Making Dubai More Green
An ambitious landscape project worth AED 843 million has been launched by Dubai.
The ‘2006 Landscape Project’ involves as many as 29 parks,45 community parks, and 27 other facilities on Dubai road network (green islands) that would add a further 670 hectares of green area to Dubai’s urban landscape.
The civic body intends to cover as much as eight percent of Dubai’s urban area in the next four years.
The various facilities that will be built under the programme by Dubai Municipality include the new Dubai Zoo.
The strategic plan to cover eight per cent of the emirate’s urban landscape by 2012 is well on track. With the current increase in green areas, the per capita greenery in Dubai has reached 19.73 square metres.
Effective 2006, the civic body would annually increase greenery, by carrying out plantations across 330 to 350 hectares, and accomplish the target eight per cent by 2012. This would translate into a green area spread across 4,838 hectares, of the emirate’s urban landscape and a per capita greenery of 25 square metres. This is way above the international standard of 10 square metres. The minimum per capita standard for greenery in Europe is seven square metres, while the UNEP recommends a minimum of nine square metres.