The human scale impact of Dubai's changing global identity

The human scale impact of Dubai’s changing global identity 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.

Word Count: 2,434 Student ID: 9866911

Fidu Properties, 2022)

Contents

1

The Challenge: Walkability

4

Best Practice: Msheireb, Doha

7

Bibliography: Reference List

2

Macro scale context: Dubai

3

5

Best Practice: Masdar, Abu Dhabi

6

Micro scale context: Oud al Muteena

Conclusions

(Timeout, 2019)

1 Walkability What is walkability?

The term “walkability” is often contested within academic literature such is the proliferation of its use as a term across disciplines of urban design, planning and geography (Forsyth, 2015). Within an urban design context, walkability can be understood as a measure of the built environment and the extent to which it supports behaviours which promote pedestrian activity (Tobin et al., 2022; Baobeid, Koc and Al-Ghamdi, 2021).

The Challenge Urban Sprawl

Hot, arid environments

General Principles of Walkability 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.

Useful

Safe

Efficient routes

Convenient

Lighting and surveillance

Equitable streets

Large blocks reduce the number of routes for pedestrians, creating physically and perceptually longer journeys (Southworth, 2005). Smaller blocks increase the number of routes and improve permeability.

Shops should be located so that walking to them is feasible. It should also enable connection to other modes of transport to be truly useful, through which it becomes the ‘first and last mile’.

Routes should be well lit and benefit from natural surveillance or ‘e yes on the street’ (Jacobs, 1961) through buildings which are orientated with doors, windows and frontages facing the street.

Suitable space should be devoted to pedestrian activity whilst also ensuring that the rest of a street’s space is aportioned in a way that does not promote the dominance of vehicles.

Society and Culture

Walkability has many contributing factors and not all urban areas are affected by the same factors equally. A nuanced understanding of walkability as an urban design challenge is needed for cities in the gulf region who need to manage ongoing urban sprawl in addition to the cultural importance of privacy within Islamic culture, within an environment that is naturally hostile to pedestrians due to heat exposure.

Urban Sprawl Walking is associated with a range of benefits (Forsyth, 2015; Southworth, 2005) but low density models of development create unsustainable lifestyles dependent on the motor vehicle (Glaeser and Kahn, 2004), a development pattern which town and cities across the world are increasingly keen to reverse.

Comfortable

Interesting

Human scale

Accessibility

Lively

Variety

Details such as benches, signage, street trees and enclosure help promote walking (Al-Halga, 2009). Building scale can also reduce thermal comfort and disconnect buildings and passers by (Gehl, 2010).

The experience of walking within an environment can depend on the age, gender and mobility of individuals.

Streets should address and cater for the unique needs of all to provide equitable urban space.

Gehl (1980; 1987) argues that liveliness is the cornerstone of good walking environments. Active frontages with mixed uses increase opportunities for pedestrians to take part in ‘optional’ activities (Gehl, 2010; Nakamura, 2020).

Urban areas within close proximity with contrasting character and vernacular styles add further interest to the street scene and often animate views alongside topography and landscape.

Hot, arid environments Within arid environments such as the gulf region, extreme heat poses a significant challenge to walkability such is its ability to make the outdoor pedestrian experience uncomfortable, particularly where there is direct exposure to sunlight.

Society and Culture Privacy is central to the guidelines that are contained within traditional Islamic teachings. Othman, Aird and Buys (2015) find that this manifests into the design of homes, with entrance doors facing away from the street and windows above eye level. Density can also be perceived as a threat to privacy as well as economic and social statuses (Alawadi and Benkraouda, 2017a). From an urban design perspective, these impede upon the creation of walkable neighbourhoods.

(ARUP, no date)

2 Macro-scale context: Dubai 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)

Bigness / City Centre Expansion

Urban Sprawl

Net population increase (1980 - 2012)

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).

Types of Urban Growth ‘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).

Urban 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).

2005

Impacts Unrelenting urban expansion within Dubai presents several challenges from an urban design perspective.

