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UAE’s mobility planning needs to keep up with urban growth, Al-Futtaim study shows
When asked about what drives liveability, participants unanimously said that traffic congestion remains the biggest challenge facing cities today
- PUBLISHED: Fri 16 Jan 2026, 3:05 PM
- By:
- Haneen Dajani
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Some of the UAE’s most liveable communities can be challenging to access, highlighting a disconnect between urban planning and mobility systems as cities across the region densify rapidly, according to a new white paper by Al-Futtaim.
The report, Rethinking Urbanisation and Mobility in the GCC, takes what Ellora-Julie Parekh, Chief Sustainability Officer at Al-Futtaim, describes as a “systems approach” to urban development — bringing together mobility, real estate, energy and consumer behaviour to assess what must change as cities grow.
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“Our cities are becoming congested; they’re very dense, and they need to densify further. So how do we do this?” said Parekh.
She pointed to the scale of growth underway in the UAE as a key pressure point. “The 2033 strategy for Dubai is doubling GDP and doubling population,” she said. “The trajectory is huge.”
Planning cities in silos is no longer sustainable
One of the white paper’s central findings is that urban mobility should be a core part of urban design and not treated as an afterthought. “Today, for the most part, decision-making is done at the community level in silos, and then mobility comes afterwards,” Parekh said. “You build a big road, then a developer builds a community.”
This approach, she said, has already created real-world problems across the region. “What we’ve observed is that you then have problems with ingress and egress from that community,” she said. “The community itself might be very sustainable, very walkable, very liveable. But coming in and out is a nightmare.”
While that model may have worked in the past, she warned it no longer fits the pace of growth the region is experiencing. “It was completely fine before,” Parekh said. “But the growth we’re seeing is exponential. This is not going to be good enough for the future.”
Congestion tops liveability concerns across nationalities
To understand how residents are experiencing these challenges, Al-Futtaim conducted primary research for the white paper, surveying 2,000 respondents across the UAE.
When asked about the most important drivers of liveability, preferences varied by nationality — from affordability and ease of commute to safety, green spaces and access to shops. But when asked about the biggest challenge facing cities today, the response was unanimous.
“Everybody said traffic congestion is number one,” Parekh said. “People value different things, but if you don’t solve traffic, that’s it.” Despite widespread concern about congestion, only 33 per cent of respondents said they currently use public transport.
“Thirty per cent told us it’s simply not available in their area,” she said. “And among those who do take public transport, many said the schedules are not convenient.”
Parekh described the UAE’s transport network as having a strong backbone but said the next phase must focus on reach. “We have this fantastic backbone that started in 2009,” she said. “Now it’s time for the capillarity. Public transport needs to grow alongside the growth of the country.”
EV appetite is growing, but charging remains the main barrier
The research also points to a significant shift ahead in vehicle ownership. More than half of respondents said they plan to replace their car within the next two years.
Of those, 24 per cent said they intend to buy a new energy vehicle, including electric cars. “There is a huge appetite across nationalities for the UAE consumer to move to green mobility,” Parekh said.
However, when asked about barriers to EV adoption, respondents were clear. “The number one barrier is charging,” she said. “Very few people are still worried about range anxiety. That used to be a problem, but the cars have evolved so much.” Instead, the issue is whether people can charge conveniently at home, at work or along key routes.
“I have friends who want to buy an electric car, but their building management tells them there’s no charging,” she said. “That doesn’t make sense for anyone.” Parekh compared the current phase of EV charging infrastructure to the early days of broadband.
“To really enable adoption, charging has to become ubiquitous,” she said. “That requires collaboration between the private sector and government, just like we saw with telecoms.”
Using data and AI to plan before building
Looking ahead, Parekh said new tools such as digital modelling and AI could help cities plan better. “You can now create a digital twin of a future space and test different scenarios,” she said.
“You can see whether congestion gets worse if you put a toll here, or if it’s better to create two roads instead of one.”
By testing decisions before construction, she said cities can make more informed choices and avoid costly retrofits later. “There is no silver bullet for congestion,” Parekh added.
“But we know many of the elements. The key is coordination.” As urban growth accelerates, she said the stakes are becoming more immediate. “I don’t think this is a 10-year problem; the horizon is much shorter,” she said.
