BATOOL GHATIH (ABU DHABI)
Developers are placing greater emphasis on walkability, access to everyday services, green spaces and long-term community management as part of efforts to create more liveable neighbourhoods, industry leaders said during LIVEX 2026 in Abu Dhabi.
Carlos Wakim, CEO of Bloom Holding, said a liveable community must be designed around people’s daily needs rather than treated simply as a collection of homes.
“A liveable community has to be human-centric, it has to be built around the needs of the human beings,” Wakim told Aletihad on the sidelines of LIVEX.
He noted that residents should feel they are living in a home rather than simply occupying a house or apartment, with both indoor and outdoor spaces designed around their needs.
Wakim said walkability and cycling should be central to community planning, alongside schools, retail, places of worship, parks and sports facilities, adding that communities should also prioritise pedestrians, followed by cyclists, parks and outdoor sports activities.
He added that Bloom sees its role as contributing to Abu Dhabi’s wider liveability goals by following government and Department of Municipalities and Transport guidelines. “Development is not something that you design, you build, and you hand over,” he said.
That focus on community was also echoed by Mohamed Alabbar, Founder and Chairman of Emaar Properties and Eagle Hills, who said developers need to listen carefully to the places in which they operate.
“You have to listen and genuinely respect the community,” Alabbar said during the “Life between the Landmarks” fireside chat at LIVEX.
He said requirements differ across markets and that developers should remember that even as a developer in Dubai or Abu Dhabi, they are a guest in that community.
Alabbar also stressed the importance of maintaining developments after completion. “Make sure that everything is maintained well,” he said.
Alabbar added that he is seeing an “incredible enhancement of quality of living, quality of what we do and the society.”