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When all projects are completed, over 210,000 people are expected to be living on Reem Island. — Reuters
Abu Dhabi - A master plan unveiled by Abu Dhabi’s Urban Planning Council (UPC) will see residents on Al Reem Island multiply by 10-fold.
“When all buildings will be complete, we will have 210,000 people living in Al Reem, from just 20,000 residents now,” said Mohammed Al Khadar, executive director of Urban Development and Estidama at UPC, on Monday.
The ambitious master plan will also see 20,000 seats for learning created in 11 private schools.
Master plan at a glance
Al Reem, one of the largest islands in Abu Dhabi, has been under development for the past 10 years, and by now 15 per cent of the island’s total 20,000 square metres is under construction.
Several developers have been building residential towers, schools, shopping centres and cafes since 2005 here, but for the first time now they have all come together with an Integrated Concept Master Plan (ICMP).
Apart from 850,000 square metres dedicated to residential construction, the ICMP includes over one million square metres of office space; 10,000 hotel rooms; three private hospitals; nine mosques; six nurseries and kindergartens; civil defence and police facilities; 500,000 square metres of parks and open spaces; and 710,000 square metres of pedestrian walkways, waterfronts and beaches.
The ICMP was submitted by Bunya LLC, which is in charge of the island’s infrastructure, in December 2014, after working closely with the UPC and Al Reem Island’s key developers over the past seven years.
These key developers are Tamouh, responsible for 57 percent of the Al Reem’s development, Aldar Properties with 20 per cent and Reem Developers having 20 per cent.
With rent exceeding Dh100,000 for a one bedroom apartment in its sleek residential skyscrapers, Al Reem is one of the most expensive places to live in Abu Dhabi.
“Yes, we have projects for affordable living as well. Right now we have temporary affordable houses on Al Reem, and we work with Aldar, which launched the Meera project for affordable homes and Tamouh ... will build affordable residential units,” explained Al Khadar.
According to Joe Ong, managing director of Tamouh, his company plans to built seven blocks with a total of 4,500 residential units in the next four years, but he was unable to specify how many of them will actually fall under the affordable housing category, meant for medium income residents such as teachers or nurses.
Environmental impact is also taken into consideration for all developments on Al Reem. As per UPC regulations, any new building in Abu Dhabi emirate has to have at least one Pearl Estidama rating and so far on Al Reem they all do. — silvia@khaleejtimes.com
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