United States-based CBT Architects has been appointed the lead designer to master plan Hudayriat Island, a spokesperson from the Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council (UPC) said on Tuesday.
The 3,000-hectare island is located southwest of Abu Dhabi, the capital city of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
“(The) concept master plan will be completed by the end of 2017,” the spokesperson told Thomson Reuters Projects in an email statement.
“CBT Architects from Boston are the lead designer for the master plan,” the statement added.
Plans to develop the island were first announced in 2009, according to a report in The National newspaper, which stated that the southern part of the island would be designated for housing for Emiratis, as part of the wider Abu Dhabi Plan 2030.
According to the 2009 report, initial studies for the development plans had begun.
It said that the land would be “significantly expanded to the south and cut through by canals, with a transition to mangroves along its outer edges”, as per the master plan.
UAE-based consulting firm Dar Al Omran submitted a master plan for the project in 2008 as part of a design competition, according the company’s website. The construction cost was estimated at $1.7 trillion.
Earlier this week, UPC said in a statement that it held a workshop with stakeholders to discuss approaches to transform Hudayriat Island.
A spokesperson told Thomson Reuters Projects that stakeholders included various governmental agencies and no developer has been identified at this time.
“The UPC is delighted to get the planning work underway for Hudayriat Island and to announce that such a strong design firm has been appointed as the master-planner,” Abdulla Al Sahi, planning and infrastructure executive director, of the UPC, said in a statement on Monday. “This master plan is one of many that demonstrate our commitment to benefit the community.”
The mixed-use development will include a 30 kilometre waterfront as well as a public shoreline and a green mobility network, the statement said. It added that the UPC would take an integrated approach to the planning and design of the island, balancing social, cultural, environmental and economic factors.
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