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Not content with Dubai having the tallest building, the deepest pool or the highest hotel, urban design firm URB hopes to add one more superlative feather to the city’s cap: the world’s “greenest” highway.
URB has released conceptual designs for a 64-kilometer-long highway that would see Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road, one of the city’s main traffic belts, transformed into a “Green Spine,” complete with autonomous, solar-powered trams and smart traffic management.
Baharash Bagherian, urban planner and founder of URB, believes the “first-of-its-kind project” would make the city’s design more “human-centric.”
“Dubai is rapidly expanding, with its population expected to nearly double to 8 million by 2040,” Bagherian told CNN in an email. “This growth necessitates creativity and innovation to address both current and future challenges.”
“We must view mobility as more than just the movement of people,” he added.
Smart tech and solar-power
The autonomous solar-powered tram is just one aspect of the proposed highway’s transport system: above the tram line, a network of green areas, parks and overpasses would increase connectivity and walkability of the city, which is currently tough to navigate on foot.
The highway would also integrate smart technology, such as “internet of things” (IoT) sensors, to manage traffic and optimize energy use.
Bagherian’s designs allow for 300-megawatt solar panels and a storage system to be embedded in the tracks, that would power the tram line, as well as generate clean energy for an estimated 130,000 homes.
And the green spaces — including parks and community gardens — would provide space for one million trees, which would also help cool the city and improve air quality.
‘A unique set of challenges’
Creating the world’s “greenest” highway in a desert city isn’t easy, though.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) already has one of the world’s highest water consumption rates per capita, consuming around 550 liters per person, per day (compared to an average of 310 liters in the US, 150 liters in Hong Kong, and 144 liters in the European Union).
Most of this isn’t used as drinking water, but in agriculture and landscaping, and the country’s green spaces use copious amounts of water. For example, Dubai Miracle Garden — a 72,000-square-meter park displaying 150 million live flowers — consumes 757,000 liters (200,000 US gallons) of water every day.
“Dubai presents a unique set of challenges: its rapid growth, diverse population, urban sprawl, and extreme climate conditions,” Bagherian said.
To combat this, Bagherian’s concept includes “water-sensitive landscape design” that includes native flora and drought-resistant plants suited to the arid climate, and soil mixed with zeolite, an absorbent crystal that aids water retention.
These “passive techniques” are complemented with smart irrigation technology, he added, “which use real-time data to adjust watering schedules based on soil moisture levels, weather forecasts, and plant needs.”
An urban utopia
This isn’t URB’s first foray into utopian future city design. Its proposal for “Dubai Mangroves” — which it claims will be “world’s largest coastal regeneration project” if it goes ahead — was revealed earlier this year, and last year, it also proposed a 93-kilometer indoor cycling “superhighway” called The Loop that could help residents in the emirate go car-free.
Like the Green Spine, none of these designs have been confirmed. But Bagherian says that turning these conceptual designs into a reality isn’t as tough as it looks.
“When you break down the components of the project, you’ll find that there’s nothing new from a technological, structural, or material standpoint,” he said, adding that the innovation lies in how these technologies are “creatively and seamlessly integrated to address multiple needs.”
The next step involves getting public sector entities onboard, to provide “the necessary support, regulatory framework, and infrastructure integration to bring this ambitious project to life,” Bagherian said.
He’s optimistic that this will happen, as the project aligns with the government’s 2040 Urban Master Plan, and creative urban planning is key to fulfilling those goals.
“Dubai is uniquely positioned to make this project a reality,” he added.