Planetizen Newswire
Keep up with essential planning news and commentary, delivered to your inbox every Monday and Thursday.
United Arab Emirates
If vaccinations are key to ending the pandemic, Israel may get there first as it has the highest rate by far of any nation. Paradoxically, it also has the world's second-highest rate of daily new COVID-19 cases.
The New York Times
The UAE has created a storage facility under the desert that can provide up to 100 million liters per day in the event of an emergency.
Quartz
A city famous for its oil money is implementing generous incentives for electric cars.
Bloomberg Technology
This summer, commuters may have another option for moving around Dubai as a pilotless drone is prepared to shuttle passengers around the city.
Dezeen
Building a new eco-friendly city in the middle of a country so reliant on fossil fuels is no easy task, but development is well underway for Masdr City to rise in the UAE
Public Square
The Address Downtown hotel, a 63-story, mixed-use high-rise very close to the world's tallest building, went up in flames on Dec. 31, raising questions about other high-rises that use the same heavy cladding material building on the exterior.
Reuters
Millions of dollars donated by the United Arab Emirates are being used to fund the rebuilding of Joplin, Mo., which was devastated by a tornado in 2011. The handouts represent a "remarkable shift in global economic power."
The Washington Post
The Dubai Executive Council has approved the Dubai Urban Development Master Plan 2020, and will establish a 'Supreme Urban Planning Council,' to streamline the process.
Constuction Week
The revitalization master plan for two older neighborhoods in Abu Dhabi includes creating "new roads, clinics, schools, police stations and neighborhood centers" and making them easily accessible to residents.
The National
Officials in Dubai have announced plans to extend the emirate's 75-km rail system to more than 250 km.
Emirates 24/7
Nicolai Ouroussoff, architecture critic for <em>The New York Times</em>, offers this lengthy look at the state of development and design in Abu Dhabi and Doha.
The New York Times
Kiran Stacy looks at some of the challenges facing what is intended to be the world's first carbon-neutral city.
Financial Times
After decades of rapid urbanization, the emirate is now contending with a wide range of challenges to its environment and infrastructure.
The New York Times
With property values now half their boom-time peaks and a flood of additional supply on the way, the emirate’s residential market may not recover in the foreseeable future, says Angela Shah.
Time
Feasibility studies underway in Abu Dhabi predict that a new light rail tram network could be operational by 2014.
Arabian Business
Once the site of a seemingly endless string of outlandish building projects, Dubai has shaken off the dust from the market crash and resumed building less flashy projects at a steadier pace.
The New York Times
Joshua Hammer describes his visit to the financially straitened emirate where he found "deserted highways, empty hotel rooms, miles of unsold residential and office space."
The New York Review of Books
The new "Sex and the City" movie was set -- but not shot -- in Abu Dhabi. Now officials there are trying to decide whether or not to release the film to local audiences, as the city tries to control its brand and image.
Associated Press
This oped from <em>The National</em> calls for increased attention to the streetscapes of the United Arab Emirate, specifically the lack of non-palm trees and seating.
The National
Feature
The world's tallest building is now open in Dubai. Christopher Corbett takes you up to the 124th floor.
