As wellness real estate evolves, architectural focus is shifting toward invisible environmental conditions that influence human biology.

Along the Dubai Water Canal in Business Bay, luxury residential development EYWA Way of Water is targeting EMFIS® Certification to deliver an independently verified low-electromagnetic living environment. Designed to filter out ambient electromagnetic frequencies, the waterfront project prioritises nervous system quiet and cellular recovery alongside LEED Platinum, WELL Platinum, and WiredScore Platinum benchmarks.

Modern homes generate constant electromagnetic fields from internal wiring, Wi-Fi networks, smart systems, and external 5G infrastructure. Although the World Health Organization classifies radiofrequency electromagnetic fields as possibly carcinogenic, electromagnetic hygiene remains largely unaddressed by conventional healthy-building frameworks. European regulators are responding: France has banned Wi-Fi in daycare centres, while Switzerland has legislated precautionary exposure limits for schools and hospitals.

Shielding Built Environments by Design

Building on its earlier certification of EYWA – Tree of Life, EMFIS® is expanding its methodology across EYWA Way of Water. Designed by OAD (Zane Tetere-Sulce) with consultant John R Harris, the scheme encompasses approximately 65 ultra-luxury residences—ranging from two- to five-bedroom apartments to duplexes and a penthouse—with delivery expected around 2028.

By incorporating shielding and infrastructure choices directly into foundational design, the project preserves aesthetics whilst dramatically reducing daily radiation:

• Low-Frequency Fields: Reductions of up to 98.7% in electric fields, verified via third-party testing.

• High-Frequency Fields: Reductions of up to 81.8% in electromagnetic fields from wireless sources.

• Restorative Focus: Dedicated bedroom shielding to facilitate nervous system recovery and long-term vitality.

• Scientific Rigour: Standards developed from EPFL research and recognised by Switzerland’s national standardisation body, an ISO member.

Surging Demand for Verified Wellness

The initiative aligns with rapid capital growth across wellness-centred developments. The Global Wellness Institute projects the global wellness real estate market will grow from $876 billion to $1.8 trillion by 2030. In the UAE, the sector expanded from $3.3 billion in 2017 to $14.6 billion in 2025, reflecting a 21% annual growth rate.

While wellness assets command standard price premiums of 10% to 25%, buyers increasingly distinguish verified scientific metrics from marketing claims. EMFIS® benchmark data indicates that verified low-EMF certification delivers an average added value of approximately 14%.

Industry Perspectives on Longevity

Federico Marangoni, Founder and CEO of EMFIS®, commented: “Green building told us how a building treats the world outside it. The next question - the one EYWA Way of Water is helping answer - is what a building does to the people inside it over the course of a lifetime. Electromagnetic pollution is the dimension of the indoor environment the industry has not yet had the tools to measure and certify. That is exactly the gap EMFIS® closes, and EYWA Way of Water is one of the clearest examples in the region of a developer addressing it at design phase, where it makes the most difference. EYWA Way of Water is pitched to offer the quietest square meters in Dubai.”

Mariska Stoffel, Director of Design & Development at R.Evolution, commented: “Architecture is becoming much more sophisticated in how it responds to human wellbeing. When people spend around 90% of their time indoors, we are shaping the environment where much of daily life happens. That means looking beyond aesthetics to the invisible conditions created by the building itself. Sleep and recovery are a key part of that, which is why EMFIS® provides an important benchmark for how we address electromagnetic exposure. At EYWA Way of Water, we are designing for people who take a long-term view of both capital and personal wellbeing, while creating healthier, more considered living environments in an increasingly connected world.”

Shailesh Bhandari, Director, John R Harris commented: “At John R Harris & Partners, sustainability is embedded in our thinking from the first line of a project. EYWA Way of Water extends that principle into territory the industry is only beginning to navigate seriously: the electromagnetic environment that residents live within every day. Partnering with EMFIS® reflects our belief that truly well-crafted spaces actively support the health and longevity of those who inhabit them.”

With a GCC showroom in the UAE and schemes across eight nations, EMFIS® positions the project within a regional movement embedding electromagnetic hygiene into architectural design.

