Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, has assigned a committee to look over the development of the next stage of the site of Expo 2020 Dubai.
The Dubai Media Office said that the Supreme Committee would look over the site’s transformation into District 2020, which is the city’s recent business and residential district.
The project will be led by the chairman and chief executive of Emirates airline and group, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed.
Plans for District 2020 to utilize more than 80% of the Expo 2020 site’s built environment have already been released.
When the site is transformed entirely into District 2020, it will become the UAE’s first 15-minute city, a cycle-friendly, traffic-free area of the advancing metropolis.
It will also include an autonomous-vehicle route, a 10-kilometre cycling route, interconnected, vast pedestrian pathways and a 5km racing track.
It will also have space for around 85 startups and small businesses when it opens up to its first corporate tenants by the end of this year.
Al Wasl Plaza has been the main staging area of the Expo and the venue of memorable concerts featuring bands like Coldplay.
The chief development and delivery officer for Expo 2020, Ahmed Al-Khatib, said that District 2020 would open “in different stages between now and October”.
The Supreme Committee, which has a tenure of three years, will look over District 2020’s development, including all initiatives, projects, activities and programmes.
It will be supervising the transformation of the site’s infrastructure to accommodate the new facilities and look towards the investment opportunities with the private sector.
The committee will also overlook after global marketing and promotional activities for the site.
Other members of the Supreme Committee include Mohammed Al Shaibani, director-general of Dubai Ruler’s Court, Reem Al Hashimy, Minister of State for International Co-operation and director-general of Expo 2020 Dubai, Abdulrahman Al Saleh, director-general of Dubai’s Department of Finance, and Helal Al Marri, director-general of the emirate’s Department of Economy and Tourism.
Sheikh Mohammed has extended the times of the Expo 2020 Dubai Preparatory committee and those of the Expo 2020 Dubai Bureau and its director-general by six months.