Uploaded on 2015-10-27 by AssilaWalid

Abu Dhabi is a desert city, however what exacerbates even more such difficult climatic conditions is its located at a peninsula-like coastline at the Gulf Sea, causing much of the annual humidity to effect even further the comfort zone of the area. . The city structure was planned in the early 1970s, with a population of around 100,000, for an estimated maximum population of 600,000. In accordance with what was considered to be ideal urban planning at the time, the city has wide grid-pattern roads, and high-density tower blocks. In 1985, the population reached 283,000, requiring the conversion of desert area (located outside the main island) to residential and industrial use and the creation of new man made islands for residential and recreational activities in the surroundings of the main city area. Some of these new areas are Mussafah and Khalifa City located in a more rural site to the downtown city of Abu Dhabi. Khalifa City is a residential suburb, divided into 3 areas: Khalifa City A, Khalifa City B, and New Khalifa City. The density is low compared to Mussafah and downtown area, with focus on villas and dedicated green areas. ![Abu Dhabi Peninsula and the adjacent rural distrcits of Mussaffah and Khalifa City][1] ![Khalifa City low density villa urbanization][2] Abu Dhabi has a predominantly hot and arid climate. The months from June through September are generally hot and humid with maximum temperatures averaging above 36 °C. The period from November to February is relatively cold, with average temperatures of around 19 °C. Precipitations are rare and occur only during colder months. Studies on the city from the scientific article "Temperature-land cover interactions: The inversion of urban heat island phenomenon in desert city areas" Lazzarini, Michele ; Marpu, Prashanth Reddy ; Ghedira, Hosni ( March 2013) show that the rural areas had the highest temperature values: their variations were close to sand temperature values while downtown sites consistently displayed lower temperature values compared to suburbs, confirming the inversion of SUHI effect. Regarding the downtown sites, the temperature drop seemed to be inversely related to the presence of vegetation. ![Results from the article showing differences in temperature between the downtown and suburb area of Abu dhabi][3] ![Dense vegentation along all main streets in Abu Dhabi City][4] Q.3 and 4 Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Department is already aware of the many challenges of urbanization and the effects of climate on the area. The wide streets, wide canopy lanes, dense vegetaion, medium high-rise restriction (5 floors maximum) in most areas, plentiful parks are all sound measures that have been implemented and shown good results. In addition to its sustainable regulations of sustainable use of materials and recycling are all good methods to enhance the urban climate of the area. However, rarely architects design through geometry, local architecture methods and sensitive local materials. The buildings are mainly the modern glass and steel structures, and although they might have layers of heat insulation, it would be much more efficient if they would refer to local materials, local building methods and desert architecture. ![Wide streets to reduce heat compilation with shading of the high buildings][5] ![Majority of residential buildings are restricted to 5 storey level][6] [1]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14459495702207805.png [2]: http://www.thenational.ae/storyimage/AB/20130527/ARTICLE/305279960/AR/0/&MaxW=640&imageVersion=default&AR-305279960.jpg [3]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14459499911884005.png [4]: https://www.google.ae/search?q=abu%20dhabi%20green%20streets&rlz=1C1CHMO_arAE655AE656&es_sm=122&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAWoVChMI04uk2dfiyAIVgoAaCh16YQF-&biw=1366&bih=623#imgdii=V8bpPI0cPCQOwM:;V8bpPI0cPCQOwM:;oCe-j0HjbQ4zRM:&imgrc=V8bpPI0cPCQOwM: [5]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14459506962059433.jpg [6]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14459507373651947.jpg