Beyond bricks and mortar: How the UAE is embracing sustainable design and construction

Beyond bricks and mortar: How the UAE is embracing sustainable design and construction

Published: Tue 12 Dec 2023, 6:00 AM

Expo City, the venue of COP28 in Dubai, is characterised by cutting-edge technologies, climate-responsive designs, the use of green materials, and human centricity. It posits that the future of construction isn’t just about reducing carbon footprint but also about maximizing people-centric outcomes without compromising environmental responsibility.

If some of the leading contemporary architects are to be believed, Expo City is only a glimpse of the future that is being shaped by the UAE. Prasoon Shrivastava, the founder of his namesake architectural and design firm, Prasoon Design Studio, and AI-driven project management platform, Zepth, believes sustainable designs in the UAE are aimed at reclaiming a lost human element in cities while future-proofing them from evolving environmental risks.

“There is a broad consensus among architects and decision-makers about the need for people-centric, pedestrian-friendly cities, which have been systematically eroded by transit-oriented developments in recent decades. The ‘urban sprawl’ that global cities are grappling with today is propelling the industry toward regenerative architecture, which involves fostering ecosystems such as parks and interactive spaces within built environments. Such pursuits will translate to more mixed-use spaces and vertical cities like ‘The Line’, where people can live, work, and interact in the