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Dubai Maritime City

This district did not begin as waterfront housing. It was created by its own law as a hub for the maritime industry, and the residential part came later. That changes a few things worth knowing in advance.

Written by Updated To be re-checked by

A city created by statute

Law No. 11 of 2007, of 3 June 2007, established a city named Dubai Maritime City, whose boundaries are demarcated on a plan attached to the law. The same law created a dedicated authority to manage it – with legal personality and financial and administrative autonomy – affiliated to the Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation.

Article 4 sets out its purpose: to establish Dubai as a maritime hub, across ten fields including ship registration, maritime tourism, yacht design and building, navigation services, maritime arbitration, and related academic research and training.

Law No. 3 of 2023 renamed the authority the Dubai Maritime Authority, affiliating it with the Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation.1

The plain conclusion from that list of purposes: this is a working maritime district, not only a residential waterfront. Yachts are designed and built there. Anyone buying an apartment is buying inside a zone the law designated for maritime-industrial activity alongside everything else – a consideration worth seeing in person rather than in a render.1

One question worth asking a lawyer

The ownership status

In Dubai, ownership by non-UAE and non-GCC nationals is possible only in designated areas, and the designation is made plot by plot – in Regulation No. 3 of 2006 and in a series of resolutions adding land over the years. There is no single consolidated official list to point at.

So for any project in this district the check is not "is the area freehold" but "what is the plot number and what is its status". The Land Department's FAQ states the general rule – foreign ownership in the freehold areas and in Dubai's free zones – but a general rule is no substitute for checking the plot.3,4

What this page is not saying

  • There is no price or yield forecast here.
  • The law defines the district's purposes, not the pace of its actual development or what will be built around your project.
  • The Article 12 question is open. It appears here because it matters, not because we have an answer.
  • The information is accurate as at the review date at the top of the page.

Common questions

What actually is Dubai Maritime City?
A city established by Law No. 11 of 2007, its boundaries demarcated on a plan attached to the law, whose purpose under Article 4 is to establish Dubai as a maritime hub across ten fields, from ship registration and yacht building to maritime arbitration and academic training. Residential use is a layer added on top of that purpose.
Can you buy there on a freehold basis?
Foreign ownership in Dubai is designated plot by plot, in Regulation 3/2006 and in the resolutions that added land after it. The status of the plot a particular project stands on has to be confirmed with the Land Department before signing – a line in a brochure saying the area is freehold is not verification.

Sources

Every link here is to a publication of the issuing body itself. If something on this page looks wrong to you, the source governs – not us.

  4. Frequently Asked Questions – Dubai Land Department

    Dubai Land Department (DLD)Checked 8 August 2026

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