Public transportation is not wildly popular in Saudi Arabia since fuel is so cheap and many households have private drivers to escort them from place to place, but the government is trying to shift public perception of this mode of movement by developing a brand new metro system. And Zaha Hadid has recently won a bid to design a futuristic new station in Riyadh.

This is the second time this week that the Iraqi starchitect has been featured on Green Prophet, as she has won the bid to team up with AECOM to design the Al Wakrah Stadium for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The new metro station will be built at the edge of the massive 3,300,000 sq m King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh and will act as a major interchange between three of six new metro lines. It will be a key interchange for line one, the airport terminus for line four and six.

Comprised of a series of undulating waves and a golden lattice that functions much like the ancient mashrabiya screen that filters sunlight and promotes natural ventilation, the station is a major transportation hub and a central public space.

The four story complex will feature six platforms, two levels of underground parking, and a a series of pedestrian pathways to promote smooth circulation of human traffic.

Passengers will also be able to reach the monorail via a sky bridge.

As is so often the case with Zaha Hadid, the design is futuristic, organic, dynamic and striking, but pays very little attention to the climatic and resource realities of the day.

Saudi Arabia is not going to run out of energy today or tomorrow, but the country is planning to invest a pile of money in order to take advantage of its solar resources in order to safeguard its oil as a key export commodity.

Yet not a single solar panel graces the roof of this metro station and nary a mention is made of the need to conserve the Kingdom’s water resources by using the most efficient building materials.

Nonetheless, we should be grateful that a swooping, sexy design by Zaha Hadid is likely to improve the appeal of public transportation in the Kingdom, which will have the indirect consequence of reducing Riyadh’s carbon emissions.

:: Dezeen

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“Public transport currently ignores the best source of data we have: the public,” Moovit CEO Nir Erez told Reuters. “Moovit is redefining the way we create and access public transport information by giving the power back to the public,” he adds.

This is achieved by consolidating a host of real-time data published by public transportation providers, such as schedules, GPS tracking data, as well as information published anonymously by users.

With roughly 90 percent accuracy, Moovit helps users find the best route and a host of other helpful information such as how many seats are available, whether a particular bus or train has WiFi access and if so, whether it is functioning properly.

And it’s incredibly easy to use. Instead of having to input data, users need only keep the app open while riding, and the app collects times and locations to help other users know whether or not that particular vehicle is on schedule. About 650,000 people have downloaded the app, which is free and which will always be free, Moovit’s marketing manager Amy Wyron told Green Prophet.

User participation does enhance the app’s functionality however. If a particular route is riddled with trouble, Moovit users can spare their peers the same discomfort by sending in a report.

Launched in Tel Aviv in 2012 by a trio of renowned tech experts, the app has since spread to 30 cities across the globe with new locations added on a regular basis. It is currently available in New York City, Los Angeles, Rome, Boston, Washington, Israeli cities and dozens more.

:: Moovit

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Designed to reduce air pollution, ease vehicular congestion and increase economic development in what is arguably Morocco’s busiest city, the 31km Y-shaped line connects all of the city’s hot spots, but not everybody has rolled out a red carpet for the new Rapid Transit Tram System. 

It takes 60 minutes to travel from one end of Casablanca’s new tramway to the other and costs less than a dollar per trip, regardless of distance traveled.

With 48 stations linking all of the city’s major neighborhoods, as well as ONCF stations, business districts, hospitals, and the downtown area, the new tramway is expected to breathe new life into the city.

With service running between 6.30am and 10pm during the week and until 11.30pm on weekends, the tramway will also generate new jobs – both for those working directly for the transportation ministry and for residents who previously lacked access to far flung places.

Just one part of a broader government plan to attract investors and turn the city into a thriving, internationally-recognized metropolis, the second tramway system in Morocco, and the largest – given the long route and number of stations, is only the first of four planned for Casablanca.

This combined with an express road network and other planned infrastructural upgrades that are in the works will cost the Moroccan government a total of 45 billion dirhams or USD5.34 billion.

