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UAE: Ajman to become region's first '15-minute city' by 2030

The move will make everything an urban resident needs easily accessible by walking, cycling or using public transport

Published: Sun 26 Dec 2021, 12:36 PM

Updated: Mon 27 Dec 2021, 12:35 AM

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Ajman is set to become the Arab region's first 15-minute city by 2030.

According to the Ajman Municipality and Planning Department, the initiative will make everything an urban resident needs easily accessible by walking, cycling or using public transport for just 15 minutes.

"A 15-minute city is a residential urban concept in which most daily necessities can be accomplished by either walking or cycling from residents' homes," explained Dr Eng Muhammad Ahmed bin Omair Al Muhairi, Executive Director of the Infrastructure Development Sector, to Khaleej Times.

"It was implemented for the first time in Paris and is now being implemented in many European countries. The Emirate of Ajman would the first city in the region to implement such a theory."

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Dr bin Omair went on to elaborate that the Ajman Municipality will seek to replicate this model, taking into account the city's unique needs in cooperation with strategic partners in the public and private sectors and the wider community. A number of initiatives will be launched to implement the concept.

He added that the implementation of the 15-minute initiative would contribute to a positive lifestyle change as it would encourage everyone to walk and use public transportation instead of using private vehicles. He assured that efforts would be made to provide paths and directions, prepare infrastructure and launch policies and legislation.

"Work is currently underway to prepare electronic maps that calculate and locate the main activities of any point in the neighbourhoods and determine the options available to access these activities, as well as the time, is taken for that," he said.

The municipality will implement the initiative in line with its 2030 strategy, which seeks to achieve sustainable development based on four pillars: proximity, diversity, density, and location.



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