Dubai’s car-free zones are a step towards community building

Dubai Creek Harbour is popular among walkers. The city has plans to develop more car-free and pedestrian-friendly areas. AFP

To pedestrians in any metropolis in the world, few annoyances compare to the honking of cars, the build-up of traffic and exhaust fumes as they walk around neighbourhoods. Pollution – air or noise – is a concern for city planners worldwide. To tackle such common impediments, numerous cities have addressed the problem by instituting car-free zones, encouraging the use of public transport, and carving out more areas for parks. These measures go a long way to subtract from petty annoyances that dampen the daily, lived experiences of city dwellers.

Dubai, home to more than 3.8 million people, has also evidently been considering such options, having recently announced extensive measures to make the city better equipped for the future. By 2030, the city will house 5 million residents. This makes it imperative for authorities to continually think ahead, and plan ways to not just delight tourists and visitors and accommodate new residents but to ensure that they, as much as long-time residents, feel happy, at home and very much a part of the UAE's diverse social fabric.

Two months ago, plans were announced to make Dubai a pedestrian-friendly city. The advantages of such a plan are doubtless and plenty, not least of all for the reduced carbon emissions, the resultant better air quality and for facilitating much-needed physical exertion for residents. The "Dubai Walk Masterplan" includes a 124-kilometre long walkway with greenery. The focus is residents' health, sustainability, and increasing pedestrian and "soft mobility" – including bicycles and e-scooters – from 13 per cent to 25 per cent by 2040.

More recently, Dubai last week announced a plan to make certain neighbourhoods of the city car-free zones, as part of the The Super Block project. This is among a series of social programmes, such as child welfare, that promote social well-being and development, which is one of the top priorities of the UAE. Just last month President Sheikh Mohamed declared 2025 as the Year of Community.

When all the UAE's recent initiatives and plans are seen in concert, the underlying direction of the country comes into focus

The UAE authorities have shown an evident understanding that social bonds need space to be nurtured. "Quality of life" is a big driver of such plans, which comes down in large part to quality of life for communities – families, children, pedestrians, office goers – all of whom need parks and public squares with adequate greenery and traffic-free zones, even in the summer months. This is evident in the plans being unveiled and the allocation of generous budgets to make the UAE's cities more socially cohesive.

In a similar vein, last November, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Presidential Court, welcomed a new community initiative package worth Dh500 million ($136 million), for senior citizens, women and children, and to achieve social stability for all community members.

When all the UAE's recent initiatives and plans are seen in concert, the underlying direction of the country comes into focus. And when the benefits of city upgrades become clear – whether they are planned car-free zones in Dubai or already existing green spaces across Abu Dhabi – they could serve as models for more such expansion and social redevelopment across the country. The results may not be immediate. They take time to bear fruit, as with most big plans. But the positive and life-changing effects on UAE residents in the coming decades will be unmistakable.