Dubai residents design future park; plan interactive play area, shaded cycling track

UAE citizens and residents have got a chance to shape an upcoming park in Dubai. At a workshop held recently, they gave several inputs about what should be included in the park at Nad Al Hamar 3, like an interactive play area, a method to convert humidity into water for plants, and a shaded cycling track.

High school student Noora Abdullah Ashoor said the workshop was a novel experience. “One of the things we discussed was an interactive play area that would engage all five senses of children.”

The 17-year-old added: "So the play area would have a little water fountain for the little ones to experience and music will be played using speakers on the floor. This would be very helpful in engaging them.”

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The workshop was held as part of the launch of the Dubai Urban Design Platform — an artificial intelligence-powered platform that aims at giving residents the opportunity to see how urban spaces can be transformed. It was in June, during the AI retreat, that Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum directed the activation of this platform.

Noora elaborated that the attendees focused on maintaining the identity of the area while designing the park. “We discussed planting Ghaf trees as vegetation because it is much more suitable to the environment here.”

“Also, the floor will be painted in light colours so that the floor doesn’t absorb too much heat and the playground won’t have a faded look after being exposed to harsh sunlight.”

Focus groups

Attended by over 20 people of various ages, the workshop divided everyone into two groups. Each group discussed various aspects that could be included in the park. Firstly, everyone wrote down various ideas on sticky notes before embarking on a lengthy discussion as to what should be included and what shouldn't .

Some of the ideas that attendees came up with included utilising solar panels, setting up an animal shelter, and installing features like a gym, cycling track, padel court and water fountain. As each feature was discussed, the moderators used Urbanist to demonstrate how the feature will look in the park.

Here is a rendering of how the cycling track in the park could look like:

Ahmed Al Zarouni, Director of the Department of Public Parks and Recreational Facilities at Dubai Municipality (DM), who attended the session, said he was impressed with the ideas. “I was so excited to hear from them,” he said, speaking to Khaleej Times. “This was something that we would love to know — what are the things that people want in their parks because they are the users. They had some very nice and very futuristic ideas.”

He said that other DM officials also attended the session to discuss the technical aspects of some of the ideas that were suggested. “This pilot project was involving the project in Nad Al Sheba 3,” he said. “But for our part, we are willing to do this project for all our upcoming 32 parks.”

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