Urban Fabrics and the Future of Transport-Oriented Development in Gulf Cities

Abstract

Transit-oriented development is recognised as one of the most important pillars of a more sustainable urban development due to the proven potential to reduce car travels. In Gulf cities, the integration of public transit has often been postponed due to the heritage of car-based master planning in the 1960s and 1970s and due to local climate and culture. The Emirate of Dubai was a pioneer in introducing a new modern metro in 2009, followed by Qatar in recent years. This book chapter explores the challenges of integrating metro stations within the existing urban fabrics to establish a high level of accessibility and to encourage the use of the metro despite walking distances of up to one kilometre. The authors therefore investigated two key metro stations in Dubai, one in the historic centre and one along Sheikh Zayed Road to discuss different urban conditions and to identify key opportunities and constraints of transit-oriented development in Gulf cities from an urban design perspective. In addition to mapping, the study is rooted in field surveys and site visits. As a pioneering metro system in the Gulf region, the Dubai Metro can provide important insights how to improve urban fabrics to respond to the needs of mass transit.