Dubai has long been known for its futuristic inventions, and the city’s plans to become the world leading smart and sustainable city are only expanding. Under the Dubai Smart City and Dubai Plan 2021, the emirate’s aim is to become the best-connected in terms of telecoms, tourism, utilities, education, real estate, public safety, healthcare and transportation.

The Roads and Transport Authority have been working on changing the future of transport. It is expected that driverless transport will be a commonly used means of transport by 2020, and this alone could pave the way for further projects – including smart parking and charging stations for electric vehicles.

The emirate is also launching the Hyperloop, being a train that can travel up to 1225kph, which will significantly change the journey time between Dubai and Abu Dhabi – from 90 minutes to under 12. The fast speed is a result of magnetic levitation removing friction between the train and the rails.

Dubai’s success in this regard may be attributed to the importance paid towards residents and their happiness. A survey carried out in 2016 found that 83% of Dubai residents were happy to be living there. The Dubai Happiness Agenda aims to increase this figure to 95% by 2021.

With all that said, smart cities also bring about data and privacy concerns, meaning that security measures must also be upgraded to keep up with this innovation. Frederic Paquay, senior consultant, MEA, public sector and government, Frost & Sullivan, said that Dubai still has to work on certain challenges it faces – specifically in regulations, infrastructure and homegrown tech innovation.

Dubai aims to implement what other cities will implement in 10 years, and judging by the city’s current progress, these extravagant projects will probably not be coming to an end anytime soon – Only the future will tell.