Industrial sustainability and resource resilience have taken centre stage in the Middle East, with environmental security rapidly emerging as a cornerstone of economic sovereignty.

In a decisive move to accelerate the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's resource preservation, environmental services leader Veolia has signed three strategic memorandums of understanding with premier national industrial entities: Acwa, Ma’aden, and Khazeen.

Announced on 1 September 2026, these landmark agreements establish an enhanced cooperation framework across advanced water technologies and hazardous waste treatment. Closely aligned with the national objectives of Saudi Vision 2030 and Veolia's strategic GreenUp programme, the tripartite partnerships tackle several of the Kingdom's most urgent priorities: energy efficiency, industrial decarbonisation, the preservation of scarce water reserves, and the long-term cultivation of local technical capabilities.

High-Impact Partnerships Across Vital Sectors

The collaborative pacts target three pillar industries within the Saudi economy—water desalination, mining, and energy storage:

• Acwa: Partnering with the world-leading private water desalination company, energy transition champion, and pioneer in commercial-scale green hydrogen to enhance desalination plant operations.

• Ma’aden: Teaming up with the mining giant to overhaul the sector’s water cycle and industrial waste systems to promote economic diversification.

• Khazeen: Collaborating with the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) storage specialist, a subsidiary of the National Gas and Industrialization Company (GASCO), to decarbonise nationwide infrastructure.

Reinforcing the critical nature of these initiatives, Estelle Brachlianoff, CEO of Veolia, highlighted the broader strategic imperative behind the agreements:

"Environmental security has become an essential condition for the sovereignty, competitiveness, and strategic autonomy of territories. In Saudi Arabia, this involves the ability to preserve every drop of water, decarbonize industrial development, and turn waste into resources. Through these agreements, and thanks to our cutting-edge technologies and solutions, we are taking action on a large scale to turn challenges into concrete and effective solutions, in line with Saudi Vision 2030. Our innovations and expertise are only effective when they find concrete applications in response to a territory's challenges and in support of its essential infrastructures," says Estelle Brachlianoff, CEO of Veolia.

Advancing Desalination Performance With Acwa

Water scarcity remains one of the region's defining challenges, making efficiency in desalination essential. Expanding on previous operational successes across regional facilities, Veolia’s memorandum of understanding with Acwa focuses on optimizing plant design and daily performance. The collaboration targets:

• Upgrading energy efficiency across desalination facilities;

• Optimising the application of chemical solutions and improving overall water quality;

• Deploying state-of-the-art technical, digital, and operational practices.

Acwa’s operations currently manage a daily capacity of 9.7 million cubic metres—equivalent to 3,900 Olympic swimming pools per day. Through this partnership, the projected emissions reduction could reach up to 500,000 tons of CO₂ annually, an environmental benefit equivalent to taking approximately 110,000 conventional cars off the road, whilst significantly cutting operating costs and safeguarding regional water security.

Circular Economy and Industrial Decarbonisation

Beyond water production, the agreements introduce circular economy solutions to the Kingdom’s extractive and energy logistics sectors.

In the mining industry, Veolia is collaborating with Ma’aden to rethink supply chain sustainability. By implementing advanced water technologies, the partnership aims to treat and reuse industrial process water. Additionally, the agreement focuses on the management of hazardous waste, exploring material recovery, source reduction, and valorisation to establish closed-loop industrial systems.

Concurrently, the agreement with Khazeen deploys environmental technologies across its nationwide LPG storage facilities. Veolia will implement industrial water treatment and hazardous waste management solutions, alongside developing an integrated Facility Management offering covering water, energy, and waste for Khazeen’s commercial clients.

Five Decades of Environmental Stewardship

These strategic agreements consolidate Veolia’s half-century presence in the Kingdom. Operating in Saudi Arabia since 1975, the group has long managed essential infrastructure, including treating industrial wastewater from major petrochemical facilities at Jubail, the world’s largest industrial complex. Through sustained investments in water reuse, energy efficiency, and hazardous waste treatment, Veolia continues to anchor Saudi Arabia's transition towards environmental security and sustainable industrial growth.

