Mars 2117: UAE Plans to Build a Dream City on Mars Within the Next Century

After the dazzling megacity of Dubai and the so-called "happiness city," the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is reaching for new heights with its next project: a city on Mars.

A projet, called Mars 2117, will be working to establish the first human settlement on the red planet within a hundred years, according to an official report from the Dubai media office. The announcement was made during the 5th World Government Summit.

A dream city in space is not an impossible stretch for UAE. After all, the country is famed for designing majestic cities such as Dubai. Its also among the world's top investors in space science, Prime Minister and Vice-President of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, pointed out.

"The new project is a seed that we plant today, and we expect future generations to reap the benefits, driven by its passion to learn to unveil a new knowledge," he continued, explaining that humans have long been dreaming of living in other planets, and UAE is intended to "make this dream a reality."

READ: 3 Landing Sites Shortlisted for Mars 2020 Mission to Retrieve Rocks From the Red Planet 

It's unlikely any living person today will get to see the envisioned city in Mars, but the long-term project will be taking its first steps in the near future. The first objective of Mars 2117 will be to develop the educational system to aid future generations in cutting edge scientific research, according to Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed.

Around the world, the public and private sector have certainly set their sights on Mars. The buzz is around NASA's 2020 Mars rover mission, which will send a vehicle to the red planet to collect and store dirt, rock and air samples to eventually be picked up by future missions, a report from Nature revealed.