Expansion of new lines in the next few years will most certainly assist residents in saving both their time and money, experts and urban planners say. The aim, though, is not only the lengthening of the transport network but also the quality of life in neighborhoods, which the government calls the ‘20-minute’ city plan.
Last week the Executive Council of Dubai revealed its strategic development of Dubai Metro from 64 operational stations (covering 84Km) to 96 stations (140Km) by the year 2030 with the overall vision to increase the formulation of the extension phase to 140 stations (228Km) by the year 2040.
The plan has the objectives of ‘POP growth around stations and; improving the variety of residences, business, offices, and services related to the Metro.’
“Growing the metro system is a great start,” Dr Monica Menendez, associate dean of Engineering for Graduate Affairs at New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD), told media, explaining: “Principally, the type of city in question is one in which supposedly a person needs not more than 20 minutes to get to most of the basic facilities and services. “
“To this effect, it is necessary to have a set of transport policies that will seek to add value to many transport modes as well as urban planning that will endeavor to create higher density and mixed-use neighborhoods,” she said.
The NYUAD professor, who is also the director of the Research Centre for Interacting Urban Networks, highlighted: ““This project must be complemented by the expansion of other types of public transportation (for instance, the bus system), as well as more active modes of transportation (such as expanding and improving the infrastructure for walking, biking, and other forms of micro-mobility) and the provision of more flexible concepts (such as shared vehicles and on-demand transportation) with the aid of new vehicle technologies.”
Solving traffic woes
Traffic issues in the emirate will also be solved with the establishment of 20-minute cities, said Emirati traffic safety researcher Dr. Mostafa Al Dah.
An empirical research made known last month unveiled that Dubai car users were down 33 hours in 2023 stuck in traffic jams as compared to twenty-two hours in the previous year.
Al Dah, who is also the founder of MA Traffic Consulting, insisted that the traffic jam is caused by lengthy distances that many residents have to cover to get to their workplaces, schools, other places of interest, and social amenities among others.
“They need to travel to great distances and it does not only cause a bottleneck on roads in addition to affecting several people to spend more money on petrol, and precious time stuck in traffic,” he noted.
The creation of 20-minute cities and improvements in public transport is the way to the future, underscored Al Dah, adding: “If people will be able to get to their workplace or the facilities where they are to receive basic services together with other amenities, they will not be forced to use their automobiles and this will eliminate the need for movement and in turn decrease the emission of carbon.”
From the business point of view, Andy Elliott, director of Commercial Agency at Dubai-based Inzone, noted: “New transport links also increase the amount of further investment by developers and can bring forth further growth of urban areas and redevelopment.”
”Integrating sustainable use of resources and efforts towards carbon footprint reduction will increase the demand for properties located within proximity to metro stations among environmentally mindful owners and occupants,” he further noted.
Achievable targets
As if understanding this, Prof. Menendez added, “These changes don’t happen overnight .”
“But with the appropriate vision, and political will it is achievable, I hope, that the UAE is the kind of country where some of these concepts can become real.” she went on.
Prof. Menendez said: “While it may be impossible to cross the whole city in a few days, most important facilities and services can be found within our locality.”