As Dubai prepares to host the most sustainable world expo event, it’s an exciting time to witness how one of the fastest growing metropolis, can transform itself into the most sustainable city in the world.

Over the past century, Dubai has experienced a dramatic transformation. In 1900 it was estimated that only 10,000 people lived in a desert-like city. Dubai currently has a population of over 2.1 million people and receives between 8-10 million visitors per year. Today, Dubai is regarded as one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world. There is no doubt that the Emirati people have received great leadership to guide them through this visionary transformation. As we approach Expo 2020, Emiratis will discover what makes a sustainable city, and in particular, how Dubai will become the world’s most sustainable city.

First of all, for a city to be sustainable it needs to encompass the three main pillars of sustainability: Environmental, Economic and Social sustainability. Ultimately, the key goal of any sustainable city should be to provide residents and workers with the highest quality of life together with the lowest environmental footprint.

Dubai Sustainable City, Phase 2 – Image copyright Baharash Architecture

A good sustainable city is one where people want to live, work and visit. MASDAR city in Abu-Dhabi will have all of these qualities once it is eventually complete. Another example is Dubai Sustainable City, which is planned at a more sustainable scale and will complete in 2016.

Dubai, also recently announced plans for additional sustainable projects such as the Desert Rose, a 14,000-hectare smart city expected to accommodate 20,000 plots for Emiratis and will cost 20 billion AED to build. There is a pattern emerging from these developments – the United Arab Emirates is already emerging as a global leader in sustainability. This pattern became increasingly apparent, after Dubai recently set targets for itself to become one of the most sustainable cities by 2020.

H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum at Cityscape Global – Image copyright Cityscape Global

It is natural to feel a cautious optimism after witnessing the sheer influx and scale of projects planned for Dubai, at recent events such as “Cityscape Global” and the “International Property Show”. The growing development boom is clearly going to set a challenge for Dubai to achieve its sustainability ambitions by 2020. A key challenge is educating private and public stakeholders about the main principles of building sustainably, without increasing the built cost. Cost is currently the main deterrent factor for most developers, as it is a common belief that building sustainably means more cost, thus reducing profit margins, which for developers is understandably an outright turn-off.

In my experience, being sustainable doesn’t necessarily mean more expensive to build. In fact at the early stages of any sustainable project, basic design decisions such as orientation, density and form provide the biggest environmental gains, yet these require the least financial investments. Therefore at the early stages consultants are able to reduce a large amount of energy demand with little cost.

So how can Clients, Developers and Consultants meet Dubai’s sustainability ambitions?

From the beginning of each project it is important for the client and consultant team to develop a series of sustainable initiatives and targets. These targets will help guide the design in the pursuit of the sustainability goals. They can be divided into categories such as: Water, Health & Well-being, Energy, Materials, Pollution, Ecology, and Waste.

If we take water as an example, the ultimate design intent for any sustainable project would be to minimise net water use by increasing efficiency and re‐use, which can be achieved by:

• Recycling water and by encouraging the collection and re‐use of rainwater to reduce the demand for potable fresh water.
• Looking at highly efficient and smart irrigation systems and also storm water design.
• Installing smart water efficient fittings, water metres and appliances.
• Maintaining and improving the quality of ground and surface water.
• Low-water use landscaping.

Water consumption can also be reduced by 50% by increasing environmental awareness amongst residents and workers. In Dubai Sustainable City there is an excellence centre which will educate and raise awareness amongst residents, and there is also a green curriculum for students in the school. 100% of the wastewater is also recycled there on-site.

The Future in Sustainable Design for Dubai

Integrating renewable energy into Dubai’s infrastructure – Image copyright Baharash Architecture

Designing for a sustainable future is no longer a choice, it has become a necessity. Sustainable design is about reducing our environmental footprint, it is about doing as little as possible to achieve as much as possible, hence the term “passive design”.

But let’s not forget that sustainable design is not just about buildings. It should happen at all scales from products and infrastructures to buildings and cities. It’s important that the next generation of Architects and Designers in Dubai are able to design at all different scales to develop a variation of solutions, which is necessary if we are to provide for a higher quality of life.

Let’s conclude with some facts

The population of people living in cities – Image copyright Baharash Architecture

In 1913, it was estimated that only 10% of the world’s population lived in cities. Today that figure has increased to 50%, and by 2050, it will increase to 75%. For the remainder of this century the rise in population in our cities is going to increase at a dramatic rate, so that coupled with climate change is going to have a great impact on our cities’ resources. Population growth in the United Arab Emirates is among the highest in the world, mostly due to immigration. Therefore for the UAE, the need to start developing more sustainable cities at various scales is no longer a choice if they are going to provide a future with a higher quality of life for their citizens and to protect their environment.