Under the theme ‘Advanced Technologies Transforming Qatar’s Future’, the 6th Annual Arab Future Cities Summit Qatar 2017 will cover topics that focus on sustainable city infrastructure development leading to economic growth, improved connectivity and overall a better quality of life. The two-day summit will be held on April 10 and 11.
With 1 million visitors expected to throng to Qatar for the World Cup 2022, there has been a surge in infrastructure spending across key segments such as transport, broadly encompassing rail, roads, airport and ports; utilities covering telecommunications, power generation and water; hospitals, real estate and stadiums.
With an estimated budget of $35bn-45bn, the Qatar Rail Development Programme is one of the most expensive infrastructure projects underway in the state. Few years back, Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) had announced that by the year 2022, the country would be investing $20bn-25bn in new tourism projects. Recently the Ministry of Finance in Qatar announced that the government is currently spending $500m a week on capital projects in preparation for World Cup games with more than $200bn to be spent on stadiums and major projects such as roads, a new airport and hospitals.
Governments across nations are adopting solutions and undertaking measures to promote smart city development and it has been estimated that over the next 20 years, cities across the world will invest approximately $41 trillion on technologies to offer improved services.
