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The National
26-06-2025
- Business
- The National
How Dubai's 20-minute city ambitions are becoming reality
Dubai's 20-minute city ambitions are a 'reality in the making' as the Metro expansion, alongside the promotion of walking, cycling and greener spaces help to change perceptions of urban life, experts say. The UAE can also learn from older cities' mistakes by dispensing with legacy systems to reimagine a new world. The topic was in sharp focus at the Mobility Live Middle East and Middle East Rail conferences which took place side by side on Tuesday and Wednesday in Dubai. While the 20-minute city concept is not new – European cities have been built based on people being close to services – the term has been coined for a new generation of urban planning. It is typically used to refer to having key daily needs – work, services, schools and shops – within a 20-minute radius and accessible without having to use a car. Martin Tillman, a founder of transport consultancy TMP Consult, said the shorter these distances are, the better in the Gulf summer, and the move towards this in Dubai is a 'reality in the making'. 'You've got a huge part of the population that needs to walk or cycle to get around the cities and they don't have the luxury of having an air-conditioned environment. Not everyone can afford a taxi,' he said. 'We can make it more comfortable with shading and misting and other features.' Closer look at Dubai Metro's Blue Line expansion Sources of inspiration High-density developments are important in this regard. Cities such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia use them effectively and incorporate public transport, walking and cycling infrastructure. Gulf cities can look to these for inspiration, and Dubai's Sustainable City, with its car-free streets, emphasis on sustainable transport and access to shops, reflects some of the components of the 20-minute city. Expo City Dubai, with its focus on cyclists and pedestrians, is another example. Dubai's 2040 urban master plan incorporates the concept and a 20-minute model city being built in Al Barsha 2. Dubai is also set to transform into a more pedestrian-friendly city with more than 3,000km of new walkways in plans announced in December. A larger challenge for planners is to incorporate schools and workplaces, and this is where high density also plays a role in the 20-minute city. 'The lower the density, the harder that process is to put in place,' said Mr Tillman, referring to how people drive to schools and workplaces if they are farther away. 'The higher the density, the easier it is to put in. Here, people like big, separate low-density residential developments but we're slowly moving away from that.' Mr Tillman said the weather is another reason to build higher-density developments. 'We try to make sure that those distances that need to be covered are climate-sensitive … to make it possible for people to walk, cycle and use sustainable transport for as long as possible.' He said many new developments are trying to include sustainable elements. Richard van den Dool, vice president of charge at Enrx, a green technology company based in Denmark, said his vision is about reclaiming the streets for people rather than cars. 'Cities that do it well make more public transport, reduce parking spots and create greener areas and make it liveable again,' he said. 'They want people back living in the city.' Impact of public transport Dubai's roads are still often congested amid a continued population expansion and the car's continuing allure. That is where better public transport comes in. Dubai's huge expansion of the Metro, the revamped and extended bus network and the UAE's forthcoming Etihad Rail passenger service could have a huge impact, creating developments around stations, cutting congestion and boosting the 20-minute city push. The Dubai Metro Blue Line will connect major existing and new residential districts, while an Etihad Rail station is being built at the heart of the Jumeirah Golf Estates expansion. 'We have a golden opportunity to intensify development around new stations,' said Mr Tillman. 'The key here is to make sure that Etihad Rail is not a standalone train system and Dubai Metro is not a standalone. We must make sure these are integrated.' Mr van den Dool, whose company works in inductive heating, charging and power transfer, said his vision was one of mobility where electrified cars, scooters or buses can be charged using infrastructure built into clutter-free streets. 'How would it look if all those cars needed to have a cable? It will be a spider web of poles and cables,' he said. Instead, his company's technology is already used in Europe to charge buses on wireless inductive plates at bus stops, for example, removing the need for fixed-point charging. He said it is feasible for an entire city's bus network to run on such a system. Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority has also tested wireless charging of electric vehicles and buses. Mr van den Dool said Dubai and the UAE had an opportunity to learn from legacy cities and not repeat the mistakes older cities made. 'They can be the showcase for the rest of the world,' he said. 'Call it the 15 or 20-minute city or whatever … it's about where we want to be in 10 years from now.'
