With big plans for building new parks and refurbishing existing ones, Abu Dhabi is set to become a green city. We sat down with the UPC – and some parents in the park – to find out what’s coming

It's a gorgeous, sunny Thursday afternoon – the weather is spectacular and the weekend lies before us in all its lazy splendour, so as soon as the school bell rings we load up the kids and head for our new favourite park, the public playground on the Corniche.

Though this park has become a favourite of many since its opening several months ago, plenty of new parks are coming to the capital and several existing parks, such as Khalidiya Park, will be undergoing an environmental facelift at the same time.

The Urban Planning Council Abu Dhabi is working closely with a number of government officials on making the plan for the Emirate – the Abu Dhabi Vision 2030 – a reality. As well as plans that affect building structures and streetscapes, the UPC are keen to ensure that the overall landscape meets a sustainable goal. And that landscape is looking particularly green.

“Our absolute number one policy aspiration is that by 2030, the public will have to travel no further than 350 metres to access a public space such as a park,” explains Michael Stott, a senior planner for UPC.

Stott is specifically working as part of the Public Realm Design Manual mandate – the latest plan to be revealed as part of the overall vision for the city. The manual was released just a few days ago and covers the visions, principals and policies for public spaces throughout the Emirate, including streets, pedestrian ways, bikeways, bridges, plazas, parkways and waterfronts.

At the forefront of each of these elements is the UPC’s sustainability drive, Estidama. “We’re working very closely with the Estidama team,” says Stott. “We’re working on delivering a new set of irrigation guidelines, so you’ll be able to see a physical design change in public spaces, as well as environmental changes.”

What sort of physical changes?

“What we’re trying to achieve is well-used space. With this in mind, we’re working on a small number of high quality spaces for Abu Dhabi. We’ll be looking at informal play, formal play and exploratory spaces. For example, we're looking at introducing new types of programming features in parks such as a  'sensory garden' as part of the revitalisation of the Corniche,” Stott explains.

“This ease of access also means that one day, you will be able to leave your house and walk along a shaded pathway to a public space, such as a park.”

In addition to building more parks, the UPC hopes to revamp Abu Dhabi’s current parks to make them sustainable, long-term spaces that work with the environment.

“We’re rethinking design features and elements that aren’t interactive. For example, current water features could be replaced with pop jets. We’re looking at different landscapes within current parks too; we’re taking inspiration from rocky landscapes, green spaces and wadis – using Al Ain as inspiration, we’re integrating nature into the community.”

In addition to the mainland, “underserved” communities such as the Khalifa Cities and Mohammed Bin Zayed will soon see these improvements, in accordance with plans of the Municipality

“The Municipality is progressing with formulating advanced plans for a set of landscaping projects. The goal is to strike a balance between the green area and population density in line with the international standards of urbanised housing that meets the residential, commercial, administrative, industrial, recreational and service requirements of various areas, in keeping with the need to conserve a healthy environment under the ultimate objective of ranking Abu Dhabi city side by side with the cosmopolitan cities of advanced countries,” said the Municipality of Abu Dhabi City.

Why so many changes? Because a city thriving with well-planned parks is great for the community for a lot of reasons – including finances.

It’s no secret that flats generally cost less to rent than villas – especially on the main island – but families may be encouraged to live in a flat if there’s a park right downstairs. “You can get a four-bedroom flat in an older building on the Corniche for around AED 200,000, but a villa in same area would cost more like AED 250,000 to 300,000,” says elysian Real Estate branch manager Shae Braithwaite.

More obviously, playing in the park helps kids to stay active, perhaps the number one method of preventing childhood obesity.

According to the World Health Organisation, children aged five to seventeen should engage in moderate to vigorous physical activity for 60 minutes every day, and one way they suggest kids get moderate exercise is by playing in the park.

An addition to the exercise, going to the park adds a social element to play – for both the children and their care givers.

“I like going to the park with my friend and letting the kids play while we chat,” says Salma Falah, mother of Ahmed age seven and Sara age four, who takes her children to the giant park in Khalidiyah.

“When the children were babies, they would go to the park with their nanny, and she was able to meet with her friends who are also nannies while the children played together. It’s nice to see my kids mixing with children of different nationalities and backgrounds, too.”

Even better, the prevalence of parks helps keep kids safe. “We live in the middle of town and before, the only place for kids to play was in the street,” says Mark Madden, father of Justin age six and Luke age eight, visiting one of the newly opened parks near 9th/Al Falah Street.

“We used to see lots of kids playing in the parking lot and it was very dangerous for them – they would go chasing after a football and sometimes run out into the street – but now they have a place to play and we don’t have to worry nearly so much,” he adds.

Perhaps the best reason to take your kids to the park, though, is that most kids love it. “I love to go to the park every day,” says Hana, age five. “I like the swings and the tipper [see-saw] and one time I found a ladybug.”

Charlie Kennedy and Laura Fulton

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