Dubai Municipality receives urban planning award

Dubai Municipality bagged the top spot in the Big 5 Global Impact Awards under the Innovative Construction Organisation of the Year category. (Image source: Dubai Municipality)

Dubai Municipality grabbed 11 awards across different sectors during the final quarter of 2023

These awards included urban planning and enhancing quality of life, regulation, and issuance of building permits in the building and construction sector, health, and safety, and promoting digital transformation in contracts, procurement, supply chains, and project management. Additionally, the municipality was recognised for its efforts in enhancing customer happiness.

Department of urban planning and quality of life

Dubai Municipality received the Gold Category of the Global Future Design Award in the Urban Design category for its Integrated District initiative, which specifically aimed at the design of the service center in Al Aweer. The initiative is aimed at anticipating future service requirements, which align with the best planning standards to foster integrated communities.

Additionally, the municipality secured the Sustainable Cities and Human Settlements Awards in the Planning and Design category for its framework plan initiative focused on the development of rural areas. This initiative was designed to preserve the naturality of rural areas while ensuring the provision of services, facilities, and necessities for residents and visitors of these areas.

Building permits

Dubai Municipality bagged the top spot in the Big 5 Global Impact Awards under the Innovative Construction Organisation of the Year category. This recognition was earned through the success of the Dubai Municipality Projects Initiative in the field of innovative construction. The initiative aims at advancing the municipality's services and applications by aligning them with the latest international technologies and best practices in the field of building and construction.

Health and safety

The municipality achieved the first position in the Arab Anti-Smoking Award for the best legislation category. This award reflects the municipality’s dedicated efforts in tobacco control and smoking regulation within the emirate. It is attributed to the planning and execution of an integrated tobacco control and smoking regulation programme, which ensures adherence to the provisions and regulations outlined in the Federal Law and its Executive Regulation.

Since 2021, the municipality conducted more than 36,000 visits to monitor and inspect tobacco products and related items available in the local market, as well as smoking establishments. These efforts are aimed towards ensuring that circulation of tobacco products adheres to the country’s standards, and investigations are carried out to assess the extent to which institutions comply with the approved requirements.

Contracts and procurement

Dubai Municipality achieved the Future of Procurement award for its advancements in supplier performance assessment, especially for the Digitisation of Supplier Performance Evaluation initiative. This recognition is a result of incorporating state-of-the-art digital transformation technologies, leveraging robotic process automation, and automating repetitive tasks, all without human intervention in the evaluation process. The objective is to enhance the efficiency and competitiveness of Dubai Municipality while supporting Dubai's digital economy and reinforcing its position as a global digital hub.

It was also awarded the Technology Utilisation Award at the Investors in People Awards for its digital transformation initiative in procurement. This initiative aims to align with governmental trends by incorporating optimal technological solutions in purchasing and contracting. It streamlines procedures in accordance with the national agenda and strategic objectives of the municipality. Furthermore, it seeks to provide innovative and high-quality contractual and procurement services by harnessing modern technology.

Project management 

It also received global acclaim by ranking first in the Leadership category at the PMO Global Awards for its Project Management Office. Heba Bilal Al Shehhi, Director of Dubai Municipality's Project Management Office, was recognized with this prestigious title. The award reflects Dubai Municipality's leading and professional efforts in project management, showcasing an exceptional developmental model and securing a leading position among the corporate institutions of the Dubai government, the UAE, and globally. The municipality had previously received the title of the Best Project Management Office worldwide for two consecutive years. In 2022, it secured the award from the International Project Management Institute, and in 2021, it was awarded at the PMO Global Awards by the International Alliance for Project Management Offices.

Information technology

The Municipality also bagged the top position at the Digital Innovation Award under two categories. In the first category, the municipality was recognised for its smart city project of the year, particularly its initiative to monitor emissions from oils, fats, and fuels, thereby preventing discharge into the sewage system. This initiative leveraged Internet of Things (IoT) technologies and seamlessly integrated with a big data platform and analysis tools, resulting in the presentation of real-time readings on an information dashboard. The second category lauds its innovative project that utilises AI technologies to analyse waste collection requests from companies and streamline the approval process.