Directory listing — not yet managed by the museum. Spotted something wrong? Suggest an edit →
Dubai Municipality Museum
Administrative and urban history of Dubai — city maps, government documents, planning archives from 1900s to present
About
City maps from 1900, government stamps, and a balcony overlooking the old Deira souk — the administrative memory of Dubai in a single building.
Established in 1957 as the headquarters of Dubai Municipality, the building served as the administrative centre of the city until 1964 when the municipality relocated to Al Maktoum Street. Located in the heart of the old Deira souk next to Dubai Creek, the building was restored in 1999 using traditional materials at a cost of AED 1.3 million and opened as an official museum in February 2006. The collection documents Dubai Municipality's administrative development and public projects through city maps from 1900 and the 1960s, official government stamps, artefacts, documents and historical records. The building itself is an architectural landmark — a traditional structure with a long balcony overlooking the old city. Free entry. Listed on the UAE National Cultural Map.
Why this museum matters
Exhibo editorial
Old Baladiya Street in Deira is not where most visitors to Dubai end up. The Municipality Museum sits on it anyway — a traditional building with a long balcony overlooking what remains of the old souk — and inside it holds the kind of material that is genuinely difficult to find anywhere else: city maps of Dubai from 1900 and the 1960s, official government stamps, administrative documents from when the municipality was still figuring out what the city was going to be. The building itself was the actual headquarters of Dubai Municipality from 1957 to 1964 — the place where the decisions about the city's early infrastructure were made, before the oil money arrived and everything changed. Restored in 1999 using traditional materials and opened as a museum in 2006, it is one of the more understated institutions in the city. Free entry, almost never crowded, easy to combine with the Gold Souk and Spice Souk nearby.
Visit
Hours, tickets, and directions for Dubai Municipality Museum.
Address
Old Baladiya Street, Al Sabkha, Deira, Dubai
Admission
Free