Fly to your home?
The UAE is changing by using new technologies like 3D printing to create buildings and AI, smart technology, and blockchain in many fields. Its most recent objective is to come up with ideas for futuristic transportation that will open up new possibilities in the fields of design and construction. Dubai tested its first automated aerial taxi in September. It was made by Volocopter, a German company that makes autonomous air vehicles. The drone can fly alone and has two seats. It can go up to 100 km/h and stay in the air for up to 30 minutes. Dubai’s road and energy officials are also giving people money to buy electric vehicles (EVs) that don’t pollute the air. The emirate intends to have 42,000 EVs on its streets by 2030. Residents will get free public charging, free parking, free EV registration, free Salik tags, and a sticker for their license plate that says the car is electric.
Walid El Hindi, the CEO of Imkan, a developer based in Abu Dhabi, argues that the new ways of getting around will have a big effect on how cities are built. He says that a lot of public space is taken up by cars right now, but autonomous cars and ride-sharing technology will make it less necessary to have parking places.
El Hindi said, “Most cars are only used 5% of the time right now, and because of the UAE’s demographics, most trips don’t have many passengers.” “New technology promises to make better use of vehicles.” This higher efficiency means that we can make public places healthier by adding additional pedestrian areas, parks, trees, and room for the community.
New ideas for parking lots
Makers District, a mixed-use development on Reem Island that is part of an Imkan project that is moving in this direction, is still in the planning stages. It will have places for electric automobiles and will be able to handle new modes of mobility including flying self-driving cars.
“It combines commercial and residential parts in a pedestrianized area that encourages people to come together,” explains El Hindi. “It will allow local artists and creatives a chance to show their work to the people of Abu Dhabi through its public and common areas. The Artery is a new hybrid building in the middle of Makers District that is meant to be used for more than just parking.
El Hindi said that people usually think of parking lots as bad places that are necessary for the buildings they support.
El Hindi states, “They are usually empty outside of peak hours, with dead zones in the office parking lots after work hours and dead zones in the residential areas during work hours.” “Because they take up so much space, their use has historically been very inefficient, which is why they are often ignored as development components, both physically and conceptually.”
Imkan is turning the parking lot into the heart of the development with Makers District. El Hindi states, “By designing an innovative double helix ramp, we have built in flexibility for multiple simultaneous uses of the parking space, allowing large elements of it to be used for commercial and creative purposes, insulated from the noise and pollution cars typically generate.” “The Artery can be used for events and theater, and the platforms on the extra helix can be used for anything from basketball courts to art mural spaces.”
Sustainability quotient
Vijay Doshi, founder and managing director of Vincitore Real Estate Developments, believes that high energy prices, climate change, and government rules are already making sustainability a top priority in real estate. He thinks that in the next several years, the effect on real estate will be much bigger, with technology and sustainability being the two main things that drive value.
Doshi believes, “The advancement of technologies will speed up the greening of buildings.” “As the cost of making buildings more environmentally friendly goes down along with the cost of new technologies like solar panels and better heating systems, we see a lot of value engineering happening in architecture and design.”
Doshi thinks that land-based transportation will still be the norm, even though drone technology is making it possible to fly around the city in the near future.
Doshi says, “The drone laws are new, and in Dubai, the rules for getting a drone license will get stricter as the technology becomes more common around the world.” “So, drone landing zones are not necessary.” However, electric cars will soon be necessary because of the large number of tourists and company owners who are scheduled to come to the World Expo 2020 and beyond. As more and more people utilize electric vehicles in Dubai, parking spaces for them are becoming necessary. Developers will add these types of features as needed.
Smart spaces
Michael Fowler, managing director of Aedas Middle East, says that the city of the future will be more connected and open than ever. Fowler says, “The next generation will live in cities that value community spaces more than private castles.” This is because they grew up sharing their lives in real time on social media. “In a world made better by virtual and augmented reality, buildings will be less important than the things that are going on around them.” Residential apartments will be smaller, but they will be much smarter. A smartphone has more technology than a typical home right now, but this will change as the Internet of Things, robotics, and artificial intelligence turn our homes into real machines for living.
Drone transport will happen, but it’s not clear if every new development will need a drone landing pad like every new building needs a parking lot for cars.
