The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UNHABITAT) presented the strategic urban development plan for Dahab city as a model of culture- and creativity-based urban planning at the International Forum on Sustainable Urban Development 2025 held on the 25th and 26th in Wuhan, China.

Engineers Iman Hassan, Urban Development Program Officer at the UN-Habitat Egypt office, and Dina Khalil, Acting Director of the Suez Canal Region at the General Organization for Urban Planning (GOPP), presented Dahab’s strategic plan in South Sinai Governorate, highlighting its response to local needs, heritage, and culture to ensure sustainable urban tourism.

According to UN-Habitat, the forum, organized by UNESCO in partnership with the World Tourism Organization and UN-Habitat, launched a new series of solutions focused on culture-based sustainable urban tourism, aiming to place culture at the heart of tourism strategies through heritage preservation, community empowerment, and integrating culture with sustainability, education, and innovation.

Ahmed Rizk, UN-Habitat representative, stated that the program collaborates with GOPP and the Ministry of Local Development in Egypt on a pioneering project to identify urban development interventions to enhance investment, smart applications, and quality of life in Dahab. The project aims to comprehensively improve the livelihoods and quality of life of Dahab residents by defining development interventions, enhancing project financing from diverse resources, and developing urban governance.

The UN representative emphasized that UN-Habitat works on innovative strategies linking public and private capital with the realities and aspirations of cities, covering housing, partnerships, governance reform, and investment projects. The project operates at national, regional, and local levels, including social infrastructure, focusing not only on financing but also on building foundations that enable cities to lead.