What's On
14-02-2025
- Business
- What's On
Dubai Mega Projects: Inside The Loop, a 93km Air Conditioned Walkway
Helping you get from A to B in the cool of AC… Social media seems to be going understandably loopy at the news of Elon Musk's proposed new underground transportation system for Dubai, announced at the World Government Summit (WGS) 2025 today. But the concept left us thinking about another Loop-based UAE megaproject, first touted in 2023 (find out more in the gallery below). 3 of 12 The Loop is a proposed Dubai megaproject that comprises a 93km-long air conditioned walking and cycling route around the city This map shows the full proposed extent of Dubai Cycle City 2040 You are what powers The Loop. That's not marketing spiel â€' your movement across the kinetic pads of The Loop's walking track generates electricity, making the project a master work of sustainability. Need to find your Zen? The Dubai Loop will include social spaces and 'pocket parks'. This anatomical diagram of The Loop shows the various levels of its construction. The more keen-eyed amongst you may have spotted a subterranean slot at the bottom for… Mr Musk's Hyperloop The Loop futuristic looks are a perfect fit for Dubai The Loop is expected to serve communities of more than three million people Do you even lift though? The Loop's structure will contain fitness and wellness features along its length As well as more off-piste activities The Loop aligns with the Dubai 20 Minute City scheme which aims to make the city point-to-point accessible within 20-minutes no matter the location. Even in the height of summer, The Loop's cool climes will make it an in-demand destination of its own Part of the sustainable promise of The Loop is to include vertical farms, irrigated with 100 per cent recycled water. The Musk endeavour would resemble his existing Las Vegas underground Loop, which reduces surface traffic in the congested desert city by ferrying passengers in autonomous Teslas via a series of subterranean channels. The Loop Dubai – a concept from sustainable city developer URB – also seeks to soothe our traffic woes but in a very different way. It's now part of a larger proposed undertaking by the firm, Dubai Cycle City 2040 which aims to turn this urban expanse into the most bike-friendly city in the world. Loop-the-loop Talking about the project, URB CEO, Baharash Bagherian said 'our aim is to get more than 80 per cent of people to use a bike on a daily basis. Dubai is currently primarily built for car travel. It's major road infrastructures and networks have disconnected communities by walking or cycling, thus we need an entrepreneurial mindset in reconnecting these neighbourhoods, whilst making cycling or walking the primary mode of transport all year round to any part of the city.' The Loop's blueprinted route could see it serving three million residents – to either walk or bike through segments of its 93km-long, air-conditioned expanse. Where will The Loop take us? Join us on a whistle-stop, unsurprisingly circular (given the name) trip around the outlined orbit of The Loop. As you can see from the map below, the westerly quadrant traces the Sheikh Zayed Road bisector (in a similar way the Red Line of the Metro) – stitching together communities such as Jebel Ali, JLT, Dubai Marina, Barsha, Al Quoz, Business Bay, Downtown, DIFC. The Loop then heads off through Meydan and Nad Al Sheba into Academic City before taking a cheeky handbrake turn through to Dubailand and Sustainable City before curving into DIP and Expo City to close The Loop. Green roots It comes with some great green credentials too. It's expected to be 100 per cent powered by renewable (kinetic) energy; the irrigation of the indoor biome will be entirely serviced by recycled water; and it will include vertical farms, a vital component of the region's food security efforts. Plenty of room for activities Beyond its primary role as a purveyor of cool air conveyance – The Loop will also house a series of leisure and wellness facilities, including fitness stations, social spaces, 'pocket parks' and sports courts. Interestingly – the original designs included provision for another level which would house the Hyperloop. The Hyperloop is of course another Elon Musk-conceived rapid transit concept. Powered by you But where is the energy coming from to power all this? As mentioned above – the idea is to run the project on renewable kinetic energy. The force of movement. You, the visitor's, movement. The kinetic walkways are built out of pressure-sensitive pads that use displacement technology, to drive induction which converts into usable energy. Your step count literally pays the energy bills. Take note DEWA. The wider Dubai Cycle City 2040 project The Dubai Cycle City 2040 scheme aims to roll out an integrated bike path system, lacing together Dubai's network of residential communities with a total track length in excess of 1,000km. Within that network there will be purpose-built bridges, and community loops that provide challenges to all levels of cycling proficiency. Images: URB > Sign up for FREE to get exclusive updates that you are interested in
