Culture, happiness and a Disney for Arabia: 4 key insights from Gulf News’ interview with Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak

Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi, sat down with Gulf News editor-in-chief Mark Thompson for an exclusive interview on how Abu Dhabi continues to invest in growth through arts, sports and attractions.

Here are four key points that stood out, from asking why to focusing on happiness.

Read the main interview here or watch the full interview directly below:

There is a version of this story told entirely in numbers: capital committed, openings delivered on schedule, visitor numbers that keep outpacing projections. It is a good story. For Al Mubarak, the story that matters starts somewhere else. It begins with a single vision in which museums, heritage, sport, entertainment and the creative industries work together, with Abu Dhabi as a place where cultures meet.

“The why is a very important question because not a lot of people ask it,” said Al Mubarak. “Most people ask the how or the how much, and that takes a lot out of the reality.” For him, the core principle remains clear: that culture drives Abu Dhabi’s growth as much as it reflects it. “Reality is, everything we do here has a long-term effect, on our society, and on global society.”

That long-term effect rests on two convictions he holds together. Institutions such as Louvre Abu Dhabi, Zayed National Museum and the upcoming Guggenheim Abu Dhabi were established to safeguard heritage for generations still to come. At the same time, they exist to teach residents and visitors about cultures beyond their own, a belief he returns to often: that culture is the foundation of every forward-thinking individual, and, in his words, "a superpower".

That commitment extends to what is still to come. When Guggenheim Abu Dhabi – among Frank Gehry’s final works – opens on December 11, it becomes the newest chapter in Saadiyat Cultural District, shaped by the same premise: that culture keeps being renewed, generation after generation.

That belief reaches past the walls of any single museum. “Human interaction is much needed,” HE Al Mubarak said, describing culture’s role in bringing together and creating space for conversations between people who would otherwise never meet. Abu Dhabi’s museums, stages and public spaces function as meeting places, where people can encounter unfamiliar perspectives and find a shared human story. That instinct for connection, he suggests, runs deep in Abu Dhabi’s own history.

While Aldar’s balance sheets and DCT’s tourism figures dominate headlines, Al Mubarak insists the number that matters most to him can’t be found in a spreadsheet. His focus is on happiness. “If we can do something to bring happiness to you economically, socially, educationally, we are giving you an opportunity to succeed in life,” he told Gulf News. “That is our primary role here.”

Measuring it, he admits, is imprecise. For Al Mubarak, happiness shows up in small moments: a visitor discovering Emirati artist Hassan Sharif hanging beside an Andy Warhol at Guggenheim Abu Dhabi or learning that communities here were practising agriculture 4,500 years ago. It shows up, too, in figures that rarely make headlines on their own: Abu Dhabi’s cultural sites and libraries recorded 96 per cent visitor satisfaction last year, while attendance at culture and leisure events rose 20 per cent, to more than 4.2 million people.

What he is really describing, though, is exchange. An Emirati craft and a piece of Western contemporary art, sitting in the same room, both become an invitation for someone to ask a question about a world they did not grow up in. It is why he keeps returning to the idea of Abu Dhabi as a meeting place, for the region and, increasingly, for a wider and more distant world.

Europe has its Disneyland Paris. Asia has three parks. The US has two. Al Mubarak believes it’s time the Arab world has one too. “This part of the world is in need of one,” he said, framing Abu Dhabi’s forthcoming Disney resort as made for the whole region.

Developed by Miral on Yas Island, alongside Ferrari World and Warner Bros. World, it joins a track record of localising storytelling – from Ratatouille in Paris, Moana drawing on Hawaiian culture, and Mulan on Chinese folklore. Disney is expected to boost storytelling across the emirates' cultural and creative industries sector, strengthening everything from Emirati to wider Arab representation in popular culture.

Beyond the cultural symbolism, the numbers are significant: Disney’s operations alone are expected to create around 10,000 jobs, before accounting for the designers, builders and costume creators needed to bring the resort to life over the next several years, while inspiring children on new career paths.

When Formula One first signed with Abu Dhabi, few believed it would produce homegrown talent. “If we spoke to reporters and said our future is Emirati drivers, male and female, racing in competitions, they probably would have doubted it,” Al Mubarak said. Today, Emirati drivers compete in Formula Two and Formula E.

The same strategy has been applied across sport. Since Abu Dhabi partnered with the NBA, basketball participation across the UAE has risen by 60 per cent. The number of Jiu-jitsu practitioners have also grown, helped by its inclusion in school curricula. “Sport is a way of life,” Al Mubarak added, pointing to values of discipline, teamwork and resilience as the real return on investment, long before medals or tourism revenue enter the conversation.