Dubai approves AED 2 billion plan for 48 urban centres around Metro stations

It covers 48 urban centres: six main centres and 42 sub-centres, together about 12% of Dubai's urban area. The aim is to concentrate homes and jobs around mass transit stations, mix land uses and bring homes closer to workplaces.

Urban Centres Development Plan	Today	2040 target
Residents living near a Metro station	52%	74%
Public services coverage	74%	85%
Added property value in targeted areas	–	AED 20 billion
Investment	–	More than AED 2 billion
Urban centres	–	48 (6 main, 42 sub-centres)

Executive Council of Dubai, 27 October 2026, as reported by The National and Gulf News.

The plan rests on three priorities: quality of life, economic returns, and the efficiency and cost of infrastructure. Sheikh Hamdan described it as an investment in the sustainability of Dubai's growth.

The individual centres have not yet been named. We will add them to this story and to our area guides once the list is released.

The council also approved a Sustainable Population Planning Policy, which links population forecasts to economic and urban planning. It is meant to support jobs in high-productivity sectors under the Dubai Economic Agenda, D33, and to raise average household income.

The third approval was a Digital Authorisation System run by Digital Dubai. It lets people and companies authorise someone else to complete low-risk government transactions online through UAE PASS, without a notarised power of attorney.

Transit is becoming the map for growth. The plan steers new homes, jobs and services towards Metro stations. Homes within walking distance of a station, existing or planned, are where the government expects demand and services to grow most.

Value gains are targeted, not citywide. The AED 20 billion figure applies to the areas the plan selects, over about 14 years. Until the centres are named, treat it as a direction of travel rather than a promise for any single community.

Check the line, not just the brochure. When you compare off-plan projects, look at the real walking distance to a current or confirmed station. The Metro Blue Line, for example, will link districts such as Dubai Silicon Oasis to the network; see our story on Aldar and Dubai Holding's planned community on the Blue Line.

For the wider build-out, read about Dubai's AED 2.1 trillion project pipeline and 350,000 new homes and the new Etihad Rail station at Al Yalayis.