Dubai’s Urban Master Plan 2040, launched in 2021, envisions a transformative future for the city and it’s now moving from paper to reality. The plan aims to enhance sustainability, livability, and connectivity, with a focus on creating integrated communities, sustainable housing and mobility to reduce the carbon footprint and offer an eco-friendly lifestyle.
Ernesto Palanco, a Spanish architect with over 20 years of experience and more than 300 completed projects in southern Europe, Middle Eastern countries, and Morocco, specialized in Mediterranean-inspired villas incorporating Arabic influence. His work reflects a commitment to harmony, proportion, and functionality, emphasizing the importance of personalized design in creating meaningful practical spaces.
Read below an interview conducted by the Fintech Scoop in early October and lightly edited for clarity and editorial purposes.
FS: Regarding Dubai’s Urban Master Plan 2040, what do you see as the most transformative aspects from an architectural and urban perspective?
Ernesto Palanco (EP): What I can tell you about this macro project up to 2040 is that it is a brutal development of an area where I think they committed some mistakes in some developments over the past decades. At the level of scale and infrastructure concepts, that is, traffic, water treatment, electricity, which are probably fine on a large scale. But from the many trips I have made to Dubai, I always felt a lack of attention to detail. Repetition is a big mistake if you want to associate it with quality. In The Palm, or any of the areas, the shop-boxes repeat a construction unit, which is clearly a mistake because it takes away value from the project. Number 10 out of 100 identical units on one of the arms or leaves of the palm is a mistake, because basically it makes the product very uninteresting, not luxurious, and also not welcoming. The ¨wow¨ factor also loses the ¨wow¨, effectively, because it repeats again and again.
It’s a shame, to be honest, because there is so much quality in traditional design in that area. I remember the first trip I made to Dubai, this was in 1999, and later I came to know Bahrain, Qatar, southern Saudi Arabia, and Oman very well. There is much quality in the old settlements and designs, both traditional African and Arab structures and features. In some old towns, the architectural idea of the place has been reproduced with quite high quality.
FS: You mentioned lost influences from North African and Arabic architecture. How do you see their absence in Dubai today?
EP: In Dubai, the idea of creating something bigger than elsewhere and more expensive than elsewhere has been lost. These are two conceptual mistakes that make a product deteriorate in value over time, because quality, for people with a certain mindset, is not in price nor in excessive “wow” effect. It is in common sense, quality, relationships between spaces, many other things that make a project good. And it’s a shame because there is a foundation, especially, for example, in the old town of Jeddah, there is a foundation in the use of wooden beams by old construction artisans, in wind towers, how wide clay walls function for ventilation: these things have been lost. This means distancing from the past to adapt to the West, while the local climate, with sandstorms and air salinity, demands using the prior culture and know-how of ancestors. And it has been lost.
FS: And now, with the new urban plan, Danish and Nordic architects have been brought in to create greener, more walkable, and people-centered spaces. Do you think this is viable in Dubai’s climate and lifestyle?
EP: It will be difficult for the client to realize green areas and the sort of structure the approach these countries explore will be hard to replicate, because of extremely high temperatures and a water table with high salinity. But it can be done. Of course you cannot expect English gardens in Dubai, but the idea is to treat surfaces with plant coverings such as cacti and agaves, and other plants that can thrive. These are adapted to the climate. Acacias work well, palm trees of all kinds, agaves, all of them can adapt to these not very comfortable environments for green areas. This is very advanced. Green spaces should be used a lot, but many should be shaded, semi-shaded, with pergolas, stretched fabrics, everything to create comfort, especially during months like July, even from June, when the heat is terrible in Dubai. Last time I was there, two years ago, was in August: it’s a survival act (laughs).
FS: Beyond greenery, Scandinavian urban design also emphasizes lifestyle, comfort, and social spaces. Can this be applied in Dubai?
EP: It is transferable. Eco-friendly shared spaces, coming from mainly a Scandinavian culture, can be applied for sure. It does not mean reaching Western levels of interrelation between people, but breaking the expat ghettos that existed until now is fundamental for society in Dubai to progress and evolve. So, I think the conclusions of these studies are very solid. Interrelation, common spaces, and the standard of living that brings locals and expatriates closer, even in commercial or tourist areas, make sense. Restaurants, sports areas, promenades, parks, leisure zones: these Scandinavian studies can really improve the city and inspire other projects in the region in the future, in my point of view.
FS: Despite the challenges, what lessons or positive innovations does Dubai offer in architecture and urbanism currently?
EP: There is much to admire: how a small traditional town was magnified into a huge cosmopolitan city. There is also respect for Western ideas, maybe exaggerated, but they have tried to adopt urban planning and industrialization principles from European cities, like Haussmann did in Paris or Cerdá for Barcelona’s expansion. It is very commendable. The positive is this insatiable desire to change and evolve, the negative is not relying more on what they already had as a base for the future work. The old schemes, such as souk, port areas, villas, palaces of old sheikhs with courtyards, wind towers, functional rooms, controlled climate well even without air conditioning, which is remarkable. Some of these aspects should be brought back.
FS: Considering this rescue, what would be other important aspects from now on?
EP: Diversity contributes to quality. It works better with small service cores and zoning around them, so essential services are within five minutes, instead of traveling to large malls. Small neighborhoods of 200-300 homes would create communities closer to how people really live, including small mosques, commercial areas, basic services like pharmacies or supermarkets. These small neighborhoods integrated with bigger centers, downtown, offices, marinas, ports, and other service zones is a very Arab concept that has been overlooked. It will be interesting to see how they implement and execute this.
