Leading developer Emaar Properties has signed a deal with Dubai World Central to develop an integrated urban centre and golf destination at the world’s first purpose-built aerotropolis.

The development will be spread over an area of 13.63 million sq m with the first phase of the project to include a golf-course villa community, several hotels, a high-end shopping mall, leisure attractions, and a business hub that promotes youth entrepreneurship, said Emaar in a statement.

The first of the key infrastructure development projects to be announced following the UAE’s World Expo 2020 win, the DWC-Emaar JV project is being developed in line with the expo's theme, ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and its three subthemes - ‘Mobility, Sustainability and Opportunity,’ it said.

Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman of Dubai Aviation City Corporation, said: “Through the joint venture with Emaar, we look forward to benefit from its specialisation and experience that they have demonstrated to create truly world-class projects.”

Mohamed Alabbar, chairman of Emaar Properties, said: “With a number of hotels and retail choices, in addition to a dedicated villa community set around a golf course, the new development will be another sterling addition to Dubai’s mega-developments for the future.”

The masterplan for the venture is currently being finalised, with key considerations in the design and construction of the development set to be sustainability, a subtheme of the expo, said the statement from the Dubai developer.

Energy-efficient building technologies will be integrated into project development, and green building practices followed, it stated. - TradeArabia News Service