Towards a Sustainable Urban Form In Dubai, UAE: Investigating Accessibility and Walkability

What is it about?

It is claimed that actions for realizing sustainable urban development require the provision for all physical needs for urban communities. This research investigates the sustainable urban form as an essential means for realizing sustainable urban development. It focusses in particular on accessibility and mobility on different urban scales. Dubai has been selected as a case study for this investigation as it is considered now as one of the successful models for global cities. The research addressed questions are: first, how are both the accessibility and mobility principles achieved currently in different urban levels in Dubai? And secondly, based on the results evoked from the answer of the first question, how to enhance the achievement of both principles in Dubai on the different urban levels? A conceptual framework for measuring accessibility and mobility on the three urban levels of the neighborhood, district and city was established. Al Barshaa North district and its three neighborhoods were selected as exemplary​ cases for evaluating the accessibility and mobility principles for their urban forms. It has been found out that on the neighborhood level there are some positive indicators for leaning towards realizing sustainable urban form concerning accessibility and mobility but with some real concerns about walkability and private car dependency. Almost similar results have been revealed on the district level. Better consideration for mobility and accessibility have been found on the city level with quite reliable, advanced and sophisticated public transportation system. A set of recommendations that aim at enhancing the realization of the two principles of accessibility and mobility have been initiated based on the investigation results.

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Why is it important?

The research investigated the achievement of two principles of accessibility and mobility on three urban levels in Dubai city. A set of recommendations that aim at enhancing the realization of these two principles have been initiated based on the investigation results.