Transit oriented development

The launch of Dubai Metro could herald a new era for the city as it develops around a new mode of transport.

Dubai is at a critical moment in its history as far as urban planning is concerned. Over the long term the city’s population is expected to grow larger, as well as be boosted by a seasonal tourist influx.

As Dubai strives to become a city greater than the sum of its parts one of the key issues for urban planners, is the movement of people in the city. Overlooking for a moment the many exciting developments in the works, one simple question remains: how will all these people get around in the greater Dubai?

The road map

At a traffic conference a few years ago, Mattar Al Tayer, chairman of the board and executive director of the Roads & Transport Authority (RTA), outlined the measures that are being taken to create a ‘21st century state of the art transportation system’ for Dubai to cope with the increased demand.

“We are presently working on road projects with a total budget of US $2.5 billion,” he said. “To give you an example of the volume of work, we have increased the number of lanes across Dubai Creek from 19 in 2006 to 40 in 2007, and this will reach 100 in 2020.”

But, of course, as he went on to admit, creating extra roads will only go so far to solving Dubai’s traffic woes.

“Experience has taught us that building roads alone doesn’t solve congestion problems. Transport must be planned and operated as a complete system with integrated modes of transportation such as bus, rail and water transport,” he said.

In a further bid to encourage people to swap their cars for alternative methods of transport, the existing bus network is set to be extended to a total length of 3000km, and tram lines are also under study. Dubai’s marine network of water buses is also growing in strength.

These measures will be necessary. As soon as a city grows over a certain size and activity, it cannot be sustained by purely car based private transport. Experts put the crossover point at over a million. A natural progress in the cycle of a city’s growth is evolution.

Introducing extra transportation methods is clearly a good start, but the real challenge may prove to be convincing people to use them, especially during the hotter months in the year when people may be more reluctant to leave the air-conditioned comfort of their own cars.

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