The degree of impact any new technology can have on the upcoming generations is hard to tell in precise numbers, but that in no way detracts from its immense value. Dubai’s vision of making 25 per cent of its buildings 3D printed by 2030 is in complete alignment with this revolutionary technology that has already struck strong roots in a host of sectors worldwide. The technology of using additive materials to be extruded in shapes and sizes big or small in printer-like fashion, ready to be assembled for use, is revealing remarkable pay-offs globally and Dubai’s 3D Printing Strategy, based on practical and precise goals, is geared to integrate this new horizon with its own expanding ones. In moving towards 3D printing, Dubai is ensuring it has its rightful share in a growing global market.
The benefits of 3D printing are legion with concrete examples to be found in construction, consumer, health and a host of other industries. For example, this technique enables the putting up of a single house, or many, in fact perhaps even a colony, in a single round, demonstrating a felicity of speed, efficiency and scale that cannot be achieved via conventional building methods.
The 3D strategy will be implemented by many government partners, including Dubai Municipality, Dubai Health Authority, Dubai Holding, with The Dubai Future Foundation playing a major role in organising these efforts. The initial target of 3D printing implementables is not too far. By 2019, two per cent of Dubai’s construction sector will be using this technology. By 2025, the expected value of 3D printed medical products is pegged at Dh1.7 billion.
In actively pursuing this technology, Dubai is reiterating its vision for development based on its incisive understanding of the future and its inevitable demands.
