Walking is a risky endeavour

My glasses are on, my iPod is playing relaxing music, and I am wearing my running shoes: I'm ready to venture out into the jungle that is Abu Dhabi traffic. I'm looking left then right, checking blind spots, watching my speed and employing signals as I manoeuvre around town. Sounds about right, yes? Except I'm walking. I firmly believe it takes more skill to walk than drive in the capital. After all, I'm dodging speeding cars and other pedestrians, and my life depends on my reflexes. I'm in a real-life version of Frogger (a video game featuring frogs trying to cross impossible roads).

Thankfully, I now understand the conflicting duality in pedestrianism here. Just because the green man is strolling carefree doesn't mean that I'm not taking my life in my hands every time I step out on to a road. And if I've looked left and right, it doesn't mean there won't be cars coming from behind me, turning at a speed that seems to defy all laws of physics. That's right, U-turners, I'm on to you. Oh, and if I took the usual five-minute route to my favourite coffee shop yesterday, that does not mean I won't have to take a 30-minute detour through alleys and construction today.

There is good news. The Abu Dhabi Municipality has announced plans to construct 32 air-conditioned pedestrian bridges throughout the city. Also, motorists who do not give priority to pedestrians will be fined Dh500 and jaywalkers will be fined Dh200. The attention to the city's on-foot traffic comes after statistics showed that in the first 71 days of this year, 26 pedestrians died while crossing roads in Abu Dhabi and 117 were injured.

I have seriously considered wearing a pedestrian helmet here, but I doubt it'll do much good other than to help road-raged folks pick out their target more easily. Here are some tips for beginner pedestrians: Vehicles here can come from left, right and behind. Check all sides before crossing. The green man is not your friend. If he jumped off a bridge, would you? Be willing to discover the city through detours and creative routes. Always wear at least one bright article of clothing at night. And last but not least, if the headlights seem far away, it does not necessarily mean that the car is not accelerating towards you at 230 kph.

Real estate tokenisation project

Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.

The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.

Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.

NO OTHER LAND

Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal

Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham

Rating: 3.5/5

Killing of Qassem Suleimani

National Editorial: Suleimani has been killed, now we must de-escalate

Mina Al Oraibi: Air strike casts a long shadow over the decade ahead

Matthew Levitt: Iran retains its ability to launch terror attacks

Damien McElroy: A CEO tasked with spreading Iran's influence

Hussein Ibish: Trump's order on solid constitutional ground

Simon Waldman: Cautious Israel keeping a low profile

COMPANY%20PROFILE

%3Cp%3ECompany%20name%3A%20CarbonSifr%3Cbr%3EStarted%3A%202022%3Cbr%3EBased%3A%20Dubai%3Cbr%3EFounders%3A%20Onur%20Elgun%2C%20Mustafa%20Bosca%20and%20Muhammed%20Yildirim%3Cbr%3ESector%3A%20Climate%20tech%3Cbr%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%241%20million%20raised%20in%20seed%20funding%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

At a glance

Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year

Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month

Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30

Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse

Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth

Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances

If you go

The Flights

Emirates and Etihad fly direct to Johannesburg from Dubai and Abu Dhabi respectively. Economy return tickets cost from Dh2,650, including taxes.

The trip

Worldwide Motorhoming Holidays (worldwidemotorhomingholidays.co.uk) operates fly-drive motorhome holidays in eight destinations, including South Africa. Its 14-day Kruger and the Battlefields itinerary starts from Dh17,500, including campgrounds, excursions, unit hire and flights. Bobo Campers has a range of RVs for hire, including the 4-berth Discoverer 4 from Dh600 per day.