Dubai has no plans to give up its crown. Now DIFC 2.0 is coming

The masterplan for the next two decades of Dubai International Financial Centre is being implemented

December 16, 2024, 7:41 PM

DIFC has more than 6,000 active entities and a total workforce of nearly 44,000

I was recently shown around the leisure facilities planned for the top three floors of ICD Brookfield Place, a huge office and retail development in the Dubai International Financial Centre. Pretty impressive they are too: top-notch restaurants, bars and nightlife venues, all with 360-degree panoramic views of Dubai.

But what really made me sit up and take notice was the perspective from the 54th floor: the next development phase of the free zone – DIFC 2.0.

DIFC turned 20 this year and is one of the unbridled success stories of the UAE. In the first half of 2024, it had more than 6,000 active registered entities and a total workforce of nearly 44,000 people. It added 820 companies to its total over the six months, a 24 percent increase year on year.

Under Essa Kazim, who has been DIFC governor for the past 10 years, it has negotiated challenges such as the global financial crisis and the Covid pandemic, reputational threats like the collapse of Abraaj Group and regional geopolitical crises.

Now the masterplan for the next two decades of DIFC is being implemented.

Looking north-east from the top floor of ICD Brookfield, you get a sense of the scale of the next phase. Dubai is not going to rest on its laurels as the leading financial hub in the region, regardless of the competition from Abu Dhabi and Riyadh.

From the top of the tower on the edge of Al Mustaqbal Street, all the way to the elite Zabeel district – home to royalty and thoroughbred racehorses – will be added a financial and business district that will triple the size of the existing free zone.

More than 1 million square feet of commercial, residential and leisure property will join the DIFC footprint over the next few years.

DIFC 2.0 will be different to the free zone’s current hub around the Gate building. Rather than providing upmarket offices for investment bankers, lawyers and all the support a global financial centre requires, DIFC 2.0 will be home to dedicated fintech, entrepreneurial, research and innovation facilities. Fewer skyscrapers, more campus-style low rise.

Imagine the Californian city of Palo Alto in the Emirates, but set in the Dubai equivalent of London’s Grosvenor Square, with a touch of Newmarket thrown in.

DIFC 2.0 has been on the drawing board since 2019, but construction is scheduled to begin in earnest next year for completion some time in the early 2030s (all other things being equal).

From ICD Brookfield, you can see the work that has already begun on the other side of Al Mustaqbal Street – a collection of high-specification commercial buildings, five-star hotels and residences, as well as the retail and leisure facilities the well-healed population will demand.

Further out, ground is already broken for the first stages of the development. Early next year, we will probably get an indication of some Phase 1 tenants and firmer timings for the roll-out.

Such a major project in an already congested city will require serious infrastructure and transport initiatives, of course. Al Mustaqbal Street, in particular, and other access roads around the existing DIFC complex, will need significant and imaginative investment.

At least some of the project is likely to be included under the recent plans to make Dubai a walkable city with thousands of kilometres of pedestrian pathways, bridges and tunnels.

The Dubai 2040 Masterplan is forecasting that the population of the city will roughly double by that date, to about 6m people. So far, most population growth has been to the south of the traditional business and residential districts, which will accelerate as Dubai World Central becomes the emirate’s main airport and the Expo site begins to stage the big business exhibitions.

DIFC 2.0, the redevelopment of the trade centre exhibitions area and – eventually – the enormous acreage of Dubai International Airport will act as a counterweight to this southward drift. But that is in the years to come.

For now, to get a good idea of the scale and ambitions of Dubai, head to the top floors of ICD Brookfield.

Frank Kane is Editor-at-Large of AGBI and an award-winning business journalist. He acts as a consultant to the Ministry of Energy of Saudi Arabia