The People Driving Innovation ... Daniel Habchi
| Accessibility1. What inspired you to pursue a career in your field?
I was drawn to accessibility because I could see, very clearly, how the built environment can quietly exclude people or empower them. Growing up partially and later working in the region, I often noticed beautiful projects that were not truly usable for people with special needs. That gap between “impressive” and “inclusive” is what pushed me toward this field. I wanted my work to remove barriers rather than create them and to make inclusive design a baseline, not a special feature.
2.How does working in the UAE influence your professional growth and your approach to your work?
Working in the UAE exposes me to ambitious, complex projects that move very fast and sit under intense global attention. This pushes me to stay at the intersection of international best practice and local codes, and to translate standards into solutions that work culturally and operationally here. The scale and pace of development force me to be both pragmatic and visionary. I need to solve real constraints, while still advocating for long-term inclusive outcomes.
3.How do you feel your work contributes to shaping the UAE’s future?
My role helps ensure that the spaces the UAE is building today: museums, public realms or other important iconic destinations and infrastructure are places that people of all ages and abilities should actually use with dignity. By embedding accessibility early in design and during fit-out, I help shift projects from “code compliant" to truly universal. Over time this contributes to a future where considering all individuals is normalized in everyday life and how people move, work, learn, and participate in culture and leisure.
4.In your opinion, what makes the UAE a unique place for engineering and development?
The UAE is unique because it combines very bold visions with a willingness to adopt new ideas quickly. There is a strong push toward innovation, sustainability, and visitor experience, which creates room for accessibility to be integrated as part of that broader ambition. At the same time, the country brings together people from many cultures and backgrounds, so designing for “everyone” is not abstract, it is visible in daily life. That diversity makes universal design both more complex and more meaningful.
5.What message would you share with the next generation of engineers and professionals building the UAE of tomorrow?
I would tell them that accessibility is not an add-on, it is a core performance requirement of any serious project. If they integrate inclusive thinking from the first sketch to the final audit, they shall create places that are not only compliant, but loved and used by a wide range of people. Listen to users with disabilities, question habits that exclude and fight for details that most people will never notice but will change someone’s everyday life.
