Dubai to build 'Museum of the Future'

Dubai on Wednesday announced plans to build an oval ring-shaped "Museum of the Future" to showcase innovation and solutions to challenges facing cities of the coming decades.

The museum is to be built on a grassy hill near the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest tower, with a 500-million-dirham ($136-million) price tag and aiming to open in 2017.

The Museum of the Future will "actively produce futuristic inventions," the booming Gulf emirate's government said, and provide a "permanent home for the world's greatest innovations."

It will "work to stimulate and incubate imaginative solutions to the challenges of future cities. It will bring together the brightest researchers, designers, inventors and financiers under one roof."

The museum will house "innovation labs" focused on health, education, smart cities, energy and transport, and provide a platform for inventions by world-leading technology giants and start-ups.