VISH:

Good afternoon Everyone. We are group-4 …. Group members are….

As we worked through the project till the final intervention as a team, we have noted our initials at
the bottom of each slide to indicate who worked on it.

Dubai is one of the 7 emirates of UAE, located in the centre of the Middle East

Dubai has a Totl area..2nd largest..

The region has an arid climate with temperature reaching upto 45 degree C in peak summers. It
receives winds predominantly from the west from the Arabian sea

The history of Dubai is a very interesting narrative, starting from its nick name as the pirate coast
due to the high piracy activity in the region, to the arrival of British to curb the pirate’s attacks on the
EIC ships, to the discovery of oil, and finally the boost of the city’s economy thereafter.

Dubai’s population has seen an exponential growth in the last decade. The existing population of
Dubai is ____ and has a floating population of ______. The map on the side shows the distribution
of Dubai’s population density and it can be noted that the density decreases while moving from the
costal to the inner regions. Also, even today the oldest side of Dubai is one of the most densely
populated.

We were able to source two old Land use maps of Dubai. The map on the left, dated 1971 is Dubai’s
first landuse map ever documented and according to this, Deira and Bur Dubai is all that made up
Dubai and in less than half a century..

Dubai has grown to almost thrice the size. In addition to future planned megaprojects and
metropolitan centers, the map also clearly demarcates the conservation zones, desert regions and
utilities in the outskirts of the city.

Dubai is a city packed with landmarks and there isn’t particularly a few that we can point out. A
difference to note is that, the landmarks in the older districts of Dubai are historic and conserved,
whereas Downtown Dubai and newer districts have landmarks that are high end, innovation and
design centric.

The key takeaways from the study of the Education aspect is that Dubai has the 2 nd highest literacy
rate in the middle east, with a percentage of 80.7%

MADHU
While studying the pattern of property ownership in the city, we noted that a large percentage of
projects belonged to Private giants like Emaar, that owns Burj Khalifa for example, Nakheel and
other smaller companies. The larger portion of land belongs to the public authorities.

We have made these series of maps to show the different types of housing in Dubai, starting from
the more compact typology in older Dubai that can be categorised as Necessity, uptill the luxurious
mega housing projects of Dubai.

Dubai ranks 70th in the list of world’s most liveable cities and 1st in the middle east, and all its citizens
have 100% access to basic amenities.
Coming to healthcare, Dubai offers excellent healthcare services and has an availability of 98% beds
per 1000 people. Dubai markets its healthcare industry as Dubai Health experience for attracting
medical tourists.

Dubai’s economy had grown exponentially after the discovery of oil, but today. Its key source of
income is the tourism industry.

Dubai has a well laid out transport system. Yet, while charting the modal split of journeys, we noted
that public transport makes up only 14% and 61% is taken up by privately owned cars. At the same
time, Dubai has a lack of parking spaces as they make up only 10% of the number of cars.

Dubai’s Electricity and water distribution is controlled by DEWA that distributes to homes and
industries. Although Dubai’s waste management system looks perfect on the surface level, the
system is currently incapable of taking the load of the growing population densities of the city.

SNEHA
The fast-growing city has also resulted in a multitude of environmental problems.

Although the city is making efforts towards sustainable development, it is noteworthy that the city’s
dependence on Desalination for freshwater has resulted the Arabian Guld being 20% more saltier.

We made a list of inferences after the study of the city for each of its aspects and one of the key
points we noted is the lack of green open spaces in the older districts of Dubai.

As a case study, we looked at the creek side development project that was completed in 2019 on the
Bur Dubai coast of Dubai Creek. Although the project flaunted its concept of a timeline of Dubai’s
developments, and a large variety of boutiques and gourmet restaurants...

We noted that the area was almost deserted on weekdays with minimal activity. The possible reason
for this is the wrong response to context, as this area is predominantly occupied by the working-class
expats of Dubai.

This motivated us to take a 1sqkm area of study on the very opposite coast of the al seef project.
This region is located in Deira and comes under Metropolitan region according to land use mapping.

This region had some of the earliest settlements of Dubai, and the area expanded soon after the
renovation of the Dubai creek in 1961, that boosted trade.

From this mapping of building use, it can be noted that mixed use buildings and hotels line the coast,
while the compact residential blocks are located further Northwards.

The visual of the building heights, makes clear that higher buildings line the coast and the residential
blocks are limited to 4 or 5 floors.

KARTHU
The region has 99% expatriate population and the economic activities range from the street markets
of Dubai to dhow cruises and hotels along the creek. The landmarks in this region are very much
identifiable to any resident of Dubai and include the fish roundabout, and the Etisalat tower the
municipality building. ETC

There are very scanty open spaces in the area, and the existing spaces are either too small or in close
proximity to the roads making them unsafe for children.

We have mapped the hierarchy of roads in this area to get a clear understanding of the road
network in the area

We noted that the arterial roads in this area experience some levels of congestions at peak times as
they act as feeder roads into the highways heading to Sharjah, the neighbouring emirate.

The public transportation in the area include two boat jetties that connect to the Bur Dubai creek
side, two metro stations and multiple bus stops

We tried mapping the existing parking spaces in the region and it was interesting to note that about
15% of the chosen area is made up of open parking lots.

This prompted us to take the 1 km stretch of parking space along the creek, as our site for
intervention. And this is an aerial view of the creek with the site to its north. You can also see the
dhow cruise boats parked along the promenade.

