Mohammed bin Rashid Gardens
Mohammed Bin Rashid Gardens is a planned district in Dubai , United Arab Emirates . With an estimated investment volume of around 60 billion US dollars and an area of 88 square kilometers - including around 60 square kilometers of open, green and water areas - it is one of the most ambitious urban planning projects in the world. The planned city will be a place of residence and work for 200,000 people.
The logistical performance of this construction project consists in transforming the previously dry desert areas southwest of Business Bay into an oasis through skillful water management . The construction concept integrates the water supply into the cityscape and, according to the planners, fulfills many of the requirements placed on a modern city in terms of transport, recreation and the environment. In this respect, the major project represents a new approach to the principle of sustainability for Dubai . a. with animation videos that bring together a mix of elements from Venice, Amsterdam, New York, Canberra, a safari park and the Spreewald.
Water and the environment
The master plan for the new district was drawn up by the architect Eric Kuhne (London, CivicArts), a specialist in urban design, and announced in March 2008 by Dubai's Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum . It is planned to provide new living space, schools and universities, finance and shopping centers, as well as some striking administrative and cultural buildings. Above all, the urbanization will also offer attractive tourist landscapes and more landscaped park area than London and New York combined. The construction was originally supposed to start in autumn 2008, due to the economic crisis the project is z. Z. postponed.
In this new large estate, water is pumped through an approximately 150-kilometer-long network of canals with reservoirs and waterways. This creates a port-like, often small-scale 'city in the water'. The canal system, which can also be navigated by medium-sized ships, will enrich urban life and reduce road traffic. It also provides a habitat for the flora and fauna and offers leisure and recreational opportunities and, last but not least, an easily marketable urban planning backdrop.
With its banks and shallow water areas, the approximately 14 kilometers long "Grand Canal", which expands up to 700 meters in width and emulates Venice's Grand Canal as the main axis, will provide space for many living beings in addition to the heavy traffic. The natural design of the city with parks, canals, lakes, boat moorings, bridges and islands, retention and storage basins will create habitats for wild animals and plants, attract migratory birds and promote the previously limited biodiversity in Dubai. The new green spaces will release oxygen and filter carbon dioxide out of the air. Planted building facades and the interspersed, naturally left desert strips will create networked fresh air corridors that invite residents to take a walk or ride a bike. As is known, because of the hot Dubai climate, such "simple" outdoor activities are rarely practiced during the day.
The bank zone is designed in a variety of ways, for example from stone walls with integrated plant troughs. The river banks are secured with plantable stones and shallow retention basins allow easy access to the public beach sections. Reed biotopes are incorporated into the course of the canal and the water is cleaned and treated with a combination of technical and vegetable (biological) filter systems.
Following the example of ancient Arabic hydraulic engineering, the canals, fountains and water basins structure the extensive green areas of Mohammed Bin Rashid Gardens. The parks and canals are designed according to the traditional Arabic pattern based on the astrolabe . This ancient measuring device was once used in the Arab world to measure angles in the sky and has now become the design basis for the new district. That is why almost all landscape designs in Arabia look like "circled".
The Grand Canal will be connected to Dubai Creek and its extension into Business Bay and will meander through the four quarters of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Gardens according to the 'astrolabe pattern'. Another water connection to the west directly to Jumeirah Beach is planned. The water city will thus maintain a lively exchange about water with all connected districts of Dubai. The highlight of the watercourses will be the centrally located large lake with a fountain in which the water appears to converge.
Urban spatial system
There will be four so-called houses, which correspond more to large city districts. Each of these houses (in the sense of a unifying common) is primarily dedicated to one topic. In the “House of Humanity” there are non-profit institutions and museums on the subject of civilization. International companies and banks will be housed in the “House of Commerce” in the immediate vicinity of Business Bay. The "House of Wisdom" includes a large library, universities, the mosque and universities of history and natural sciences. The "House of Nature" is dedicated to the environment and, in addition to a zoological garden with large outdoor enclosures, will also have parks and research facilities for the preservation of nature. The gigantism of these designs can also be seen in the fact that most of these elaborate institutions have yet to be founded.
Energy efficiency
Low water and energy consumption values are also part of the supply concept for Mohammed Bin Rashid Gardens. Modern control systems and energy-efficient building equipment will keep consumption to a minimum. Intelligently designed facades are designed to maximize the use of sunlight. Solar thermal technology will meet the demand for hot water and cool the structures that are not connected to the city-wide cooling system. The city design will also recycle a large amount of water: a sophisticated water treatment system generates process water that is intended to reduce the city's drinking water consumption and to be used to irrigate the green spaces.
Traffic concept
Mohammed Bin Rashid Gardens stands out clearly from most other new and large-scale districts in Dubai due to its canal equipment. Here, for the first time, it is planned to subordinate all traffic, both commercial and supply traffic as well as passenger traffic to a coherent concept under sustainability aspects. The conditions on the "tabula rasa" of the development area could not be better: the planned city can consistently rely on a combined transport of motorways, branched waterways, public rail transport (planned second phase of the Dubai Metro ), close-knit bus routes and extensive bicycle and pedestrian paths. So z. B. Supply goods are delivered via the canals or car journeys during rush hour are replaced by solar water taxis.