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Congestion gives clues to UAE blues

Robert W. Marans from the Emeritus of Architecture and Urban Planning in the state of Michigan US, told American University of Sharjah (AUS) students and faculty yesterday that living patterns in any country could positively or negatively affect people’s lives.

Experts also noted that road rage and change in social behaviour among people in Dubai, Sharjah and other emirates could be attributed to traffic congestion prevalent in the UAE.

They say that constant research in the quality of life was imperative for urban planning and architecture if policy-makers had to improve this quality.

Marans, who has surveyed and studied the Detroit metro-area residents, to produce high-quality data to assist public policy formation, support scholarly research, and train students, said, “Understanding the quality of life will develop an understanding how the change in quality impacts people. The idea is to provide planners and policy-makers with additional information than what they have to aid urban planning.”

The research professor, who spoke on the topic ‘Measuring the Quality of Life - The Detroit Experience’, observed, “Clearly, the automobile is an important part of people’s lives in the UAE. There is a big change in terms of development here and increased employment opportunities.”

He added that the people in Kuwait were increasingly spending more time in the malls, which are slowly emerging as shopping and social centres, for people to meet and socialise.

Marans, who has also worked as a planning consultant and as a staff planner for the City of Detroit Planning Commission, is here to explore ways in which he could research the quality of life of people in the UAE.

He noted that climate change, apart from crowded roads, was another factor that played an integral role in urban planning.

“The air quality makes planners think about alternate forms of transportation so that people can travel conveniently, quickly and safely,” he said.

Amer Moustafa, Associate Professor in Architecture and Urban Planning at AUS, told KT, “Road rage, anger and changed social behaviour were the result of traffic congestion in the emirates. Businesses are also suffering because of this. Due to the increased population, people spend more hours in banks and supermarkets. There are not many public spaces like parks in the UAE and we can do better with more access to public spaces.”

“We have to find a way to track people’s perceptions, find facts on the landscape, the green areas we have, take stock of the cultural and recreational facilities for improving quality of life in the UAE,” he added.

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