Dubai's 20-minute cities face a key challenge: summer heat; how they plan to tackle it

Khaleej Times

25-06-2025

With shaded walking areas, electric vehicles and essential facilities, Dubai is aiming to build 20-minute cities across the emirate. However, one of the main challenges is the extreme summer heat. At Expo City Dubai, the designers are trying to overcome this challenge by adopting a flexible approach.
'In the winter, people are encouraged to walk,' said Ivan Kyselov, Senior Manager of City Operations at Expo City Dubai. 'It's an experience and we promote it by activating the spaces around the walking routes. If you paint something on the pathway, kids will just simply play and walk these 15 minutes. Adults are the same. So we add an interactive element of architecture and urban development as a pit stop.'
He added that they have electric vehicles (EVs) on site to ensure multimodality, inclusivity and accessibility. For the summer, Expo City is now experimenting with multiple solutions like zones of climate controlled areas like enclosed cool spaces, shaded walking areas and smart mobility hubs for bicycles and e-scooters.
He was speaking at the event Mobility Live which brings together smart transportation and mobility solution experts from across the world. Building 20-minute cities have been an integral part of the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan, with the Model District Project currently under construction in Al Barsha 2.
Transforming old neighborhoods
According to Martin Tillman, a transport mobility planning specialist, it was equally important to also focus on older neighborhoods and transforming them into 20-minute-cities. 'We have to help regenerate the old city,' he said. 'It's somewhat easier to go to a new field or site and to say this is how we're going to move forward. It's a little more difficult to go into something that's already existing and work on it because it doesn't have the parking provision or a rail network.'
He added that reward for this transformation was 'significant' because of multiple reasons. 'Typically the previously planned cities, were planned on the basis of better access for pedestrians and for people cycling,' he said. 'They tended to have better shape and were better coded for the day-to-day realities of living here in the Middle East. I think that's crucial and the idea of leaving that to decay is completely wrong.'
The 20-minute cities will have integrated service centres with all the necessary facilities that allow residents to reach their destinations within a 20-minute timeframe. The plan involves placing 55 percent of residents within 800 meters of mass transit stations, allowing them to reach 80 per cent of their daily needs and destinations.