Long wait over. Dubai finally 'plants' its desert rose

Putting an end to speculations, a top official told Khaleej Times that the much-talked about Desert Rose City project has already commenced, with the final design expected by September.
The smart and sustainable satellite city that will take the shape of a desert rose has been in the news since it was announced in 2014.
Commenting on the two-year gap, Dawood Al Hajeri, Director of the Planning Department at Dubai Municipality, told Khaleej Times the project was given a go-ahead in 2014, but work has recently started.
Separately, Hussain Nasser Lootah, Director General of Dubai Municipality (DM), said in a statement that the environment-friendly project has been given the green light in line with the vision of His Highness Shaikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
However, Khaleej Times noticed that the statement was similar to a report published by an Al Khaleej Arabic Newspaper in 2014, which stated that work on the project has commenced after it was given a go-ahead.
The department has started soil testing. The first (design) phase is expected to take place once the civic body receives the design programme from architect consultants.
Al Hajeri said work on the infrastructure is expected to commence around September when the final design is ready.
"It is a huge project and we had to go through steps to pick the design. An international architect consultant was hired and after a competition among international consulting companies, we picked a participant," said Al Hajeri.
When asked about the project's expected completion day, Al Hajeri did not specify a certain date since it is a whole city plan and the civic body has not received the design programme yet.
His comment refuted media reports that said the first phase will be complete before Dubai hosts Expo 2020. No cost was mentioned either.
Al Hajeri added it will be a sustainable city that produces 200 megawatts of electricity using solar panels on the rooftops of homes and other buildings.
He added that reducing carbon emissions and improving the internal environment and air quality is the main objective behind the project.
The city will have sustainable transport solutions that will further reduce the carbon emission.
The project will be implemented progressively, complying with the emirate's green building code, and will have eco-friendly solutions like green roofs to mitigate temperatures and purify the air from pollutants.
The formation of a committee headed by Abdullah Raffia, Assistant Director General for Engineering and Planning Sector, was also announced to supervise the studies, designs and the construction of the satellite city and follow up its implementation at all levels.
sherouk@khaleejtimes.com
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Green city for 160,000 residents
The Desert Rose City, which will consist of building clusters in the shape of a desert flower, has been divided into many phases including housing residents, working on achieving sustainability and implementing smart solutions.
The city will occupy an area of 14,000 hectares in Al Ruwayyah on Dubai-Al Ain Road. Once complete, it is expected to accommodate 160,000 residents who will work and live in the city that will be surrounded by a green belt.
The city will rely on its own resources to provide means of transport and communications, energy consumption and recycled water. It will have resources to provide more than 40,000 cubic meters of potable water and will save 40 per cent electricity.
There will be 20,000 plots for building luxury homes for Emiratis and 10,000 affordable housing units for expatriates.

• UAE
• Dubai