Work on a big Abu Dhabi project originally intended to become a second downtown for the capital is set to finally begin.
The Abu Dhabi government services company Musanada yesterday said it was close to ordering work to begin on the massive New Khalifa City project, which would form a new city in Abu Dhabi.
Musanada said the 49-square-kilometre project – located in a triangle between Khalifa City A, Khalifa City B and Mohammed Bin Zayed City – would eventually house 370,000 people, as well as the majority of the city’s ministries, embassies, and financial and trade institutions.
The firm said the project would include an area designated for schools, entertainment and sports facilities. They will house international think tanks and universities, and the project will be served by a network of trains, trams and pedestrian pathways.
Property experts say the project is a rebranding of the ambitious 4,900-hectare Capital District. Plans for the district were drawn up between February 2008 and March 2009.
“We have received notification that the project name has been changed,” said one local expert. “It would also be likely that the original masterplan, which included large amounts of office space, will now be reworked to focus more on housing.”
The original plans for the Capital District included a central Federal Precinct to serve as the UAE’s national seat of government, and a central space hosting seven grand boulevards that represent the seven emirates.
Musanada said the new scheme would have a particular focus on 1,440 hectares of Emirati housing, located in the south and southeast of the project.
The first phase of Emirati housing, comprising 2,723 villa plots, is expected to be completed in around two years. A second phase would be completed in about 27 months, while a third phase would also take about two years to complete.
Musanada said it had placed a tender for the infrastructural development of the Emirati Neighbourhood in the scheme, and planned to issue final documents within the next few days. It said that land plots for the villas has been distributed to UAE nationals.
“The New Khalifa City project is one of the key aspirations of Plan Abu Dhabi 2030,” said Ali Al Haj Al Mehairbi, Musanada’s executive director for buildings and project management services.
“The project is a major developmental initiative designed to enhance the status of Abu Dhabi, as a global sustainable capital city that meets the needs of future generations.”
lbarnard@thenational.ae
