Humans spend 90% of their time inside closed buildings, and integrating natural elements is a necessity for smart cities

The CEO of the Dubai Future Foundation, Khalfan Juma Belhoul, confirmed that cities around the world face five pivotal challenges on their path towards the future, stressing that the Emirate of Dubai continues its pioneering role in formulating international dialogues about the future of cities, through an approach based on cooperation, innovation, and employing technology to serve humanity and enhance the sustainability of life.

During his speech on the second day of the “Future Cities Week” activities, he said that the future of cities requires harmonious coordination between humans, technology and nature, stressing that Dubai today represents a global platform for launching ideas and visions capable of forming smarter, more sustainable and more humane cities.

Belhoul explained that the first challenge is energy consumption, as cities account for about 75% of the world’s total energy, and yet a large portion of it is wasted before use, stressing the importance of shifting from traditional systems to smart, dynamic energy networks that use artificial intelligence and quantitative techniques to predict needs and redistribute the surplus.

He added that “dynamic energy” will be a major pillar of future cities, which will function as living organisms that respond to the needs of their residents in real time.

Regarding the second challenge related to heat distribution, he pointed out that thermal disparity has become a new form of inequality, as only 15% of homes in hot areas are cooled, calling for adopting the materials revolution as a pivotal solution, through the use of innovative materials such as nano-coatings and advanced insulators to transform “concrete forests” into smart urban environments that enhance the quality of life.

The third challenge is the increasing separation from nature, as the individual spends more than 90% of his time inside closed buildings, stressing the necessity of integrating elements of nature into cities using technologies that simulate light, wind, and the natural environment within urban spaces.

Regarding the water challenge, he pointed out that only 1% of the Earth’s water is usable, pointing to the importance of investing in “water technology” based on autonomous systems and artificial intelligence, to anticipate shortages and expand desalination technologies based on renewable energy, with the aim of transforming scarcity into abundance.

The fifth challenge relates to the decline in biodiversity, with about one million species threatened with extinction.

Belhoul presented a vision for future cities as a haven for all forms of life, by integrating 4D-printed environments and smart ecosystems that develop in parallel with humans.

He stressed that Dubai provides a practical model for implementing these visions, citing the “Dubai Reef” project, which employs robotics and marine innovation to build one of the largest artificial coral reef systems in the world, thus enhancing the sustainability of the marine environment and restoring the balance to biodiversity, and other sustainability projects.