Largely considered as a positive development that will clean up the city and make travel less painful, critics worry that taxi drivers will be put out of business as a result of the new tramway line.

Others have expressed concern for the safety of Casablanca’s pedestrians and drivers, who are unfamiliar with tramways.

“Already, cars have run into the tramway, not realizing that it will not stop for them, and residents have been confused about the ticket’s cost. I think the companies in charge of the tramway should make sure residents understand how everything works,” Idriss Aarabe, a graduate of Hassan II University, told Your Middle East in a recent interview.

Nonetheless, the tram, which travels at approximately 19km per hour, has the capacity to handle 250,000 passengers per day. That means one quarter of a million people will be off the road, and that is a good thing.

:: Your Middle East

Image of tram via Wikicommons; Map from Casablanca Transport

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A collective of artists and designers armed with buckets of paint (non-toxic, we hope?) and a whole lot of love, the group calls their current urban intervention “Paint Up.” They’ll be painting murals and steps throughout the city until 3 November, 2012. 

One of the biggest projects undertaken by Dihzahyners to date is a 73 step installation in the Mar Mikhael district of Beirut, which took seven hours to complete.

Each step is lovingly energized with bright, colorful geometric patterns. The transformation is powerful – right up there with the folks who use LEGO to patch up cracks and the Bokja team who covered tires with fabric in colorful protest.

The Dihzahyners also took part in the White Wall event that aims to give new impetus to the city’s graffiti artists. This initiative was organized by the Beirut Art Center in association with Foundation Saradar.

“It was a beautiful experience, collaborating and meeting with international and local street art and graffiti artists,” according to a post on the Dihzahyners’ Facebook wall. “Thank you again, for making us a part of this! This one’s for you, a piece we made for the city, to represent the city.”

Check out their tumblr page for a look at more fun photos – mostly taken with instagram – and keep an eye out for their next Paint Up session!

Lead image © nadim kamel

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We’ve been talking about chronic water shortages in the Middle East and North Africa for a long time. But now a new and troubling trend is beginning to emerge in the region: municipal, regional and national governments are taking more drastic measures to police water consumption.

Jordan broke out the big (security) guns to prevent its citizens from “stealing” what is actually a part of the commons and most recently, Dubai has threatened to punish water thieves in various neighborhoods throughout the emirate with fines of up to $2,722.

Water belongs to everyone

The editor of All That We share: A Field Guide to the Commons, Jay Walljasper notes that water  belongs to everyone.

“Put simply, the water commons means that water is no one’s property; it rightfully belongs to all of humanity and to the earth itself. It is our duty to protect the quality and availability of water for everyone around the planet. This ethic should be the foundation of all decisions made about use of this life-giving resource. Water is not a commodity to be sold or squandered or hoarded,” he wrote.

Even so, it’s not a simple issue to address. Despite Dubai’s prolonged drought and notoriously short supplies of groundwater, more than 40 residents living in the Satwa, Al Quoz and Ras Al Khor neighborhoods of Dubai have been caught drilling for water, which is used to wash cars and for other personal use, according to Gulf News.

Perhaps accustomed to having as much water as the desalination plants could produce, Emiratis are not always conscientious of water conservation. Why should they be when their government has long subsidized water expenses (and energy.)

80,000 Groundwater wells at risk of drying up in the UAE

All of the emirates stopped exporting groundwater in February following a study conducted by the Ministry of Environment and Water that revealed that as many as 80,000 groundwater wells are at risk of drying up completely.

Accordingly, only companies that receive licenses from the Department of Economic Development and approval from the Dubai municipality are lawfully permitted to extract water.

Everyone else may have to pay up to nearly $3,000 for taking water illegally.

“The water you use should come from authorised channels,” Khalid Suletin, Director of Dubai Municipality’s Environment Emergency Office, told Gulf News.

But as shortages increase and authorized distribution channels short circuit (or favor the rich), we should expect a lot more thefts and stricter efforts to control them.

