate Dubai’s residency system as a property investor, you’ll know the experience has historically involved too many departments, too many documents, and too much back-and-forth between government offices that don’t talk to each other. That’s changing — and it’s a bigger deal than it might sound at first. Dubai has just taken a significant step toward making property-linked residency considerably simpler, faster, and more transparent. Here’s the full breakdown of what’s happened, what it means in practice, and who benefits. What Has Actually Changed? The General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) and the…

Let’s be honest — when you think of Dubai, one image almost always comes to mind first. That unmistakable sail rising out of the sea. The Burj Al Arab. Well, that icon is about to get a serious upgrade. The hotel is heading into an 18-month restoration, and if you know anything about how Dubai operates, you already know they’re not going to do it halfway. This Hotel Practically Built Dubai’s Reputation Back in 1999, nobody had seen anything quite like it. A hotel sitting on its own man-made island, shaped like a giant sail, shooting 321 metres into the…

DP World ILT20 Season 5 of the biggest cricket league in the Gulf region—the second-most watched T20 league in the world – DP World International League T20 will begin on Sunday, 22 November 2026. The six-team, 34-match tournament, which has featured some of the biggest T20 stars over the years, will climax with the Season 5 finale on Sunday, 20 December, at the Dubai International Stadium. The league moved to a December window in Season 4; the first three seasons were played in the January-February window. Season 4 was a big success with enhanced broadcast numbers and spectator attendance. The…

If someone told you five years ago that Dubai would become one of the better cities in the region for cycling, you might have raised an eyebrow. A city built for cars, in a climate that fights you for most of the year, didn’t immediately scream “cyclist-friendly.” But here we are in 2026, and Dubai genuinely has over 560 kilometres of dedicated cycling tracks — with plans to push that to nearly 1,000 kilometres by 2030. The infrastructure is real, the routes are varied, and the experience of cycling in Dubai has become something residents actually look forward to rather…