MAYS IBRAHIM (ABU DHABI)
Shaded walking paths, accessible parks and neighbourhood amenities within easy reach are central to Abu Dhabi’s vision of liveable communities that serve their residents.
“A truly liveable Abu Dhabi community is designed around human connection, active living and daily convenience,” Eng. Abdulla Mohamed Al Blooshi, Director General of the Urban Planning and Permits Centre at the Department of Municipalities and Transport (DMT) in Abu Dhabi told Aletihad.
In a recent interview, Al Blooshi explained how the emirate is working to translate this vision into improvements across its residential neighbourhoods.
By the end of September, DMT had assessed 99 districts under its Liveability Strategy, which covers 101 existing residential districts across the emirate, according to Al Blooshi.
“Rather than applying purely as a blueprint checklist for new construction, the strategy evaluates how effectively a neighbourhood delivers essential human-centric amenities, public open spaces, pedestrian connectivity, cycling connectivity and civic infrastructure to its community,” he explained.
Its findings feed into Abu Dhabi’s annual municipal planning cycle, helping identify areas for targeted capital investment, Al Blooshi said.
The framework was expanded following approval on September 17 to assess not only the availability of community facilities but also their quality, how actively they are used and residents’ satisfaction with them.
Under the expanded framework, districts are evaluated against three indicators: completeness, which measures the availability and accessibility of facilities; quality, which assesses their physical condition and user experience on a five-point scale; and activation, which measures how effectively public spaces and facilities are used by the community.
The activation indicator is being introduced through a pilot project that uses artificial intelligence to analyse images captured by smart cameras, Al Blooshi said.
Quality assessments combine community stakeholder surveys with on-site inspections by DMT inspectors.
“In a neighbourhood optimised under the Liveability Strategy, a resident’s typical day revolves around accessible public spaces where daily amenities, parks, schools, mosques and community majlises are seamlessly connected within comfortable walking or cycling distance,” the DMT official noted.
Practical evidence of this vision is already visible across neighbourhoods transformed during Liveability Strategy 1.0, including Al Falah, where assessment findings led to investment in community parks and improvements to public transport connections.
In Khalifa City, DMT delivered 21 neighbourhood parks featuring multi-use game areas, padel courts, shaded play areas for children of determination and landscaped walking paths, alongside expanded public transport links, Al Blooshi said.
“Because the methodology focuses on existing operational districts rather than unbuilt architectural submissions, it does not act as a restrictive filter for prospective development applications,” he added.
“Instead, it operates as a continuous civic upgrade engine that directly elevates established neighbourhoods across the Emirate.”
By incorporating facility quality and community use into its assessments, DMT aims to better identify where investment is needed to improve residents’ day-to-day experience across Abu Dhabi’s neighbourhoods.