Dubai has renamed Dubai World Central, the 145-sq-km master-planned city which hosts the now-operational Al Maktoum International Airport, as ‘Dubai South’.

Announcing the new name, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman of Dubai Aviation City Corporation, said: “The Government of Dubai has been working to build a new destination – which we are naming today ‘Dubai South’ – where individuals can empower themselves to achieve their legitimate aspirations to the greater good of society.”

“The name is iconic, and will become instantly recognisable for years to come. Dubai South is the emirate’s flagship urban project that will set benchmarks for the rest of the emirate in terms of manifesting the themes of happiness as set out in Dubai Plan 2021,” he added.

As a city basing itself on the happiness of the individual, Dubai South aims to change the fundamental concept around how a community is built and what it stands for. The city’s ecosystem is expected to generate over half a million jobs and sustain a total population twice that number.

Dubai South’s two essential urban dimensions of living and commerce are reflected in its logo, whose colour is a mixture of green and blue. Green represents living, and is also symbolic of rebirth, growth and sustainability. Commerce and industry is universally represented by blue.

Al Maktoum International Airport, when complete in 2022, will be the world’s largest with a capacity to handle 220 million passengers and 16 million tonnes of cargo per year.

Dubai South is the host city for World Expo 2020 and the biennial Dubai Airshow. – TradeArabia News Service