Abu Dhabi
Urban Planning Council (UPC) invites property developer representatives
and sustainability experts to exchange ideas and identify opportunities
for innovation in planning.
ABU DHABI, 04 November 2015:
The UPC is holding a workshop with Abu Dhabi’s leading real estate
developers and sustainability experts, heralding a new phase of
collaboration between urban planners and the Emirate’s property sector.
The Tawasul workshop on the 5thNovember, will be held in the Rosewood Hotel, and
will see Abu Dhabi’s urban planners join with senior representatives of
Aldar Properties, Al Qudra Holding, Reem Developers, Tamouh, and the
Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC) for a day of group
discussion on key topics.
The
workshop will be integral to enhancing communication and engagement in a
new phase of close dialogue between developers and the UPC. A series of
themes will be discussed in groups covering processes, policy
implementation, communication channels and alignment between developers
and government agencies regarding the UPC’s Urban Development review
process.
The
UPC is responsible for reviewing all plans over 40,000 m2 of GFA. Plans
are split into two categories: a Master Plan is defined as separated
multiple buildings, with a road network and community facilities. A
Project is defined as a single building with no road network (or
multiple buildings connected by a podium).
Given
the scale and complexity of these plans, the UPC, as part of its
commitment to providing an excellent customer experience, regularly
engages with the development community to garner feedback.
The
workshop is just one of a number of communications and outreach
strategies the UPC has implemented to ensure developers’ needs and ideas
are identified and any updates to processes and policies are made in
order to ensure that the most efficient, streamlined review and
approvals processes are in place to support the development of Abu Dhabi
over the coming years.
“This
meeting aims to foster an even stronger spirit of cooperation between
all parties involved in Abu Dhabi’s urban development and is the first
of many that will engage the development community,” said Mohamed Al
Khadar, Executive Director, Urban Development & Estidama Sector,
UPC.
“The
UPC and developers already share many notable achievements with regard
to Abu Dhabi’s sustainable urban growth and we aim to nurture this
proactive collaboration well into the future as we advance towards
Vision 2030.
“Through
a number of channels, we actively engage with key developer
stakeholders to identify shared areas of improvement that are
achievable, measureable, and add value to developments right across the
Emirate.”
15
representatives from five property developers will join a team from the
UPC comprising senior managers and technical team members. .
Also
in attendance are a number of Pearl Qualified Professional (PQP)
sustainability experts from Green Consulting Engineering, Integrated
Environmental Services, Engineering Consulting Office, Alabbar Energy
& Sustainability Group and AECOM. PQPs are tasked with providing
guidance to a company on the technical requirements of the UPC’s
mandatory Estidama Pearl Rating System.
The
purpose of the meeting is to forge a close working relationship in a
number of areas. It will begin by discussing ways of aligning all phases
of real estate project development – from planning and design to
construction and handover – with a unified Government approval and
permitting process.
Attendees
will also analyse the UPC’s process of reviewing and assessing project
submissions, as well as the advantages to developers of implementing the
UPC’s policies and guidelines.
Lastly,
the meeting will tackle how to develop lines of communication between
the UPC and developers to ensure they are clear, concise and
actionable.
The
agenda was set according to a survey sent to developers and PQP
companies in advance, aiming to identify and confirm areas of their
relationship with the UPC that they wish to discuss and explore.
The
conclusions drawn from the workshop will be used to inform the UPC’s
2016-2020 strategy by identifying the key actions required to make
enhancements to its Urban Development & Estidama Sector processes,
with further outreach sessions planned for 2016.
The
meeting comes soon after the real estate charter signing ceremony in
October 2015 in which the UPC received formal commitments from 19
leading land developers to provide an even greater level of detail on
their completed and ongoing projects. The information will enable the
UPC to build and oversee a comprehensive Real Estate Data Management
database on Abu Dhabi’s commercial, retail, hospitality and residential
supply and demand.
