Dubai: Sports aficionados, health enthusiasts and residents have less than nine months to wait before hitting the tracks of Dubai’s longest Corniche, the Jumeirah Corniche Development Project, that will open in November.
The Jumeirah beachside starting from behind the Dubai Marine Beach Resort and Spa up to Burj Al Arab Hotel is being transformed into a 14-kilometre stretch of paved walkway and jogging track to encourage residents and tourists to adapt a healthier lifestyle.
Construction of the Dh100-million project began in mid-February and is scheduled to be completed by November this year, according to the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).
“This urban project is undertaken in response to the directives of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to make people happier. Shaikh Mohammad considers sport a key element in building the community and having healthy individuals capable of adding to the development drive,” said Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of the RTA.
“Besides offering a value-added aesthetic and comfortable relaxation destination, the project commands special importance as it contributes to the improvement of the social infrastructure in the emirate, particularly as regards the quality of the public health of the community in terms of providing wider opportunities for practising jogging and walking sports as well as a host of water sports such as swimming and rowing, among others,” he added.
Increasing lifestyle diseases — conditions that result from poor food choices and sedentary lifestyle — such as obesity, diabetes, and heart disease are a major concern in the country. In 2012, the UAE ranked the fifth heaviest nation in the world with an average consumption of 3,000 calories per day according to a study published by a BMC Public Health journal. For diabetes, the UAE ranked 15th worldwide, with 18.98 per cent of the UAE population living with diabetes in 2013 according to figures from the International Diabetes Federation.
With the Corniche project, residents who want to stay fit can hit the five-metre-wide walkway, a four-metre-wide jogging track, rest areas, retail kiosks and shaded benches overlooking the beach. The project will be landscaped and decorated with “stylish and creative lighting” to make it more welcoming.
“These beach activities befit all family members and contribute to raising their physique, and thus have a direct contribution in improving the public health of the community through caring for the facilities that enable the public to practise all forms of sport,” Al Tayer said.
He explained that the project aims at converting the beach into a more vibrant facility that will connect six residential areas in Jumeirah through aesthetic and recreational facilities that will better service both residents and tourists.
