Shops and buildings in Abu Dhabi mapped out

There are 115,314 buildings, 275,598 independent units, 207,727 households and 48,582 commercial establishments in Abu Dhabi, according to the initial results of the census conducted by the Abu Dhabi Department of Planning and Economy (ADDOP).

The initial results have just been displayed on the ADDOP website.

An ADDOP official told Gulf News the final results of the census will be ready by 2006, after the population census starts on December 5.

The first phase which entailed an outlay of Dh15 million saw 686 census personnel fan out on September 6 to pinpoint the locations of buildings in the country.

Personal Digital Assistants were used for the first time in a general census in the UAE, replacing the traditional forms and registers.

The initial results found there are 13,216 buildings in the Abu Dhabi Urban Region, 26,284 in Abu Dhabi Rural Region, 28,614 in Al Ain Urban Region, 27,522 in Al Ain Rural Region and 19,678 in the Western Region.

The number of units in Abu Dhabi Urban Region were 111,309, while there were 46,249 in Abu Dhabi Rural Region, 62,008 in Al Ain Urban Region, 31,348 in Al Ain Rural Region and 24,684 in the Western Region.

The number of commercial establishments in Abu Dhabi Urban Region were 18,058, while there were 10,961 in Abu Dhabi Rural Region.

Awareness

A special training is being conducted for enumerators for gathering statistics about people with special needs at Zayed University yesterday.

The training focuses on increasing awareness, said Hafsa Abdullah Al Ulama, Assistant Undersecretary for Planning and Director-General of Census 2005. It aims to ask questions without interfering in sensitive issues that may bother the parents.