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Reducing public transport is seen as key to sustainability. (Getty Images)

The region is under the spotlight like never before to start producing sustainable design. Michele Howe finds out how this applies to the outdoor.

Sustainability appears to be the new must. Ever since His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai, decreed late last year that all buildings are to be constructed along green principles from January 2008, having a project that is sustainable has become the new standard of excellence.

"This is the better that firms can go to now. It used to be height, now it is meeting environmentally sustainable criteria," says Jim Carless, head of the landscape department at Atkins.

But beyond the common agreement that sustainability is a good idea, there appears to be a whole bundle of confusion as to what sustainable design means, how you measure it, and what it means for outdoor design.

First steps

For the purposes of this article, COD will focus on two issues: sustainable design for the masterplanner, and sustainable design for the landscape architect.

"For the masterplanner, the most important thing is transportation. You want to make sure that you reduce transportation as much as possible," says Dr Bassam Abu-Hijleh, senior lecturer at Atkins and head of the sustainable design of the built environment programme at the British University in Dubai.

The most obvious way to do this is through the adoption of Transit Oriented Development (TOD), whereby land space is designed with the transport needs of residents uppermost in mind, and specifically, with the goal of reducing reliance on personal transport.

Orientation of sites is also important, adds Abu-Hijleh. This means measures such as ensuring that schools and hospitals are not located next to an industrial zone or placing a factory which produces smoke on a site where the wind will blow it away from the direction of the city.

It can also mean the creation of micro climates.

There are many things can be done to modify the external climate of an outdoor space, notes Richard Smith technical director for Atkins in the Middle East.

"We're almost reaching a point where with advanced modelling skills we can redesign an Arabic courtyard that you can live in all year round without feeling hot," he says.

Masterplanning is the crucial stage for introducing sustainability to a project, says Stephen Oehme, regional director of value management and sustainability at consultancy firm Hyder, which recently established a sustainable division.

"What happens very often is by the time people are trying to introduce sustainable principles, the masterplan is already set, and that is a real shame because at the masterplanning stage and by introducing things early, you can really change the outcome," he says.

Sustainable landscaping

For the landscape architect, sustainable design covers a whole range of issues from sourcing of materials that are suitable for the local environment, to reduction of the consumption of water, to solar orientation.

Site selection is one of the most important factors, says Lee Allen, associate at landscape design firm Cracknell.

This involves looking at ways to reduce the impact of development on existing habitats and vegetation, for example.

Selection of materials is also important. For instance, using plants that are native to an area rather than imported from overseas.

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