1,750,000

(Alawadi and Dooling, 2015)

1987

(Ali et al., 2023)

(The National, 2023)

“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)

(The National, 2020) 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).

(Google Maps)

3 Micro-scale context: Oud al Muteena Scale and Density

Land Use

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 .

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.

6.6

Dwellings per Hectare

30m 25m

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).

Average Plot Width

Block Size and Route Layouts 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).

Human Scale Impacts 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.

(MBRHE, no date)

(MBRHE, no date)

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.

(Images: Google Maps)

4 Best Practice: Msheireb, Doha Port of Doha

Combining privacy and density •

• Msheirib

Central Doha

Vehicle free inner core of development (except servicing)

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.

Compact Townhouse housing types form tight urban blocks

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.

(Archdaily, 2021)

Doha Airport

(Allies and Morrison, no date)

Clear urban block structure

(Squire and Partners, no date) Management of Route Heirarchy to ensure no vehicle dominant routes within development

Human scale detail 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 • High quality Green and Blue infrastructure is sustainably integrated into the city into a modern, sustainable and culturally rich urban environment. The site is public realm to help create interest within the street scene for pedestrians as well strategically located within the heart of Doha and has successfully delivered a new as helping to cool public areas. walkable neighbourhood with mixed uses and a high quality public realm.

•

Relevance 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.

(Allies and Morrison, no date)

Sensitive street lighting

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.

(Monocle, 2022) High quality street furniture

Combining Privacy and Density

Human scale detail

(Monocle, 2022)

Adequate space given over to pedestrians

Multi-modal, shared public realm

Prominent Green and Blue Infrastructure

Passive shading

(Sto.com, no date)

5 Best Practice: Masdar, Abu Dhabi Masdar City is an urban development project launched with the aim of being the Density and Enclosure Pedestrian focused 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 • A layered urban block structure was created in Masdar in order to ensure that • Streets are planned and designed employing the ‘complete streets’ design phirenewable energy, promotes sustainable transport, uses the latest and most innovaspaces were connected with eachother. Traditional grid iron block structures losophy, such that non-motorised modes such as pedestrians get equal access tive forms of building design and adopts sustainable methods of water management, were re-interpreted and contextually applied - creating pedestrian ‘sikkaks’ and safely co exist with the limited traffic which exists (CBT Architects, no date). all of which create a city which is unlike any other in the world. which act as narrow passageways linking internal courtyards and public spaces.

• Masdar also benefits from an integrated smart network of transport infrastruc• The use of apartments enables higher density development which can have a ture. Transport hubs are easily accessed by pedestrians, therefore making longer (Cugurullo and Ponzini, 2018) lower interface distance due to the removal of cars. Overall, this creates a walkdistance journeys more viable on foot. ing environment which is safer, more comfortable and more efficient.

(CBT Architects, no date)

Relevance

Designing for thermal comfort

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 walkability, three key lessons are observable which • could significantly improve and enhance walkability within Dubai’s suburbs.

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 Designing for thermal comfort

Pedestrian focused

Building for higher density

Average difference in temperate between Masdar and downtown Abu Dhabi (Caine, 2014).

(Foster and Partners, no date)

(Caine, 2014)

6 Conclusions Walkability is a naturally problematic urban design challenge within Dubai. It is Micro-scale interventions 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.

Combining Human privacy and scale detail density

(Dovey and Pafka, 2019) Increased densities and reduced set backs help to induce passive solar shading

Prevelance of GI increased

Macro-scale change

Priority for pedestrians

Smaller, permeable urban blocks

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.

High density in accessible locations

Policy intervention

Priority for pedestrians

Smaller, permeable urban blocks

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.

Taller buildings creates increased levels of enclosure

Increased space given over to pedestrians

(Propsearch, 2023) Application of the micro-scale best practice solutions from Masdar and Msheireb could provide immediate improvements to the walkability of Oud Al Muteena (above).

Dubai’s old town (above) is socially undesirable and is not marketed as a place to visit or invest but has good walkability.

Targetted regeneration would help to provide thousands of homes within neighbourhoods that are truly walkable.

(Adobe Stock, no date)

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