Where will the UAE's pledged two million companies sit?

Hot off the business press is news that the UAE is targeting two million registered companies over the next decade, roughly 600,000 more than the 1.4 million-plus companies registered at the end of 2025, when around 250,000 new firms were established in a single year.

Those are numbers of remarkable scale, and they reflect the ambition of the country's economic strategy.

But to someone who has spent two decades thinking about where people work, live and gather, this is really a question about space. Two million companies need somewhere to sit, and the truth is that Dubai does not yet have enough of the right kind of somewhere.

It’s important to stress that the shortage is not one of square footage.

Rather, it is a shortage of buildings that meet the standards where business demand has shifted. Occupiers today are not comparing floorplates against floorplates; they are comparing the entire operating experience: energy performance, air quality, digital infrastructure, and governance credentials that satisfy an international parent company or an ESG-conscious investor.

Legacy secondary stock, however centrally located, often struggles to keep pace with those expectations.

In 2026, the building itself has become a factor in whether a company can attract talent or maintain important client relationships. A decade ago that might have sounded excessive. Today, it is simply part of due diligence.

Another shift is the speed at which companies are growing. A business formed this year in a free zone may need three desks in January and thirty by September.

The old model of a decade-long lease, negotiated slowly and altered rarely, does not serve a market where company formation is happening at record pace. What the next wave of occupiers increasingly wants is elasticity: office space that scales with the business rather than constraining it, built into developments flexible enough to accommodate growth without requiring a fresh negotiation every time headcount changes.

This thinking is shaping how we approach projects such as Tomorrow Commercial Tower 2 in Dubai International City Phase 2. The development has been designed around the needs of startups, SMEs and growing businesses, combining right-sized office units with the flexibility, accessibility and shared amenities that modern occupiers increasingly expect. In a market where companies need to move quickly, adaptability is no longer an amenity; it is a structural requirement.

Geography is shifting too, and I believe this is one of the trends the market has been slowest to recognise.

DIFC, Downtown, and Business Bay remain among Dubai's most sought-after business addresses, and pricing reflects their scarcity. The businesses formed under the UAE's growth agenda will increasingly find homes in surrounding and emerging commercial hubs such as Dubai South, JLT, Expo City and International City Phase 2, where connectivity, affordability, and room for expansion create compelling alternatives for growing firms.

International City Phase 2 is particularly interesting because it reflects how workplace demand is evolving. With direct access to Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road and proximity to the upcoming Blue Line Metro, it offers the type of connectivity that businesses increasingly value.

Developments such as Tomorrow Commercial Tower 2, which will deliver 115 office units and five retail spaces, demonstrate how the next generation of commercial stock is being positioned to support entrepreneurial growth beyond the city's traditional office districts.

This is not a consolation prize. Done properly, it is a better model because it places people closer to where they actually live, and that proximity is quietly becoming one of the most valuable things a workplace can offer.

It is striking, as I watch greater volumes of institutional capital move into commercial real estate, that this is no longer a residential story with an office footnote. In many respects, it is becoming the other way around.

The companies created as part of the UAE's next phase of growth will determine, through where they choose to locate, which parts of this city thrive over the coming decade. Those of us building that space have an obligation to anticipate demand rather than simply respond to it after it arrives.

The opportunity is not just to accommodate more businesses, but to create the environments that help them succeed from day one.

By Xu Ma, CEO, Tomorrow World Properties