Hassan Khairat, Principal at Arthur D. Little, highlights that siloed underground infrastructure planning across fast-growing GCC cities continues to fuel inefficiencies, delays, and public frustration
Cities compete and residents thrive when infrastructure works seamlessly beneath their feet. Below every road lies a dense, interdependent web of utilities, telecom networks, and power systems. These underground assets are the arteries of modern life. Yet in many cities, they are planned, built, and maintained in silos. The result, especially in jurisdictions going through rapid transformation such as the GCC, is familiar: repeated roadworks, rising costs, preventable delays, and mounting public frustration. A study published in the International Journal of Engineering and Information Systems shows that, average schedule overruns reach 30% in select GCC cities, with improper planning and poor coordination identified as the leading contributors.
Gulf cities are expanding at unprecedented speed. According to Gulf Research Center, infrastructure spend is forecasted to reach 232 Billion US dollars in 2028 alone in the GCC. The challenge is no longer how to build more, but how to coordinate better. Effective infrastructure-works management is a strategic priority. Cities need to proactively approach it and put together a practical framework comprising three key components: governance and accountability, delivery archetype, and technology enablement.
1. Define governance and accountability across the infrastructure value chain
Every city needs a unified infrastructure definition. A clear infrastructure definition enables decision makers to delineate roles and understand the ecosystem’s governance. Infrastructure is broader than physical assets and can refer to either hard infrastructure, such as utilities, and/or soft infrastructure, such as schools and hospitals. After clearly defining ‘infrastructure’, cities must then articulate roles and responsibilities across the infrastructure value chain. It includes: policy-making and regulation, planning, budgeting, permitting and service delivery, compliance and monitoring, and asset management. Without a single point of accountability, coordination breaks down across the value chain and the public pays the price through congestion and disruption.
2. Define the right delivery archetype
There is no one-size-fits-all model for managing infrastructure works. Some cities may opt for a centralized entity that directly manages permitting, planning, and execution (as in Qatar’s Ashghal). Others may establish a coordinating authority that sets standards and oversees compliance, while utilities continue to execute their own works. Riyadh’s Infrastructure Projects Center (RIPC) is emerging as a pioneering model, standardizing how works are planned and executed, and coordinating all infrastructure works between the relevant entities (e.g., water, electricity). There is no right model, what matters most is clarity of roles, accountability, and data sharing across all players.
3. Introduce tech-enabled coordination
Technology is the enabler that ties it all together. Tech-enabled tools are reshaping how GCC cities manage infrastructure coordination. Centralized approval platforms streamline processes by consolidating all required NoCs into a single system (e.g., Dubai’s eNOC platform). GIS-based networks integrate utility maps into one shared view, reducing excavation overlaps and improving planning (e.g., Abu Dhabi’s Spatial Data Infrastructure “AD-SDI”, a unified infrastructure geospatial hub). Riyadh recently launched the infrastructure masterplan that provides a single source of truth for the City’s infrastructure works and planned works/developments. Real-time monitoring using IoT sensors and digital twins helps cities track asset health, flag issues early, and coordinate smarter maintenance (e.g., Qatar’s Lusail City digital twin project).
The GCC’s opportunity to lead
With megaprojects reshaping skylines and entire new districts under construction, the region can leapfrog global standards. By redefining how utilities coordinate, digitizing excavation management, and designing underground networks with future capacity in mind, GCC cities can dramatically reduce disruptions and enhance quality of life. Smart cities are not built only above ground. The real foundation of a livable GCC city lies beneath the surface, in how well we manage how we dig.
