Granted by the government to the RTA, they will be divested on a sale or lease basis and have been earmarked primarily for mixed-use purposes. The RTA plans to roll out the smaller sites first.

The sites stretch right along the green and red lines and include plots on the airport road, near the Dubai World Trade Centre, in Hor al-Anz, along Sheikh Zayed highway and close to Jebel Ali.

A prime site for development will be a plot close to Union square in Deira, which will be the interchange station for the entire metro network.

On the larger sites, such as the one planned at Jebel Ali village, a secondary transport system, such as a bus or tram service, will probably be required to connect residents to the nearby metro station. A US team of Jones Lang LaSalle and Parsons Brinckerhoff is the masterplan consultant for the sites (MEED 23:6:06).

The red line, running 52 kilometres from Rashidiya to Jebel Ali, is due to be completed by September 2009.

This will be followed six months later by the green line, linking Al-Nahda street and Dubai Healthcare City.

www.meed.com/transport