Dr. Abdullah bin Mohammed Belhaif Al Nuaimi, Minister of Infrastructure Development and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sheikh Zayed Housing Programme, expressed his willingness to provide advanced residential units as a means to create advanced infrastructure.
In a statement to the Emirates News Agency, during the fourth session of the Arab Future Cities Summit 2017being held in Dubai, he said, "Our presence in the Smart Cities Exhibition today will provide an opportunity to present our experiences and implement the best practices in the design of smart eco-friendly cities; all the participating papers in the forum will address smart services, cities and cars. We are in the process of building smart residential units."
Mohamed Al Mansouri, Executive Director of Engineering Affairs at the Sheikh Zayed Housing Programme, stressed that the Forum was aimed at building sustainable cities across the world, finding solutions to produce clean and renewable energy and protecting the environment.
The Forum presents the required technologies and sustainability standards to build communities and residential districts aimed at making the community happy, he noted, while pointing out that the decision makers at the Forum would exchange experiences in the field of promoting the culture of sustainability.
The Sheikh Zayed Housing Programme will develop two residential complexes to be launched in the beginning of 2018, consisting of a residential district complex in Al Khawaneej in Dubai that includes 314 residential units and another complex in Al Suyoh 16 area in Sharjah consisting of 812 residential units, he stated. The other complexes are undergoing the tender process, while the programme has launched 2,400 residential units in 2017, he remarked.
Yousef Ahmed Baselaib, Executive Director, Sustainable Real Estate, Masdar City, revealed that Masdar had announced the building of eco-friendly villas and was keen to supply these houses with inexpensive solar energy. Masdar has signed an agreement with the Sheikh Zayed Housing Programme and will utilise its experience for the housing needs of the citizens. The programme will implement and supervise it, while Masdar will provide consultations in relation to the design, he added.
Masdar is participating in the Forum by presenting its experience of driverless cars, which are currently in use and have transported two and a half million passengers since their implementation through two stations. Masdar is working on the expansion of the stations, he mentioned.
Ahmed Bahrozyan, Chief Executive Officer of the Roads and Transport Authority Licensing Agency, emphasised that the Authority had adopted a strategy for the transformation of self-driven vehicles. He highlighted the fact that the Authority was working to make all transport trips self-driven (land, sea and air).