Dubai will spend Dh6 billion ($1.63 billion) to make the emirate a "green paradise" by 2025, a report quoted officials at the municipality as saying.

The projects planned include soft landscaping and an irrigation network in Dubai, they said.

"We have plans for giant projects by 2025, which include the expansion of sewer lines and the irrigation network," Salah Abdul Rahman Amiri, assistant director-general of the municipality, was quoted by Wam as saying in a Khaleej Times report.

"These are mainly concentrated on preparations for Expo 2020 as we want to make Dubai a green paradise," Amiri told Khaleej Times daily, the report said.

New legislation is also being planned to ensure the private sector, mainly the big developers and private property owners, shares the onus of expanding the green belt in the city.

Amiri, in charge of the Environment and Public Heath Services sectors, said over Dh3 billion would be spent on improving and expanding the irrigation network by 2025, which would bolster the landscaping projects.