With a vision to celebrate Dubai’s economy boom of the 1970s and 1980s, and preserve the city’s urban heritage, a new project under Dubai Municipality will protect some of the city’s most iconic edifices.

Working with other institutions, such as Dubai Culture and Arts Authority and the Ministry of Health & Prevention, to preserve some of the emirates most recognizable buildings that shaped the past and will inform the future, the project puts value on buildings from the 1970s and 1980s for their cultural, social, architectural and tourism impact.

So far, five buildings make up the list of those to be preserved dating from 1963 through to 1973: - Deira Clock Tower (1964), Dubai World Trade Centre (1973), Al Ras Library (1963), Al Khuloud Nursery in Karama and Al Kuwait Hospital (perviously Al Baraha Hospital) in Deira (1966). 

Dubai Municipality is also in talks with UNESCO with regards to potential future entries in its highly prominent World Heritage List, which honors buildings for their ‘outstanding universal value’.