Dubai: As many as 430 streets have been renamed so far in Dubai’s new integrated address system that will see the city divided into several sectors and each sector further sub-divided into communities.
The project will see more than 22,000 Dubai streets renamed over the next five years, with the address system featuring the building number, street name and sector.
A senior official from the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), which has undertaken the renaming project, said renaming all Dubai streets, which earlier were identified by numbers, is part of the RTA’s strategic plan to provide a comprehensive and integrated address system for the city.
“As part of this plan Dubai is now being divided into sectors and each sector further sub-divided into communities. Locating a building is now easy and people shall now be using the building number, street name and sector. The system will be an easier and simpler way of finding a place for delivery and emergency vehicles as well,” said Maitha Obaid Bin Udai, CEO of the RTA’s Traffic and Roads Agency.
Traditionally, most streets, main roads and highways in Dubai are identified by numbers, which is now gradually changing. The RTA has already renamed some prominent streets across various neighbourhoods. Road 312 is now First Al Khail Street, 11a street is now Al Manara Street, 319 street is now Latifa Bint Hamdan Street.
In many cases the RTA has also renamed streets that already had names, for instance Al Diyafa Street has now become 2nd of December Street.
Heritage
“Names used for Dubai roads reflect the heritage and culture, enhancing the local identity while also connecting the present generation with the rich history. We are working on proposals to name streets in particular areas based on a relevant theme,” added Maitha.
Explaining the theme-based naming system Maitha said: “Under the theme system areas in the vicinity of the sea, for example, Jumeirah will have street names reflecting the marine environment like the names of fish, traditional boats and ships as well as other elements of the sea. Similarly, street names in the Financial District will reflect various traditional currencies. This will help locate the streets easily.”
Streets in six areas of Dubai have been covered under phase one of the District Addressing System, replacing street and community numbers with names. The project will be carried out in a number of phases and will cover the entire city in the next four years.
Umm Suqeim 1, Umm Suqeim 2, Umm Suqeim 3, Al Sufouh 1, Al Sufouh 2, and Dubai Marina are the six areas that have been covered in phase one, while renaming work is currently under way in Al Nahda, Muhaisana, Oud Al Mateena, Nad Al Sheba, Al Thaniyah, and Dubai Investments Park. Areas like Al Warqa, Al Khawaneej, Al Quoz and Al Barsha will be covered soon.
Emergency vehicles
Highlighting the merit of using names in place of numbers, Maitha said: “Using numbers complicates the process of locating a building, particularly for emergency vehicles as numbers keep repeating in every area. The decision to get rid of the numbering system was taken after reviewing international best practices and benchmarking it against cities similar to Dubai. We found that 90 per cent of international cities use names for streets, which encouraged us to adopt the system.”