Fowler says, “Drones may only help with traffic when there aren’t many of them.” If drones took up a considerable amount of the current traffic, there would be problems with congestion in the air, even if automated central control would be a good thing. “Moving individual transport into the sky is not really a good solution.”
As more and more electric cars hit the road, they will help cut down on pollution and make energy use more efficient. However, this won’t solve the basic problems with city traffic. Fowler believes, “The self-driving capabilities of both drones and cars will make transportation more efficient.” “Automated vehicles will be safer and more efficient because they will be able to coordinate and work together in ways that human drivers can’t. But the way we think about private cars and drivers needs to change.
A lot of people claim the construction sector is ready to shift, but Fowlers says the capital-intensive building business is still slow to transform. He argues, “The building codes and planning rules need to be more flexible so that new technologies can be used.” “Contractual agreements need to be more cooperative and less combative. The whole process of delivering built space needs to become more industrial. Buildings should be seen as high-quality, premium products instead of unique works of art by the developer, designer, or builder.
Changes that work
As developers change and adjust their developments to meet the requirements of the people who live in them, the government is also working hard to keep stakeholders on board with its regulations. Nathan Hones, a partner at Carter Associates, adds, “We have seen changes in the fire code in the UAE after fire-related incidents that have shown problems with some materials and building methods.” “In no other country do the government and city departments respond so quickly to changes in code and regulation, especially when it comes to keeping people safe.”
Hones thinks that developers are embracing the changes and using them to make their developments stand out by adding unique selling features (USPs).
Hones says, “With stiff competition among developers of residential communities and commercial developments, any evidence that a developer can show that they are responding to the changing times and are incorporating futuristic needs and the infrastructure to support that can only help support sales and shift inventory.”
Hones thinks that in the future, there will be even more towering structures clustered around transit hubs in big cities.
“More and more people are using drones.” He argues that pick-up and drop-off areas, as well as accessibility and security infrastructure, will all need to change in order to be able to accept drone deliveries. “We already see preferred parking spots for small cars, electric cars, and cars that use less gas.” In the future, driverless cars will also get the best parking spots in places that are easiest to get to.
“Right now, electric cars need their own charging station in parking lots, and you’ll see them all parked together. We think that one day, automobile parking places will just charge your car as you park, exactly like you can charge your phone now by putting it on a charging pad instead of plugging it in.
Get ready for the future
Muhammad Obaid, the founder of EMKAAN, an architectural and engineering consulting firm, warns that developers who don’t think about new transportation ideas in their projects may not be able to get purchasers in the future.
Obaid argues that even though the government hasn’t set any explicit rules for transportation amenities in real estate projects, developers need to think about the infrastructure needs that will meet these future needs. For example, making room in the building or nearby for self-driving cars and getting the infrastructure ready to handle electric cars’ parking and power needs.
Obaid adds, “I think the people who adopt technology early will be able to survive the next 10 to 20 years, while others will have a hard time.”
Obaid notes that some of his clients have made it a requirement for their developments to have features that will help future transportation run smoothly. “An RAK client building a resort wants to include all the amenities needed for flying taxis, and in another client’s project in the desert near Dubai’s southern border, flying taxis will be the main mode of transportation.”
Obaid thinks that Dubai’s face will change a little over the next ten years. He also thinks that most buildings will have electric automobiles that can be charged. He believes, “The flying taxi will be used, but not very much, and only by some authorities.” “However, in the future, everyone will be able to use self-flying drones, and just like cars, people will be able to park their flying drones in their buildings. This is especially true in Dubai, the city that never stops surprising us.”
He thinks that employing drones to move things around will help make roadways safer for pedestrians by making them narrower. He claims this will lead to a more active lifestyle.
“People feel safer walking in narrow, shady streets than in areas with highways.” The existing width of roads built for cars, which is about 15m, will go back to its original, smaller width. This is to put people first, focus on microclimates, and keep kids safe. Not only does making the roadways narrower create more shady spaces, but it also makes heat islands less of a problem.
He thinks that designers would now have two basic choices when it comes to designing parking for buildings. Obaid explains, “One on the roof for self-driving drone passengers and one on the ground for people walking.” “Parking spaces that are now on the ground, in basements, and in multistory buildings would be replaced by parking lots on roofs that are only for drones.” Landscaping would probably take the place of most ground parking spots.
Source: Gulf News
