UrbanPlanningUpdate - ALHOSN University

UrbanPlanningUpdate
Newsletter of the Department of Urban Planning
02:02 April 2011 www.alhosnu.ae/dup/upu
Greetings from the Chair
Our Planning Lecture Series is back with a new
theme: Innovation in the Field. The lineup
includes prominent practitioners from the
government and private sectors in Abu Dhabi and
Dubai. The scope of lectures will include topics
such as public participation, transit-oriented
development, master plans, and reclaiming
traditional planning practices. DUP continues to
raise such awareness in an effort to cement a
culture of planning and urban design.
— Adnan Husnéin, Ph.D.
Planning Lecture Series 2011
Transit-Oriented Development. The speaker
shared planning strategies being used in Dubai to
encourage the use of transit facilities and for
appropriate development around transit stations.
Upcoming guest speakers will also include Mr.
Kourosh Salehi from KEO who will present
current urban design trends, and Ms. Rudayna
Abdo from OTAK who will lecture on reclaiming
traditional planning practices in the Abu Dhabi.
(Photos-clockwise from top: Khaled Nasif, Huda
Shamayleh, Kourosh Salehi, Rudayna Abdo)
Earth Day @ ALHOSN
The Planning Lecture Series for this season was
kicked off with a lecture on Public Participation in
the Gulf Region, by Ms. Huda Petra Shamayleh.
The speaker illustrated her talk with examples
from previous charrettes she helped organize in
the city of Salt, Jordan. Ms. Huda was engaged by
the students in an informative question and
answer session afterwards. Ms. Shamayleh is an
independent transport planning/traffic engineering
consultant. She holds a M.S. from University of
Nebraska-Lincoln.
Dr. Khaled Nasef from Dubai Municipality
delivered the second lecture in the series. Dr.
Khaled spoke on his experience working as a
planner in Dubai on several projects related to
ALHOSN Green Club in cooperation with the
university’s American Corner and the DUP
successfully delivered a spectacular event, the
eco-awareness event was part of activities in
commemoration of World Earth Day 2011 held on
April 25 at ALHOSN University’s American
Corner. ALHOSN U was
honored to have local
environmental advocate
Sheikh Abdulaziz Al
Nuaimi a.k.a. “The
Green Sheikh as a guest
speaker. The Green
Sheikh reflected on the
legacy of local Emirati
environmentalism in the UAE. He related many
important issues to his personal experience and
efforts to raise environmental awareness through
education and governmental agencies. The event
also featured a film, screening of ‘The End of the
Line,’ a major documentary film on the drastic
impact of overfishing on the earth’s oceans. It was

followed by a panel discussion that included
Priscilla Guzman, US embassy Vice Consul; Tini
Meyer, International Contemporary Artist; and
Dr. Thabit Al Abdessalaam, Director of
Environment Agency’s Biodiversity Management
Sector.
Visit to Ajman Urban Planning Conference
planning topics, including parking, urban street
design and Estidama. The latter workshop on
Estidama and Pearl Rating System was attended
by DUP students. Special thanks go to Associate
Planner, Mr. Humaid Al-Hammadi.
EEG Teachers Workshop
The EEG organized its Annual Teachers’
Workshop on the 28th of March at the City Center
Hotel in Dubai. Teaching Assistant, Marwa
Yousuf, attended the informative and insightful
workshop based on the theme, ‘Sustainable Cities:
Healthy Life’. The Workshop featured
distinguished speakers including Ms. Habiba Al-
Marashi, Chairperson of EEG, Mr. Jeremy Byatt,
Vice President Environment for Bee’ah.
The Ajman Urban Planning Conference was held
from 21-25 March 2011. Urban Planning faculty
attended the third day of the conference on 23
March, and heard lectures by several leading
scholars in the field. The conference and
exhibition was organized around the theme of
“City Identity in the 21st century: Challenges and
opportunities.” One of the recurring themes
among speakers was the tension between tradition
and modernization, as witnessed in spatial
practices in UAE.
“Completing the Urbanization Project”
DUP faculty attended a
lecture hosted by NYU
Abu Dhabi Institute on
April 3. In his lecture Paul
Romer, from the Stern
School of Business, NYU,
attempted to answer the
question of how the world
will urbanize. Romer
described the forces at
work and commented on whether the coming
wave of urban residents be accommodated by
expanding existing cities, or instead, will entirely
new cities be built.
Cityscape Abu Dhabi
Post contributed by Khaled Al Suwaidi
DUP organized a visit to the annual Cityscape
exhibition. Students toured the exhibit which
showcased recent projects. Faculty and students
attended a workshop on the new Pearl rating
system conducted by UPC’s Estidama
department. In addition, the Abu Dhabi Urban
Planning Council’s collaboration with the
Municipality of Abu Dhabi City and Department
of Transport provided an excellent series of free
of charge workshops, covering a number of city
Each of the speakers focused on issues that are
critical to maintain harmony between our built
environment and our living standards.
Faculty Seminar Series
Dr. Abdellatif Qamhaieh, Assistant Professor at
DUP, presented his most recent research titled:
“Planning for forcefully displaced populations:
How urban planners could help. Dr. Qamhaieh
argued that “intense military conflicts and interethnic
violence could lead to large-scale
population displacements. Historically, the
international community has struggled to provide
these displaced populations with aid, security and
shelter.” His research focuses on temporary
shelter provision policies, and explores the
contribution urban planners could make to this
complicated area of humanitarian response.
Upcoming events
• Planning Professional Advisory Council
• US Embassy Visit
• World Environment Day
Quote of the Month: “We don’t need new
technology or alternative energy as much as we
need people to realize what is happening to our
world.” –Sheikh Abdulaziz Al Nuaimi “The
Green Sheikh”
Urban Planning Update is published five times a year by the Department of Urban Planning at ALHOSN
University. If you have news to include in future issues, please email it to: a.husnein@alhosnu.ae.