Dubai to be 'most sustainable city'

Hussain Nasser Lootah, Director-General of Dubai Municipality, said the civic body is working hard to make the city of Dubai one of the top ten sustainable cities in the world by 2020, implementing the green building regulations and related orders in line with the strategic vision and goals of the Dubai Government.

These comments came when the director-general was speaking about the plans of Dubai Municipality in preparation to host Expo 2020, when he said, "We are obliged to fulfill our word in front of the world that we will create an amazing future connecting the minds of all nationalities, as we realise that the eyes of the entire world are looking on Dubai to find out what we are going to do in years to come.

"We won this opportunity as result of the long-sighted vision and plans of our leadership, which are crystal clear from the current structure and ongoing projects in the emirate of Dubai. The civic body has already started its efforts towards creating the most sustainable city in the world. It has recently formed a special committee for sustainability which will study and execute green initiatives," he said.

Abdullah Rafia, Assistant Director-General of Dubai Municipality and Chairman of Sustainability Committee said, "The committee's responsibilities include developing mechanisms to evaluate green buildings and the extent of achieved sustainability and follow-up of procedures for the implementation of such mechanisms with concerned authorities in the Emirate of Dubai, in addition to propose, coordinate and review studies and research on the sustainability and development of programs and plans for the adoption, dissemination and application of the recommendations in coordination with the relevant authorities."

Mohamed Noor Mashroom, Director of General Projects Department, said, "We strictly implement green building rules in our all new projects and take necessary steps gradually to change the old systems to energy saving systems.  Currently the areas under the responsibility of DM include street lighting, roadway lighting, parks, community facilities, parking lots, city landscaping, residential and commercial buildings, pedestrian and bicycling pathways."

"Through solar powered lighting, the civic body aims to provide a safe and secure environment at night, extend the use of parks and walkways into the night, enhance historical and notable features, enhance travel on the roads and at intersections,' he explained.

The General Projects Department has successfully implemented a solar powered lighting system in its prestigious projects and facilities like Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Sports Complex, Al Mushrif Park, Al Barsha 2nd Pond Park, Al Safouh Park, Al Warqaa 2nd Neighbourhood Park, Port Saeed Plaza, Al Warqaa 3rd Community Facility, Al Awir Park, Lehbab CF, Hatta CF and Nazwa CF.

Juma Khalifa Al Fuqae, Director of General Maintenance Department, said that the department has already started replacing the old lighting systems with LED technology in premises and public facilities governed by the civic body in the emirate of Dubai, aiming at saving around 55 per cent of energy consumption.

"The initiative would help DM save money, energy and environment at same time boosting its strategy to create the most sustainable city in world," he concluded.

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