Sustainability and Financing Project:
The UAE Paradigm
Pythagoras Petratos
Achieving equality, sustainability and growth together is possible
but needs proactive far-sighted leadership
—World Economic Forum, Global Competitiveness Report 2018.
Abstract
The importance of project finance as a method to invest in
infrastructure and industrial assets has grown dramatically
in the recent years and has become increasingly important
not only to public bodies, but primarily to the private
sector (Eisenbach et al. in Business Strategy and the
Environment 23:375–394, 2014). These trends are
expected to continue to grow and one of the major issues
within the project finance industry are environmental and
social risks (Esty and Sesia in An overview of project
finance and infrastructure finance-2009 update. Harvard
Business School Publishing, 2010). Project finance
industry is increasingly concerned with the volume and
awareness of sustainable development (Eisenbach et al. in
Business Strategy and the Environment 23:375–394,
2014). Sustainability is becoming a key issue because
of its ethical dimensions as well as risk management, firm
value and performance. United Arab Emirates (UAE) can
be considered a global leader in sustainability. In has
actively displayed its commitment by placing sustainable
environment and infrastructure as one of its top national
priorities in UAE Vision 2021. The purpose of this paper
is to mainly present the policies and initiatives that
created this unique UAE paradigm. Moreover, the paper
examines how sustainability was successfully implemented in UAE’s financed infrastructure at various
industries (i.e., smart cities, tourism, sports, etc.) and
the added value it produces.
Keywords
Alternative finance Á Project finance Á Sustainability Á
Infrastructure Á Risks Á Leadership Á UAE
1 Introduction
UAE’s history and nation building has been forged by
infrastructure investment and development. UAE’s is home
to some of the most distinguishable and impressive infrastructures in the world. Infrastructure is an important pillar of
competitiveness, environmental sustainability and sustainable economic growth. It is transformed by global trends and
the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). The development of
smart cities, an important part of UAE’s policy, is a
demonstration of this integration and emerging trends. The
integration of new technologies with infrastructure creates
new opportunities and challenges. We examine some of
these opportunities and challenges.
The purpose of this paper is to answer the research
question if the UAE is a global unique paradigm. We assess
it mainly in the context of sustainability, both environmentally and economically. The UAE has displayed significant
global leadership and vision regarding infrastructure. First,
we briefly present global infrastructure trends and the
importance of infrastructure. Then we also shortly discuss
the significance of UAE policies in infrastructure development. The main discussion concerns a description of different types of infrastructure, transportation, tourist and
sport, real estate and free zones and general public infrastructure. We highlight their unique characteristics and find
evidence that the UAE is a unique global paradigm regarding infrastructure.
P. Petratos (&)
American University in the Emirates, Dubai, United Arab
Emirates
e-mail: pythagoras.petratos@aue.ae
Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford,
Oxford, UK
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
M. Mateev and J. Nightingale (eds.), Sustainable Development and Social Responsibility—Volume 1,
Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32922-8_16
163
The UAE Paradigm
Pythagoras Petratos
Achieving equality, sustainability and growth together is possible
but needs proactive far-sighted leadership
—World Economic Forum, Global Competitiveness Report 2018.
Abstract
The importance of project finance as a method to invest in
infrastructure and industrial assets has grown dramatically
in the recent years and has become increasingly important
not only to public bodies, but primarily to the private
sector (Eisenbach et al. in Business Strategy and the
Environment 23:375–394, 2014). These trends are
expected to continue to grow and one of the major issues
within the project finance industry are environmental and
social risks (Esty and Sesia in An overview of project
finance and infrastructure finance-2009 update. Harvard
Business School Publishing, 2010). Project finance
industry is increasingly concerned with the volume and
awareness of sustainable development (Eisenbach et al. in
Business Strategy and the Environment 23:375–394,
2014). Sustainability is becoming a key issue because
of its ethical dimensions as well as risk management, firm
value and performance. United Arab Emirates (UAE) can
be considered a global leader in sustainability. In has
actively displayed its commitment by placing sustainable
environment and infrastructure as one of its top national
priorities in UAE Vision 2021. The purpose of this paper
is to mainly present the policies and initiatives that
created this unique UAE paradigm. Moreover, the paper
examines how sustainability was successfully implemented in UAE’s financed infrastructure at various
industries (i.e., smart cities, tourism, sports, etc.) and
the added value it produces.
Keywords
Alternative finance Á Project finance Á Sustainability Á
Infrastructure Á Risks Á Leadership Á UAE
1 Introduction
UAE’s history and nation building has been forged by
infrastructure investment and development. UAE’s is home
to some of the most distinguishable and impressive infrastructures in the world. Infrastructure is an important pillar of
competitiveness, environmental sustainability and sustainable economic growth. It is transformed by global trends and
the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). The development of
smart cities, an important part of UAE’s policy, is a
demonstration of this integration and emerging trends. The
integration of new technologies with infrastructure creates
new opportunities and challenges. We examine some of
these opportunities and challenges.
The purpose of this paper is to answer the research
question if the UAE is a global unique paradigm. We assess
it mainly in the context of sustainability, both environmentally and economically. The UAE has displayed significant
global leadership and vision regarding infrastructure. First,
we briefly present global infrastructure trends and the
importance of infrastructure. Then we also shortly discuss
the significance of UAE policies in infrastructure development. The main discussion concerns a description of different types of infrastructure, transportation, tourist and
sport, real estate and free zones and general public infrastructure. We highlight their unique characteristics and find
evidence that the UAE is a unique global paradigm regarding infrastructure.
P. Petratos (&)
American University in the Emirates, Dubai, United Arab
Emirates
e-mail: pythagoras.petratos@aue.ae
Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford,
Oxford, UK
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
M. Mateev and J. Nightingale (eds.), Sustainable Development and Social Responsibility—Volume 1,
Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32922-8_16
163