Special Report: Major projects - Reshaping regional cities
The region’s major cities are responding to unprecedented population growth by drawing up masterplans which will reshape the region’s urban centres, from Abu Dhabi to Algiers.
Long-term residents of Abu Dhabi often recount the story to newcomers of how the city was, until the mid-1960s, little more than a mud fort and a single street. The vision of UAE founding president Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan subsequently served to transform Abu Dhabi into a well-functioning city, planned along a basic grid structure, after UAE independence in 1971.
The UAE capital has since become renowned for its balanced use of space, mixing high-density, high-rise housing with green spaces and wide roads. But a major influx of economic migrants, attracted to the job opportunities in the booming city, has put its infrastructure under strain in recent years. The original 1970s masterplan was designed with a population of 600,000 in mind, but the city’s current population is almost 1 million.
The emirate’s government has responded with its Plan Abu Dhabi 2030, a long-term vision intended to support a city of 3 million people. Now two years into the masterplan, a series of major road and bridge building, public transport and housing projects are well under way.
Crucial to the success of this plan will be the government’s ability to keep a tight control on development and regularly revisit the masterplan. If it can be adhered to, it will maintain Abu Dhabi’s regional reputation for sensible and successful planning.
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