Urban planning and data centers establish the UAE’s leadership in building the cities of the future

Abu Dhabi, January 24 / WAM / The UAE continues to consolidate its advanced model in building smart cities, based on broad strategic investments in various fields, most notably data centers, which form the operational heart of smart urban systems and the digital economy based on knowledge and innovation.

With the rapid expansion in the use of artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and digital government services, data has become the main driver of urban life, while data centers have become the infrastructure through which smart cities are managed in real time.

Amal Al-Shazly, President of Schneider Electric in the Gulf region, said that data centers today play the role of the brain that manages smart cities, as they process huge amounts of data moment by moment, which may reach several terabytes in advanced environments, and this ability has become necessary for the UAE, as the modern city system, from transportation and government services to energy and safety, depends on an interconnected digital structure that works with artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things.

She explained that projects such as Masdar City, the Dubai Urban Plan 2040, and the Digital Government Strategy 2025 confirm that the country is building an urban model that relies on data in decision-making and improving the quality of life, and turning this vision into a reality requires a local digital infrastructure that is safe, flexible, and capable of keeping pace with new applications.

She stressed that the expansion of the uses of artificial intelligence will lead to an increase in the needs of data centers for higher power capacities that may exceed 20 to 50 kilowatts for each unit allocated to hosting servers within the data center. Therefore, the UAE’s investments in sustainable and highly efficient data centers come as an essential step for building the cities of the future.

For his part, Kamel Al-Taweel, Managing Director of the Middle East and North Africa region at Equinix, the global digital infrastructure and data center company, confirmed that data centers are considered the digital brain of smart cities, as they allow data to be processed, analyzed, and smart decisions made immediately.

He explained that speed of response, high capacity and superior connectivity are essential elements of modern technologies such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and smart services, pointing out that enabling seamless communication and strengthening integrated digital systems contributes directly to supporting the UAE’s vision towards building connected, sustainable cities prepared for the requirements of the future.

Al-Taweel added that it is necessary to localize data traffic to reduce response time, enhance performance, and meet the growing demand for digital services such as video, cloud computing, electronic games, and digital sports, especially with 83% of Internet traffic in the Middle East continuing to pass through Europe.

Data represents the central core of any smart city, as the efficiency of urban services depends on the ability to collect data from millions of sensors and Internet of Things devices, and analyze it in real time within data centers, and it is not possible without it.

Smart cities will be able to operate as one interconnected system, and digital solutions will be transformed into separate systems with limited impact.

Economic indicators reflect the magnitude of this trend, as reports issued by international research institutions, including Research and Markets, indicate that the data center market in the UAE is likely to exceed $3.3 billion by 2030, as the UAE already has the largest data center infrastructure in the region, with plans to double the number of these centers in the coming years, which strengthens its position as a regional and global hub for data storage and processing, and keeps pace with the rapid expansion of smart city projects at the country level.

The UAE is one of the countries that invest most in smart cities, especially in the fields of artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, data centers, and modern communications networks.

According to the Smart Cities Index (IMD), issued by the Global Competitiveness Center of the International Institute for Management Development, Dubai has jumped to fourth place globally in the Smart Cities Index 2025, and Abu Dhabi to fifth place.

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