It is a sad state of affairs when human beings have to have permission for using what is the very essence of life.

Image credit: Arial view of Dubai, Shutterstock

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“Notice the elements subtly woven into the new downtown’s [sic] environment,” their web marketing person gushed. “Delight in the blossoming urban forest close by, enriching the experience of residents, visitors and all who step into Abdali.”

But the firm fails to mention that the $5 billion project, which also promises to forever transform the Amman skyline and includes 1.7 million sqm of hotel, office, residential, and retail space a la Dubai, will displace 541 trees in the-already brown and sooty concrete jungle.

Sacrificing trees for towers

Abdali originally asked the agriculture ministry if the company could uproot 750 trees in order to make room for its new mixed-use development.

An anonymous source in the ministry told The Jordan Times that the request was denied, and recommendations were made to redo the blueprints to ensure that construction plans accommodate the existing trees.

(For an idea of what that might look like, check out this wonderful Iranian residential complex organized around the site’s trees.)

But the cabinet overruled this decision.

“We were surprised and furious when the Cabinet granted the company approval to cut down the trees,” the official told the paper.

Five for one

Instead of 750 trees, Abdali has received permission to uproot 541, except they are required to plant five trees in Mafraq to compensate for every tree that will be uprooted in the city center.

While 2,705 new trees are a welcome addition to the country’s overall arboreal population and will help to absorb the country’s growing carbon emissions, environmentalists are not satisfied with this agreement and vowed to lobby the government to reverse their decision.

Head of the Jordan Environment Societies Union – a newly-formed collective of green organizations throughout the country – Omar Shoshan told the paper that many of the trees slated to be destroyed are up to 90 years old.

“Amman is turning into a block of cement,” he added.

With the glass and steel of Abdali’s new towering complex added to the concrete mix, trees are fast becoming an ancient relic; this means more pollution, higher temperatures and less natural beauty.

Combined with increasingly serious water shortages, and Amman is beginning to sound rather uninviting. I’d rather live in a Petra cave!

:: The Jordan Times

Image of Amman, Jordan framed by trees, Shutterstock

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After six years of failing to negotiate with them, a Catalan designer is going public with a story that could cause Qatar tremendous embarrassment in the lead up to the 2022 World Cup. A member of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and bound by the Paris Convention and the TRIPS Agreement, Qatar is a sovereign nation. And yet, according to Beth Galí, the country’s public works authority Ashgal knowingly counterfeited 10 kilometers of street lighting that she designed for Barcelona.

The Stolen Latina Lights

In 2006, Ashgal forged nearly 1,000 “Latina” street lamps designed by Galí and manufactured by Santa & Cole. They were installed on Al Waab Street – the main thoroughfare in Doha – and are said to have been made poorly too.

The lamps were originally commissioned for completion in advance of the 14th Asian Games in Doha in 2006. Once Galí caught wind of what she calls one of the “largest acts of piracy in the history of design,” she attempted to negotiate with Ashgal through WIPO.

But since Qatar refused the arbitration, the designer has taken her case to the Courts of Barcelona instead.

After six years of battling against one of the wealthiest nations on earth, Galí has received an outpouring of support from the manufacturers Santa & Cole, from the Barcelona Design Center (BCD) and a host of local designers as well.

Qatar Fakes

“It is unbelievable that a country such as Qatar could commit such a serious case of forgery,” said Javier Nieto, Chairman of Santa & Cole.

“Protecting design as a factor of innovation is essential to create economic and social value in Europe,” Pau Herrera, Chairman of BCD concurred.

Meanwhile, Galí says that the forgeries aren’t even very well done. They are said to dazzle drivers and to be made with cheap, unstable steel. Images on Qatar Fakes website reveal the very strong possibility that Qatar stole this design, showing zero respect for copyright.

If true, they have a lot to answer for – especially as the spotlight will be on them in advance of the World Cup.

:: Dezeen

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Gafni experimented with several prototypes before coming up with the winning design.

