Overview
- Dubai conducted its first manned eVTOL flight from Al Mergam to Al Maktoum Airport, with passenger air‑taxi service targeted for 2026 and an initial vertiport underway near Dubai International.
- Transport plans include extending the metro and tram to 131 km by 2029, delivering 72 road projects by 2027, and rolling out the Dubai Walk scheme with 3,300 km of new pedestrian routes and 110 bridges by 2040.
- The Week of Future Cities concluded at the Museum of the Future, with Dubai positioning itself as a global testbed and highlighting five urban challenges spanning energy use, heat inequality, disconnection from nature, water scarcity and biodiversity loss.
- Dubai’s GDRFA and the Mohammed bin Rashid School of Government launched the Nudgeathon to apply behavioral science in public services, and the government formed new committees to advance film and electronic gaming.
- Abu Dhabi opened Interpol’s global anti‑corruption and asset‑recovery conference with participants from over 90 countries as Interpol reported $650 million recovered, and ADNOC’s executive committee reviewed international expansion and AI plans, while leaked U.S. documents raised internal doubts about the feasibility of a Gaza stabilization force and the broader transition plan.