Abu Dhabi: The residents of this Oasis City can have a green lifestyle of cycling and walking thanks to an initiative from Al Ain Municipality.

Al Ain city will have a network of cycle lanes within five years, a senior municipal official said on Monday.

"We have already started redesigning major city streets including Shaikh Zayed Street and Sarouj Street to add cycle lanes and walkways," Mubarak Mohammad Al Khaili, Executive Director of Al Ain Municipality, told selected journalists at the stall of the Department of Municipal Affairs at the World Future Energy Summit.

Foreigners coming to the city, especially Europeans, are already asking about maps for cycle lanes, he said.

The cycle lanes will be a safe distance from the roads, he added.

The Municipality will spend Dh250 million in the next two years to preserve Al Ain's 19 million square metres of green areas including parks.

"Outdoor fitness areas for people will also be constructed in some of the parks," the official said.

Apart from adding cycle lanes and walkways, the redesigning of streets will also minimise the use of water for landscaping, he said.

It will introduce "hard landscaping" with rocks and other materials, Al Khaili explained.

"We have started using native species of plants and grass, and exotic drought-tolerant species to minimise the use of water," he said.

About 75 per cent of the water used for irrigation is recycled, the official said.

"We are trying to increase that share to 95 per cent by 2012," Al Khaili said.

Development

Children in Al Ain will not need to search for a playground as the municipality plans to build one in each neighbourhood, a senior official said on Monday.

"About 11 new playgrounds and 17 designated soccer fields are under construction in the city , which will be completed in two years," Mubarak Mohammad Al Khaili, Executive Director of Al Ain Municipality, told selected journalists at the stall of the Department of Municipal Affairs at the World Future Energy Summit).

"Our vision is - they [children] should not walk much to reach a playground," he said.

The number of new play-grounds and soccer fields will be doubled soon, he said.