An assessment of urban design challenges associated with new patterns of development within Dubai through a lens of walkability, including potential solutions as presented through two best practice case studies.
(Timeout, 2019)
What is walkability?
The term “walkability” is often contested within academic literature such is the pro-
Challenge
Speck’s (2012) ‘general theory on walkability’ identifies that in order to be viewed as favourable, walking must be useful, safe, comfortable and interesting. These overarching principles provide a basic framework under which walkability can be understood or assessed.
Dubai faces walkability challenges on a city scale which are mostly attributed to rapid economic and population growth which the city has experienced within the last five decades. The city’s history, rooted in centuries operating as a small trading and fishing settlement, underwent a transformative shift in 1966 with the discovery of significant oil reserves. Subsequent economic diversification and modernization from the 1970s, fueled by oil export revenue, triggered substantial urban expansion and population growth. The images below (Manaugh, 2005) provide a visual representation of the speed and scale of change that has occurred in Dubai.
840
Growth in square kilometres of urban area (1980 - 2012)
1,750,000
Net population increase (1980 - 2012)
(Alawadi and Dooling, 2015)
(Ali et al., 2023)
‘Bigness’ and City Centre Expansion
‘Bigness’ - an urban model consisting of large-scale, grandiose architecture located within the new city core which has emerged as a successful branding exercise to attract international investment despite flawed urban design principles (Alawadi, 2018).
Sprawl / Suburban expansion
The most prevelant form of development which Dubai has experienced, consisting of isolated, low-density residential developments segregate neighbourhoods, land uses and the public realm. Critics argue this form of development is institutionalised; the desire for suburban living and the demand for low density is formed by the city’s the cultural and politicalt economy (Alawadi and Benkraouda, 2017a).
(The National, 2023)
(The National, 2020)
Unrelenting urban expansion within Dubai presents several challenges from an urban design perspective.
1. Increasing car dependency
Dispersed urban forms and highway-based transport systems have resulted in high levels of car dependency (Hannawi, Jones and Titheridge, 2019) which is compounded by social and environmental factors to result in a cycle of car dependency (Kodukula, 2011).
“Dubai is an automobile-dependent city; most of its urban areas sit inside large super blocks surrounded by multi-lane highways and grade-separated interchanges that restrain accessibility”
(Alawadi, 2016, p. 360).
2. Deterioration of walking environment
Through the car dependency cycle, vehicles become more prevelant and are increasingly prioritised. As a result, infrastructure and urban design solutions are vehicle-oriented and elements of place which contribute to walkability begin to be lost.
(Alawadi and Benkraouda, 2017b)
3. Disconnection with human scale
The fragmentation of urban form has resulted in a disconnect between physicality (ie. buildings) and the human scale. Neighbourhoods are bounded by roads, walls and open spaces, all of which disconnects people with place and eachother (Alawadi, Alameri and Scoppa, 2020; Alawadi, Khaleel and Benkraouda, 2020).
The suburban development of Oud al Muteena is located to the east of Dubai’s original city core, beyond Dubai International Airport. The old town of Dubai lies approximately 10 kilometres from the site, with the contemporary developments taking place within downtown and marina areas located in excess of 40 kilometres away. The site was developed in 2016 and is a useful case study as it is typical of the suburban forms of residential development which the city continues to embrace (Alawadi, Khaleel and Benkraouda, 2020).
Just 1,600 houses have been constructed so far within Oud Al Muteena across an area spanning 239 hectares (Ahmed and Alipour, 2021). Whilst the scale of the development is clear, this also highlights how low the density of development is within Oud Al Muteena .
6.6
Dwellings per Hectare
The scale of the development embeds a range of challenges from an urban design perspective. Block sizes contained within the development are far too large to provide an appropriate number of routes for pedestrians. Some blocks are as much as 400 metres long, with no permeable routes through This results in physically and perceptually longer journeys - a characteristic of poor walkability as identified by Southworth (2005).
Urban blocks mostly consist of the same land use, with a high concentration of residential uses confined to specific areas. The lack of mixed uses results in a monotonous street scene and increased journey lengths to access key goods and services which are also often located within the same area.
It is clear that vehicles are prioritised within the local transport heirarchy Dedicated areas of shading are given over to vehicles, whereas for pedestrians there is no dedicated walkway, regardless of shading. Excessive space is afforded to vehicles and there is no equity between transport modes.
