How invisible forces and infrastructure keep bringing millions back to Dubai
At the World Governments Summit 2026, the Director-General explains the “invisible infrastructure” behind Dubai’s ability to keep millions of visitors coming back.
Speaking at the World Governments Summit 2026, H.E. Eng. Marwan Ahmed Bin Ghalita argued that Dubai’s real achievement is not the buildings but the reasons people return to them: “Repeating a visit to any facility, to an open space, to a park, to a beach — this is our aim.”
He pointed to the emirate’s night-beaches initiative — opening shorelines after sunset through regulatory change and new safety measures — as an example of how small rule changes reshape the way residents and visitors use the city. Behind it, he said, sits an “invisible infrastructure”: the cooperation between Dubai’s entities that the public never sees.
The municipality issued some 37,000 building permits in 2025 and helped host more than 33 million visitors, with young professionals making up around 45% of its workforce — a generation, he noted, empowered to shape the city’s next chapter.