As Dubai booms, residents grapple with traffic congestion, high property prices

Vehicles crawl through Sheikh Zayed Road during rush hour in Dubai.A
| Photo Credit: AP

Skyscraper-studded Dubai has been on a hot streak for the past five years — and some residents are starting to feel burned.

The city-state has seen record-breaking real estate transactions and as more and more people come to live there, and its state-owned airline Emirates is booking record earnings. But all that growth comes with strains for the city’s population.

Traffic feels worse than ever on Dubai’s roads. The price of housing continues to spike even with new real estate projects being announced almost daily. Caught in the middle are both its Emirati citizens and the vast population of foreigners who power its economy — sparking rare public expressions of concern.

Affordability risks

“Dubai is on steroids but affordability risks are increasing,” warned Hasnain Malik in a starkly titled report he wrote for the global data firm Tellimer, where he is a managing director.

Under Dubai’s current plans, the city aims to have 5.8 million residents by 2040, adding more than half its current estimated population in just 15 years. Since 1980, its population has already soared from around 2,55,000 to around 3.8 million.

Real estate lit the fire in Dubai’s growth in 2002, when the desert sheikdom began allowing foreigners to own property. After sharp falls during both the 2008-09 financial crisis and coronavirus lockdown, prices have been soaring.

Today, average prices per square foot are at all-time highs, according to Property Monitor. Rental prices increased as much as 20% in key neighbourhoods last year, with further rises likely this year, with some residents moving to communities further out in the desert, the real estate firm Engel & Völkers said.

Even before the boom, some people who worked in Dubai chose to live in the neighbouring emirate of Sharjah, some 20 km north of the city’s downtown. Some one million commuters from other emirates jam the 12-lane Sheikh Zayed Road other highways every day, as studies suggest that as many as four out of five employees drive to work alone.

The city’s Road and Transportation Authority says there’s been a 10% increase in the number of vehicles. So many vehicles have been registered that the city has had to make license plates longer.

And while the city keeps building new flyovers and other road improvements, more cars are coming from more directions than ever before.

Then there are demographic concerns as the Emirati share of the population dwindles. While the number of citizens isn’t public informal calculation by experts suggests Emirati citizens represent around 10% of the country’s overall population of more than nine million people, a number that’s likely falling as foreigners rush in.

For Dubai’s autocratic government, overseen by ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, possible solutions to the grinding traffic have ranged from the practical to the fanciful. The government in recent months has repeatedly encouraged companies to allow more remote work options

Dubai’s road toll system, known as Salik, has added gates to charge drivers more and will institute surge pricing at the end of the month. Dubai’s Metro, which boasts the world’s longest self-driving rail line, will also grow beyond its broadly north-south routes in a nearly $5 billion expansion.

Then there’s the flying taxi project. Since 2017, Dubai has been announcing plans for airborne cabs in the city. A first “vertiport” is being built by Dubai International Airport with the aim of offering the service from next year.

Dubai also plans 3,300 km of new pedestrian paths.