Dubai: A model city-within-a-city in Dubai and redesigned streets and infrastructure in Abu Dhabi will make them more smart and more sustainable cities, the Government Summit heard on Wednesday in Dubai.
Senior officials said the cities were designed decades ago and need to adapt to provide smart services to a growing population so that development is sustainable for generations to come, and not just for immediate needs.
Dubai, for example, is planning to build Desert Rose, a self-contained community of 40,000 homes that will have its own renewable energy plant, rooftop solar panels, water recycling system, connection to Dubai Metro, schools, shops and even agriculture and industry.
Another main idea behind the project, which will take at least five years to build at a cost of around Dh30 billion, is to reduce traffic jams by ensuring homes and offices are not far from each other or at main entry and exit points, which cause bottlenecks.
Speaking at a panel discussion on ‘UAE Smart Cities Outlook’, Hussain Lootah, director-general, Dubai Municipality, said the project would be a “quantum leap” towards sustainability.
He also mentioned that specific databases are being built to fine-tune planning for other projects. For instance, there is a dedicated municipality committee looking at the needs of children, the elderly and residents with special needs.
“We have to look at each residential area — are there parks for children, and rest areas for the elderly and people with special needs? We have worked on this level with a special committee… Each individual who lives in the city should be served and we should take his or her needs into consideration,” Lootah said.
Dubai is also planning to install smart utilities meters in homes and encourage the adoption of rooftop solar panels.
Saeed Al Tayer, managing director and CEO, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa), said residents will be able to receive near real-time readings, which will enable them to adjust consumption — and bills — accordingly.
Dewa will also buy back the surplus power generated by homes running on solar power, Al Tayer added, to encourage the use of clean, renewable solar energy to power homes – instead of gas-fired turbines.
Abu Dhabi is also moving towards its sustainability target for 2030, said Falah Al Ahbabi, director-general, Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council. He pointed out that no matter how many new roads, tunnels or bridges are built, a growing people and car population means “cities cannot continue in the next 10 years” without an efficient public transport as well.
Al Ahbabi said land use also has to be regulated so “transport from point A to point B should be for a specific reason. If you make A and B — housing and businesses — closer through private cars or public transport, there will be less traffic.”
He added that officials are studying the past to understand the future.
“We are reviewing our streets and communities. The streets were planned 30 or 40 years ago to serve a different purpose, for that time. Today our objective is livable cities. We will revise streets, pavements, spaces in residential areas; reorganise traffic, [cater to] the elderly and children. After 10 or 15 years, thanks to the programmes, we hope to be able to accommodate this development and achieve livable cities.”