Sustainable development is a type of economic development that involves planning for business growth while taking care to preserve natural resources. A primary goal of those studying the field is to learn how to meet today’s economic demands without compromising the availability of resources moving forward.

The United Arab Emirates is a federation of seven emirates on the eastern side of the Arabian peninsula, at the entrance to the Persian Gulf. Much of the work force in the UAE are foreign expatriates - hence the country's population makeup being so diverse, with Emirati citizens being a minority in their own country.