Abu Dhabi: Nearly 20 per cent of all municipality-administered land in the emirate of Abu Dhabi will be reserved for outdoor public spaces including parks, streetscapes, waterfronts, pedestrian seating and play areas, the Urban Planning Council (UPC) said at a conference yesterday.
The focus on external public spaces comes after the UPC surveyed 10,882 households and found that 29 per cent of respondents said they did not have a park or play area in their neighbourhoods.
The respondents considered this to be the single public facility they missed the most.
The new public areas will be developed based on the UPC's Public Realm Design Manual, which was introduced yesterday to provide a comprehensive plan for city design along with the existing manuals for street design and urban development.
Sustainable standards
"The manual focuses on human-scale development within a pedestrian-friendly environment, and will enable municipalities, developers and consultants to construct public areas that preserve our unique culture and heritage and are also sustainable as per the UPC's Estidama standards," said Falah Al Ahbabi, general manager at the UPC.
He added that under the manual's guidelines these public leisure areas would be made accessible to all, with a play area or park within walking distance of 90 per cent of households.
