Urbanism in the Gulf

Once upon a time, I planned to go into a career in urban planning and architecture. I read treatises on New Urbanism and Smart Growth like it was my job. I interned at a DC-area planning agency in the summer of 2008. I even wrote my senior thesis at Amherst on architecture and urbanism in Cairo and Dubai. The 2008 recession led me to reevaluate my career goals, but I'm still very interested in this sort of stuff, especially when it overlaps with my current studies in the Middle East. So I've been very happy over the past few days, as I've read a number of articles about urban planning developments in Dubai and the UAE.

I visited Dubai in March of 2008 to do research for my thesis, which focused extensively on how Dubai had imported the car-dependent model of the US.  My trip certainly reinforced that view; Dubai was a pedestrian hell. My grant wasn't large enough to cover car rental or taxi fare, so I got around either on foot or by bus. But sidewalks were incomplete, intersections were not safe, and the average weather made me sweat after just a few minutes of walking. Buses were crowded, slow, and unpredictable; I remember waiting 45 minutes in the sun for a bus to the Burj al-Arab, only to watch it whiz past the station without stopping because it was too full to fit any more passengers. Everyone needed a car, and so traffic was horrible at many hours of the day. The metro was under construction at the time of my visit, but it did nothing to alleviate the pain of traveling yet.

I havent been back since that trip, but the articles I've seen certainly suggest that the situation has changed considerably. The Red Line line of the Dubai Metro is up and running, with a second (Green) line expected to open soon. Total ridership of the system, which opened less than a year ago, recently surpassed 23 million people. Daily ridership has reached as high as 130,000, out of a population of about 2.2 million. This number will almost certainly rise as additional stations and lines are completed.

It's not just about ridership, though. Gulf news sources are reporting on the more subjective aspects of the Metro system as well. GulfNews published an extensive article about the trendiness of the new system, and how it is successfully enticing people to leave their cars behind. Dubai residents, including the affluent, are choosing to ride rather than drive - the Metro is becoming a part of Dubai's urban culture. The stations are gorgeous - and considering the beautiful DC Metro is my home system, my standards are pretty high. I also saw a very interesting report on the rigorous maintenance, cleaning, and inspection that goes on behind the scenes. DC's metro has seen nothing but maintenance problems, service cutbacks, and several tragic fatalities in recent months, but it seems Dubai is seriously trying to turn the tide against auto dependency. There's much left to do - don't get me wrong. There are shortcomings with regard to pedestrian connections, network redundancy, sustainability, and other issues. Dubai is a linear city, so it's much easier to design an effective rail system there. Gulf newspapers are far more hesitant to publish criticism of a government project such as the metro. I don't want to sound like I believe Dubai has vanquished its problems forever - it hasn't. But it is making great progress in the right direction.

There is also good news beyond the Metro. Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital, is implementing a plan to curb speeding, reduce illegal parking, and undertake significant improvements for pedestrian safety. The UAE as a whole recently increased the price of gasoline, in part to reduce the appeal of driving and the negative environmental consequences that accompany it. Cheap oil might seem like a birthright in the world's 3rd largest oil exporter, and one might expect a lot of grumbling to accompany the increase. But this article takes a look at the long-term benefits of the price hike, instead of simply complaining about the additional cost. Conversely, the United States, with a crippling oil addiction and declining domestic sources of fuel, hasn't raised fuel taxes since 1993. With inflation factored in, the gasoline tax is at its lowest level since 1929. The UAE is schooling America in forward-thinking transportation policy.

Finally, though no ground has been broken yet, the GulfRail has been making some noise in the papers as well. This 1,205-mile proposed system would link Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE, and Oman, with a possible link to Yemen. The system would be high-speed, using Europe's rail network as a guide. America refuses to invest enough in its own rail system to do better than the "high-speed" Acela service in the Northeast. Kuwait, Mecca, Medina, and other cities are also planning rail systems.

Despite this flurry of funding and building activity, you wont see US companies winning any contracts. America doesnt have any companies with enough experience in this industry. The multi-billion dollar projects are being completed by Asian and European firms, whose countries have invested significantly in rail domestically and thus given their companies a significant technical edge in the world market. Even the biggest oil exporters in the world are getting behind mass transit, better urban planning, and inter-city rail networks as they realize that gasoline, petroleum, and auto-dependency are unsustainable in the long term. It's immensely frustrating that America can't seem to get its act together.

However, on the bright side, I now know I will have a much easier time getting around during my next trip to Dubai.

NB: All images lovingly stolen from http://dubaimetro.eu/ - I just can't get them to link back to the site.