While it dreams of becoming a virtuous city for ecology, the megalopolis of the United Arab Emirates has unveiled its “Dubai Walk” project. A colossal program aimed at transforming the desert city into a pedestrian oasis thanks to 6,500 km of air-conditioned pedestrian routes.
Madness of grandeur. After the inauguration of the tallest tower in the world in Dubai in 2010 (the Burj Khalifa and its 828 meters of altitude) and the launch of the pharaonic construction site of The Line, this 170 km long building which must see the light of day in the middle of the desert, the city has unveiled a new program that is ambitious to say the least.
The project, called “Dubai Walk”, was presented by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates. According to New Atlas, the project aims to develop “6,500 km of walks across the city”, including 4,200 km of new paths and 2,300 km of rehabilitated paths.
It also involves the “development of 110 pedestrian bridges and underpasses to improve connectivity, all part of a broader effort to increase pedestrian mobility from 13% to 25% by 2040” , we can read in a press release.
Ultimately, these pedestrian routes, made up of urban routes and rural paths, should connect the city's largest sites, such as the Burj Khalifa and the Museum of the Future.
An air-conditioned walkway
But to convince locals and tourists to walk in the blazing heat (50 degrees during the day for half the year), the Sheikh presented “The Future Loop”: a huge footbridge, entirely air-conditioned and reserved for pedestrians. as well as soft mobility.
“With a length of 2 km and a width of 6 to 15 meters, it will seamlessly connect key sites, including the Dubai World Trade Center, the Museum of the Future, the Emirates Towers, the Dubai international financial center and metro stations,” explains the press release. The starting point of a vast network of air-conditioned streets.
Already in February 2023, the company URB, specializing in the development of sustainable cities, announced work on the “Loop”, a 93-kilometer “urban highway” reserved for pedestrians and bicycles. Work on the “Dubai Walk” should, according to those responsible, be completed by 2040, after a two-year pilot phase between 2025 and 2027.
