Open Calls for Urban Solutions
Open Calls invite innovators and entrepreneurs to respond directly to real urban challenges. We define the problem — and any solution, digital or analog, is welcome.
Open Calls flip traditional procurement. Instead of cities being “sold to,” the market responds to what cities actually need. This puts cities in control, avoids tech-for-tech-sake, and opens the door to solutions standard tenders never allow. It also puts innovators front and centre, giving them a pathway to market previously blocked by rigid procurement systems.
Active Open Calls addressing real city challenges will appear here and be updated regularly.
Expo City Dubai — a pioneering hub for innovation and sustainable urban living — invites innovators, startups, researchers, and industry leaders to participate in an Open Call for Air Quality Solutions. This initiative, led by the Urban Lab, aims to identify and pilot technologies that can meaningfully enhance both indoor and outdoor air quality across our city-wide testbed.
As a city built on the legacy of Expo 2020 Dubai, Expo City continues to embody the UAE’s commitment to net zero emissions by 2050, sustainable development, and the creation of healthier, more livable urban environments. Through this open call, we seek tangible, scalable solutions that can help us better understand, manage, and improve air quality — for our citizens, our communities, and our shared future.
Indoor and Outdoor air quality solutions
Expo City Dubai’s Urban Lab invites innovators, startups, researchers, and industry leaders to take part in a new Open Call for Urban Cooling Solutions — an opportunity to pilot breakthrough solutions and design strategies that can enhance advanced sustainable cooling within a live, city-scale testbed.
As cities across the globe experience rising temperatures and increasing cooling demand, the UAE stands at the forefront of the challenge — and the opportunity — to pioneer climate-resilient urban cooling systems. Expo City Dubai provides the perfect environment to test, measure, and scale the next generation of cooling innovations.
Urban Cooling solutions
Expo City Dubai’s Urban Lab invites innovators, startups, researchers, and industry partners to participate in an Open Call for Solar Lifecycle Solutions — an opportunity to pilot technologies and systems that enhance the efficiency, maintenance, and sustainability of solar energy assets across their entire operational lifecycle.
As a city built to demonstrate sustainable urbanism in action, Expo City Dubai is committed to advancing clean energy innovation. With solar power forming the backbone of the UAE’s Net Zero 2050 ambitions, this open call seeks solutions that go beyond generation — focusing on how solar assets are cleaned, maintained, monitored, and integrated into circular systems that minimize water use, extend lifespan, and maximize performance.
Lifecycle of the solar panel
Expo City Dubai’s Urban Lab is pleased to announce an Open Call for the Hundred Hives Programme — a UAE-first initiative using AI-enabled smart beehives as living sensors of urban ecosystem health. Drawing from a detailed programme framework designed by the Urban Lab and Terra teams, the initiative aims to build a UAE-wide, school-anchored network of more than 100 smart hives by 2027.
As cities accelerate toward climate resilience, Expo City Dubai is establishing itself as a testbed for urban sustainability. The Hundred Hives programme is a flagship element of this strategy — linking AI, ecology, education, and urban testbed infrastructure into one integrated system.
AI Monitoring for beehives and assessing city health
Expo City Dubai — a pioneering hub for innovation and sustainable urban living — invites innovators, startups, researchers, and industry leaders to participate in an Open Call for Air Quality Solutions. This initiative, led by the Urban Lab, aims to identify and pilot technologies that can meaningfully enhance both indoor and outdoor air quality across our city-wide testbed.
As a city built on the legacy of Expo 2020 Dubai, Expo City continues to embody the UAE’s commitment to net zero emissions by 2050, sustainable development, and the creation of healthier, more livable urban environments. Through this open call, we seek tangible, scalable solutions that can help us better understand, manage, and improve air quality — for our citizens, our communities, and our shared future.