‘Don’t ask why, ask why not’: How ‘Dubai-it’ shaped 11 of the city’s key projects

From dredging the Creek to building a museum for the future, these 11 milestones show how Dubai turned the impossible into iconic with its unique ‘Dubai-it’ attitude

- Nasreen Abdulla and Thanweeruddin Mohammad

For decades, the word “impossible” has not been part of Dubai’s vocabulary. What others thought was beyond reach, the city not only turned into reality but gave it a uniquely Dubai twist.

When the Creek needed dredging in the 1950s, then-ruler Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed did not ask if it could be done. He asked why not. Decades later, that same philosophy has shaped palm-shaped islands, the world’s tallest tower, and a museum dedicated to tomorrow.

On Wednesday, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, launched the ‘Dubai-it’ initiative, a model translating this philosophy into action. Taking to social media, DTCM head Issam Kazim further elaborated what the philosophy stood for: “To Dubai-it is to believe that the extraordinary is achievable. That speed and excellence can go hand in hand. That the future is not something to wait for, but something to build.”

Here are 11 moments when this mindset shaped the city we know today.

Dredging of the Creek, 1958

The original Dubai-it moment, the dredging of the creek forms the foundational story of the city. In the 1950s, the Dubai Creek served as a minor port for boats and ships. However, the silt and current flow prevented larger ships from entering the port. A feasibility study put the cost of dredging the Creek at millions of dirhams, a huge financial risk considering how the city was struggling with the collapse of the pearl-diving industry.

But that didn’t deter then ruler, Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum. He took the bold step of going ahead with the dredging, a move that is etched in history as the dawn of Dubai as a global trading hub. It set the stage for everything that the city later achieved.