Telecommunications providers across the Middle East are realigning their strategic priorities, recognising artificial intelligence not just as an operational tool, but as a primary catalyst for commercial expansion.

A recent study has underscored this shifting landscape, revealing that service providers in both the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia anticipate high-capacity AI-driven network services will become a dominant force in generating net-new revenue over the next three to five years.

Conducted by Ciena with Censuswide, the research polled 100 service provider experts in the UAE and 100 in Saudi Arabia, forming part of a global analysis of 1,200 respondents across 12 countries. The findings demonstrate a clear consensus on the financial potential of AI infrastructure, including the connectivity required by enterprises, hyperscalers, and neoscalers. According to the data, 96 per cent of UAE service providers and 90 per cent of their Saudi counterparts expect AI-enabled network services to primarily drive near-term revenue growth.

To support premium enterprise AI service-level agreements (SLAs), robust network infrastructure is essential. The survey highlights a pronounced urgency within the region, particularly in the UAE, where 97 per cent of service providers report an immediate need for optical network upgrades. This figure noticeably outpaces the Saudi Arabian average of 86 per cent and the global average of 88 per cent, indicating an aggressive approach to network modernisation.

Pete Hall, regional managing director for the Middle East and Africa at Ciena, articulated the nuances regarding this transition.

“Globally, service providers are balancing optimism with urgency about AI-driven revenue opportunities,” Hall stated. Addressing the distinct positioning of the Gulf, he added, “The survey findings for UAE and Saudi Arabia showed the same optimism, but urgency sits at the center of the conversation. In the UAE, service providers are treating network upgrades and automation as something to act on now, not plan for later. In Saudi Arabia, service providers are also focused on AI inference, service reliability, and sovereign infrastructure requirements.”

Divergent cloud and interconnectivity strategies

While the ambition to monetise AI is shared, service providers in the UAE and Saudi Arabia are charting divergent paths for cloud connectivity and data centre strategies:

• AI Inference and Data Centres: Growth in AI inference data centres is expected to influence demand for interconnect services heavily. In Saudi Arabia, 58 per cent of respondents foresee this increase, tracking above the global average of 49 per cent. Conversely, only 37 per cent of UAE providers share this expectation.

• Multi-Cloud Connectivity Models: Saudi operators prioritise multi-cloud connectivity management, leading as a revenue driver for 64 per cent of respondents. In a reversal of global patterns, 57 per cent of UAE providers still view traditional fixed-capacity services as their primary revenue model, placing it ahead of multi-cloud management (46 per cent).

• Wholesale Hyperscaler Demand: Accommodating hyperscalers is universally critical. This segment is viewed as a substantial contributor to wholesale revenue growth by 99 per cent of UAE respondents and 91 per cent of Saudi respondents, aligning with the global average of 95 per cent.

Expanding portfolios and quantum-safe security

Beyond core connectivity, telecommunications organisations are identifying emerging avenues to expand AI-related revenue streams. Physical AI ecosystems, encompassing industrial robotics and remote-control systems, present a significant opportunity. Fifty-two per cent of UAE respondents and 37 per cent of Saudi respondents anticipate physical AI will account for more than 15 per cent of total enterprise AI revenue within five years. Furthermore, service providers across both markets recognise strong commercial potential in offering GPU-as-a-service.

Network performance and security posture are also undergoing rigorous re-evaluation. In Saudi Arabia, guaranteeing performance stability and maintaining low jitter is considered the leading premium monetisation opportunity. This focus on reliability is cited by 42 per cent of Saudi respondents, surpassing the global baseline of 35 per cent.

Meanwhile, the UAE is demonstrating rapid acceleration toward advanced security frameworks. The deployment of quantum-safe encryption is emerging as a near-term reality. Fifty-four per cent of UAE service providers confirm they have launched or expect to launch quantum-safe offerings within twelve months, compared to 38 per cent among Saudi counterparts. This highlights the UAE's expedited timeline for commercialising secure network solutions.