Sharjah has become the latest emirate in the UAE to plan a solar-powered community, after the state-controlled investment fund said it will develop a Dh2 billion sustainable city in partnership with a Dubai real estate developer.
Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq) and Diamond Developers, will build the city over the next three to five years. Spread across 668,902 square metres, Sharjah Sustainable City will be completed in four phases. Located 11km from Sharjah International Airport, the city will rely partially on solar power and recycled waste and water.
"Construction will start in the next three months and the first phase, which covers nearly 25 per cent of the residential area, will be finished by the last quarter of 2021," Faris Saeed, chief executive of Diamond Developers, told
The National. "Remaining phases will be completed in the next one to two years."
The planned development will include residences, a "sustainability experience centre", mall, farm, school, mosque and sports facilities.
Financing will be a mix of three elements — equity, bank loans and off-plan sales, said Mr Saeed.
“Diamond Developers and Shurooq will provide the initial seed money. We are in touch with a few banks to decide the course of future
financing.”
Residences will include 1,120 three, four and five-bedroom villas on sale for between Dh1.2 million to Dh2.7m. They go on the market today.
Shurooq's executive chairman, Marwan Al Sarkal, acknowledged a challenging real estate environment, due to an increase in supply and oil price slump that began in 2014 and lasted three years, but he said "the real estate market in Sharjah is a bit different".
Mr Al Sarkal said: "There are not many communities in Sharjah, so we have planned to create a community for the future."
Mr Sarkal said the target audience is both UAE nationals and foreign residents and also buyers who want to take advantage of the long-term UAE visa through investment.
The UAE Cabinet approved a plan last year, under which foreign nationals aged 55 or above are eligible for a five-year retirement visa if they own property in the UAE worth at least Dh2m.
“This will be the first fully sustainable, net-zero energy community in Sharjah. We will be cultivating vegetables and leafy greens on site and it will be designed to encourage walkability and the use of clean mobility,” said Mr Sarkal
Diamond Developers also constructed Dubai's Sustainable City, the region's first green development. Mr Saeed said with the Sharjah project, the aim is to prove that sustainable development is also for a middle-income buyer.
“We have the statistics and data from our Dubai project. We know what could go right or what could go wrong. With Sharjah Sustainable City, we have proved that customers don’t need to pay any extra premium for sustainability.”
Dubai's Sustainable City has been operational for more than three years, and has about 3,000 inhabitants.
The Bio
Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”
Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”
Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”
Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”
The five pillars of Islam
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
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Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
Results
- Brock Lesnar retained the WWE Universal title against Roman Reigns
- Braun Strowman and Nicolas won the Raw Tag Team titles against Sheamus and Cesaro
- AJ Styles retained the WWE World Heavyweight title against Shinsuke Nakamura
- Nia Jax won the Raw Women’s title against Alexa Bliss
- Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon beat Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn
- The Undertaker beat John Cena
- The Bludgeon Brothers won the SmackDown Tag Team titles against the Usos and New Day
- Ronda Rousey and Kurt Angle beat Triple H and Stephanie McMahon
- Jinder Mahal won the United States title against Randy Orton, Rusev and Bobby Roode
- Charlotte retained the SmackDown Women’s title against Asuka
- Seth Rollins won the Intercontinental title against The Miz and Finn Balor
- Naomi won the first WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal
- Cedric Alexander won the vacant Cruiserweight title against Mustafa Ali
- Matt Hardy won the Andre the Giant Battle Royal
What is a black hole?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Suggested picnic spots
Abu Dhabi
Umm Al Emarat Park
Yas Gateway Park
Delma Park
Al Bateen beach
Saadiyaat beach
The Corniche
Zayed Sports City
Dubai
Kite Beach
Zabeel Park
Al Nahda Pond Park
Mushrif Park
Safa Park
Al Mamzar Beach Park
Al Qudrah Lakes
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