With a project signed by architecture firm Urb, Dubai is planning to completely transform 64 kilometers of the city's main thoroughfare. “Green Spine” is just the latest of the urban transformation projects inspired by New York's High Line, and will replace Sheikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Road, also known as E311, with what Urb calls ”the world's greenest highway.”
According to the study, the ambition is to increase the accessibility of Dubai’s urban landscape while improving air quality and helping to cool the city. In addition to the planting of more than one million trees, the project includes the creation of a streetcar system-powered by a large solar panel park integral to the project-that will also serve 130,000 homes in Dubai.
Although no timeline has been set for the 64-kilometer-long landscape, the projects are being developed as part of the Dubai Master Plan 2040. The latter focuses on improving the quality of life for citizens in anticipation of the city’s population growing to nearly eight million over the next two decades.
In line with the Master Plan, one of the main project intentions would also be to transform the emirate into a 20-minute city, an urban agglomeration where residents can access major services within a 20-minute walk from their homes. Several buildings will also be created along the 64-kilometer stretch to house a mix of commercial, cultural, recreational and educational facilities for citizens.