Made out of corrugated cardboard sheets, the bicycle can withstand up to 140kg.

In some cases, the cardboard is rolled up to give it strength.

Engineers told Gafni it would be impossible to build a bicycle out of cardboard, but he persevered (at his wife’s behest.)

In Israel, bicycles are regularly stolen. Gafni’s design is so cheap that it’s not worth stealing, he told local media.

Early prototypes looked like delivery boxes on wheels, he said. But the final design, for cardboard, is pretty darn sleek. At least we think so.

This is definitely not a winner!

But this one is.

Although it costs only 9-12 USD in materials, Gafni sells his cardboard bike for USD 60; still, that’s a steal for a simple whip around.

Izhar Gafni: the man who defied the naysayers and followed his dream.

Photography: Uri Ackerman

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The Kuwaiti-Spanish Architecture firm AGi scooped two coveted awards at the International Property Award held in Burj Al-Arab, Dubai. In addition to being recognized for its Wafra Living Complex, the firm’s experimental Wafra Wind Tower project has received the Best Architecture Multiple Residence Award.

A Google and Bloomberg TV channel collaborative, the International Property Award is well-regarded among residential and commercial property developers. So it’s particularly exciting that this new urban tower concept, which aims to achieve low energy consumption and source its construction materials regionally, should receive such international attention.

AGi has re-thought culturally-specific urban architecture with the Wafra Wind Tower. Recognizing the need for privacy but also acknowledging that land comes at a premium given soaring population growth, the design firm has created a tower that addresses both constraints.

Instead of restricting the Middle Eastern courtyard to one central place, each residence has access to private outdoor spaces. They also have their own entrances, so while there may be two homes on one level, at least they can enter their homes privately – as if they were living on a horizontal plane instead of in a vertical tower.

Glazing has been restricted to just 40% of the load-bearing walls, ensuring minimal solar gain and maximum daylighting. Cross ventilation is achieved with strategic northern orientation that opens out to the sea.

AGi aims to source their stone cladding regionally in order to cut down on their carbon footprint. They could of course go further in this respect by choosing even smarter materials and sourcing their own energy (a very easy thing to do in this sun-drenched country), but we have  to applaud their concrete efforts to promote more sustainable development in a region where the bigger is better mentality has reigned so supreme over the last few decades.

For a look at a few other AGi projects that are making gentle waves in the Gulf, you can visit their website here.

:: Arab Times

More Architecture in Kuwait:

Nader Khalili Earth Architecture Arrives in Kuwait

New Green-Roofed School in Kuwait Will Promote Hands-On Agricultural Learning

Foster & Partners Seek LEED Gold for Solar-Powered Airport in Kuwait

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Last April Diamond Developers announced their plans to build an elite ‘sustainable city’ for 10,000 residents or 2,500 families. Groundwork is expected to be laid this year for construction, which will be complete by 2016 – if all goes according to plan.

Complete with 70% green space and organic farms, and an 8km stretch of planted Qaaf and Date Palm trees, the solar-powered urban development is expected to produce 75% less carbon emissions than a standard Gulf city.

Waste will be handled locally and sewage water will be treated and then recycled, a boon for a region that has access to virtually zero freshwater resources.

Diamond Developers has also provided space for a mosque, government offices, and a university that is expected to promote studies in environmental sciences.

Whether or not new developments such as these are the appropriate response to global climate change and other environmental challenges remains to be seen. As a somewhat elitist project (the compound will also feature a 143-room “green” resort), projects like Masdar and Dubai’s new ‘sustainable city’ only offer solutions to a select few wealthy inhabitants and more needs to be done to ensure that all residents can live a healthier, less energy-intensive life in the United Arab Emirates.

:: Construction Week Online

Image credit: Dubai Peace March, Shutterstock 

More Dubai Developments:
First Middle East Carbon Market – in Dubai!
Dubai Gets New Net Zero Building Codes
Dubai’s Vertical Village has a Skirt of Photovoltaics

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