These are some of the images taken by myself and Vish when we visited the site.

NIVYA
The two RTA boat jetties are located within the site. There are 4 bus stops along the stretch of the
site and multiple vehicle entry points.

Pedestrians can access the site using the 5 existing zebra crossings or the footbridge towards the
West.

There is scanty street furniture in the stretch currently and is spread out in small pockets.

The major issues that we noted in this region was that, one: The site had a great potential for a creek
side development and the current use can be optimised. The dhow cruise activity along the creek is
unorganised and the hawking by its owners discourages women and families from using the
promenade. Also the existing cafeteria space was almost lifeless and the open spaces were largely
unshaded.

This initial section shows a cross section of the stretch. The 10m wide promenade sits on the right,
followed by the stretch of parking spaces.

We tried to do a shadow analysis on the site area and noted that the high rises along the creek do
not create shadows on the site.

The existing users of this site, include daily commuters, who travel across the creek for work and
other activities, tourists who visit the nearby attractions and use the dhow cruises, and local
residents who use the promenade for jogging, cycling and yoga
SNEHA
So, coming to the design stage, these are some of the initial sketches we made for how we wanted
to transform the space. We wanted to create multiple active pockets and resilient spaces that
function during day and night time.

But before we proceeded with that idea, we kind of, looked back at older images of the site and
surrounding. The Al Seef project on the opposite coast was previously a beautiful green stretch with
a promenade, and we personally had very.. nostalgic memories of taking a walk along the creek with
a shawarma and the old wooden seaters.

And from our case study, we were able to get a glimpse of the post occupancy situation of Al Seef
and the lack of activity in this particular type of intervention in this context. Thus we wanted to
approach the design for our site, by creating enhanced and green open spaces that were walkable
and also create spaces for the outdoor activities of the locals.

VISH
The first change we decided to make was shift the dhow cruise activity to one end of the site. This
opens up the view from the promenade and at the same time organises the dhow cruise activity.
Although we did consider the chance of the cruises losing business by this shift, we felt that, this
change will only improve their business. The cruise is used predominantly by visiting tourists or
groups, and an organised station and boarding point will only give it a brand new identity, making it
in a way, a new attraction.

We decided to shift the parking to underground level. This leaves out open spaces on ground level
and also makes it possible to introduce more parking spaces.

We wanted to introduce an ethnic market for the local-expatriates. It would be a market that sold
food and other items from the local markets of different countries of Asia and Africa.

Another interesting feature we wanted to add was a stairway leading down into the Dubai creek,
which would create an exciting space for adults as well as children.

KARTHU
So to give you a glimpse again, of the existing site..

And this is our design intervention. As you can see, we have introduced multiple lanes an walkways
and created active green pockets

For the purpose of dividing work, we broke up the site into the dock area, the right wing, centre, left
wing and Underground parking and each of us took each portion. Yet each of us contributed equally
to all the pockets.

The West most is The Dock. This is the new station for the Dhow cruises. One of the existing RTA
stations is left untouched and stand on the same location. The reason we pushed the boat pier for
the cruises into the site, is because the stretch of the creek in this area is particularly narrow, and
the frequent moving RTA boats would be disturbed by an abutting pier.
This area includes the ticketing station and check points for boarding the cruises, waiting shelters
and open green spaces. A drop off point has been provided as well as parking spaces for the staff.
The boat pier creates an interesting promenade walkway alongside the Baniyas road and gives a
direct view of the boats on the creek.

This section clearly shows the different levels at the pier. The water level is 1m below the road level
and stairs and ramps will be provided for access.

MADHU
The right wing of the site is a stretch of multiple walkways that stretch along the length. The
walkways are made more interesting by introducing landscaped pockets that allowed to create
different experiences while walking through. The cycling track enters at the west end and goes
ahead to abutt into the creek in the East. We tried to break the monotony of the promenade, by
varying the materials and introducing smaller raised wooden decks. The mounds created beside the
footpath become an immediate resting space for pedestrian users who would want to lie own under
the tree shade, like we noticed in the existing open spaces. A shallow stream has been introduced
along the central pathways with abutting seaters. This creates an area of interest, and at the same
time the flowing water contributes to keeping the surrounding cool. To the West of the stretch, we
introduced a well opening. This brings ample natural lighting and ventilation into the Underground
parking as well create an interesting pedestrian access into the parking facility

VISH
The center has a wide-open entry into the cite. You will first be greeted by an island of dry
landscaping that pertains to the arid climate of Dubai. On either sides are the stretches of the Ethnic
market. We divided the market and created two separate streets, as we wanted to create two
separate streets for the users to explore. The cafeteria pocket with open space for seaters will be
used to relocate the existing restaurants in the site or bring in new outlets. The stepped entry to the
creek is at the South. This shallow water feature allows users to step down and enjoy in the water
and becomes a refreshing space during peak summers for both adults as well as children. The
staggered steps can double as seaters too.

NIVYA
The left wing of the site continues the walkway from the right. A childrens play area pocket has been
introduced which would have small scale play equipment. The west end of the stretch has two way
access road of the new Underground car parking facility. The entrance ramp has been placed only
after a service read so that the entering cars that slow down do not effect the fast moving traffic on
the Baniyas road. The existing cafeteria space on the West end has been preserved, with added
shading devices and seaters.