On World Habitat Day the UAE achieves high competitive indicators of sustainability and urban transformation

The Governing Council of UN-Habitat (UN-Habitat) at the "United Nations Office" at Nairobi (UNON) in April 2013 launched the theme for this year's program entitled "Sustainable Development: The role of cities in creating improved economic opportunities for all, with special reference to youth and gender”. The Mission of the program was to select the7^th of October as international day of commemoration in promoting sustainable human settlements development of socially and environmentally, to achieve the goal of providing adequate shelter for all.

According to the report issued by the program under the name "Arabic cities 2012/2013- Challenges of Urban Transition, " the U.A.E.  has all underlying factors necessary to create a competitive economy, as ranked in the global competitiveness report third in infrastructure investments, and fourteenth in the prevalence of advanced modern technology, and sixth in the commodity markets with high efficiency. In the area of the environment and water, which is the basis for the program, five of the ten largest seawater desalination plants in the world are present in the UAE alone, they are investing in a project to desalinate water using solar energy, at a cost of (5) billion dollars, which will be completed by the end of 2013 to increase groundwater for emergency uses.

“Masdar” city is an example of achieving the vision of the Habitat program; it was able to successfully integrate between planning, urban development and the best management of cities and towns in the world, which is an essential part of the global response to climate change and enhancing energy security.

It included sustainability in the areas of planning and design, energy management, water management, waste management, transport, and supply chains.