Although walkways are provided, there is no established or formalised network and it appears footpaths are provided as a luxury rather than as a basic requirement.
High perimeter walls and gates create a stong defensive boundary with properties set back from the road. This results
in a poor level of natural surveillance.
The Msheireb Downtown Doha project is a new district of the City created as part of a major regeneration initiative which aims to transform a dilapidated part of the city into a modern, sustainable and culturally rich urban environment. The site is strategically located within the heart of Doha and has successfully delivered a new walkable neighbourhood with mixed uses and a high quality public realm.
Combining privacy and density
• The use of compact urban blocks enables the provision of private inner courtyards from which independent townhouses are accessed. This successfully provides enhanced privacy whilst being land efficient.
• This, in combination with the selective removal of cars for certain routes, provides a good level of enclosure to walkways which naturally then benefit from passive shading and a degree of natural surveillance.
• High quality Green and Blue infrastructure is sustainably integrated into the public realm to help create interest within the street scene for pedestrians as well as helping to cool public areas.
Like Dubai and many other gulf cities, Doha has imported automobile dependent, suburban forms of development similar to Dubai. This development provides a best practice solution as an alternative form of urban expansion which is land efficient and provides a high level of walkable access for users.
• These human scale details are complimented by a sensitive street lighting strategy to improve safety in hours of darkness, passive shading, high quality street furniture and a multi-modal, shared public realm which integrates tram infrustructure without detriment to pedestrians.
Masdar City is an urban development project launched with the aim of being the world’s most sustainable new city, using cutting-edge technology and innovative design principles to create the city of the future. The city aims to be entirely powered by renewable energy, promotes sustainable transport, uses the latest and most innovative forms of building design and adopts sustainable methods of water management, all of which create a city which is unlike any other in the world.
• A layered urban block structure was created in Masdar in order to ensure that spaces were connected with eachother. Traditional grid iron block structures were re-interpreted and contextually applied - creating pedestrian ‘sikkaks’ which act as narrow passageways linking internal courtyards and public spaces.
(Cugurullo and Ponzini, 2018)
Relevance
Masdar City is most known globally for its proven sustainability in every aspect of urban life, facilitated by a significant budget incomparable to any other project. However, Masdar lies within a similar cultural, geographic and climate context to Dubai which makes it an appropriate case study for observation. Observing Masdar solely from the perspective of could significantly improve and enhance walkability within Dubai’s suburbs.
Designing for thermal comfort
Pedestrian focused Building for higher density
• The use of apartments enables higher density development which can have a lower interface distance due to the removal of cars. Overall, this creates a walk ing environment which is safer, more comfortable and more efficient.
The absence of cars allows streets to be shorter and narrower, increasing levels of enclosure and passive solar shading which result in streets only receiving 30-45 minutes of direct sunlight per day (Caine, 2014).
In addition, cooling air currents are generated using a contemporary interpretation of the region’s traditional wind towers (Foster and Partners, no date), with the passage of air currents encouraged by a rigid grid block structure.
10 - 15 ° C
Average difference in temperate between Masdar and downtown Abu Dhabi (Caine, 2014).
Walkability is a naturally problematic urban design challenge within Dubai. It is clear that Dubai is experiencing (and perhaps promoting (Alawadi and Benkraouda, 2017a)) significant suburban sprawl, resulting in negative outcomes for walkability at the micro scale. However, best practice examples indicate that more walkable environments are possible within the same socio-economic and cultural contexts.
Micro-scale interventions
Macro-scale change
The best practice solutions provide a range of possible interventions which can help to improve the walkability of Oud Al Muteena. However, securing the delivery of these important features of urban design to promote walkability can be difficult without change to existing policies. Abu Dhabi’s ‘Urban Street Design Manual’ provides a good example of how this may be achieved, though can only be truly useful if it is consistently applied.
Improving walkability and the pedestrian experience within Dubai also requires a more strategic change in approach. As a typical example of urban sprawl, developments at low density as found within Oud Al Muteena are unsustainable over the long term. A shift toward building neighbourhoods at higher densities is neccessary to provide greater accessibility and efficiency so that walking is also efficient.
(Adobe Stock, no date)
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