MEC june 2024

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Threat & Risk Assessment

Gap Analysis

Security System Design

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Master Planning & Development

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Testing & Commissioning

Control Room Design

System Integration

Policies & Procedures

Site Surveys & Audits

Crisis Management

Bringing global knowledge to a local level

ME Consultant talks to Scott McKeever, Country Director - UAE & MENA, Head of Building Services, Cundall In Practice

Close-up

“The company is people first and foremost”

In a sector where scale, expectations and complexity are all rapidly evolving, what are the ‘touchstone’ factors that keep Compass Project Consulting ahead of the curve and a buoyant force in the market? We spoke to Luke Somerville, COO, about innovation, AI - and recruitment policies that accurately reflect a highly contemporary and outwardfacing company culture…

“Generating fresh value for communities”

Re-purposing is rapidly becoming a key tool not only for urban regeneration, but as a powerful means for delivering better sustainability - Paul Ludlam, Director Fit-out UAE, Project & Development Services, JLL explains

Close-up

Plant Walls: what are the benefits?

‘Greening’ experts Viritopia give their informed views on the benefits of indoor Plant Walls - arguably the most practical biophilic avatar…

Trends

The 12 Trends of Urban Development

Three specialists from Deloitte - Miguel Eiras Antunes, Jean Gil Barroca and Daniela Guerreiro Oliveira - explain in detail the 12 major themes influencing the modern urban development agenda

Trends

The race to the sky

More and more skyscrapers are being built annually, and here, we feature a detailed review of the key trends and the structures of note, courtesy of international design commentator Dezeen…

Diversity

Celebrating INWED 2024

Middle East Consultant is delighted to celebrate International Women in Engineering Day 2024, as multi-disciplinary titan AECOM profiles three of its women engineers…

The rebalancing of global construction

Two years ago, I was interviewing the Executive Director of an international consultancy, who proceeded to tell me that his firm had just won the contract for a relatively small part of a Saudi gigaproject, which was valued at $240m. He then explained that while this was only a tiny part of the overall project, when he looked around the world, there wasn’t a single project with an overall value even approaching this sum.

How times change. It’s as if the ME/ Asian model has now inspired that most traditional of players, the United States, where the economy is enjoying a strange economic boom, borrowing billions to boost the economy - and investing more heavily in greenfield construction that at any time in the last 30 years. Take a look at the Deep South, where forests are being turned into factories with extraordinary speed and the infrastructure for more than 20 new ‘minicity’ hubs is already under way.

One of the reasons for spending such huge amounts of money is the need to bring

the manufacturing of microchips back to the United States from China; indeed, the US says it is currently on course to build a fifth of the world’s advanced microchips.

The reason I’m mentioning this in the pages of Middle East Consultant is that the era of the region’s uniqueness in terms of big-ticket spend is already waning. There are several reasons for this: the sheer impact of construction projects in the GCC has not only impacted the world (making an incredible impression!) and made many others want to follow suit, but also, so many of the things we talk about here - the shift from megacities to regional hubs, the quest for more sustainable materials, and so on - is now being cut and paste by the American economy. The economy which, of course, can afford it more than anyone. The downside is that the evergrowing strength of the US economy may lead the rest of the world to push for higher and higher interest rates, and in turn put financial pressure on those wishing to create the megaprojects of the future.

Yet given all this, isn’t a wonderful feeling to be in the home of the dynamics and the trends that have led even the United States to follow suit?

Head of Content, ME Consultant

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DOMINIC DE SOUSA (1959-2015)

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CELEBR AT E

A R CHI TECTU R A L i nno v a ti o n

A ST O UND I N G su cc es s

G LO B AL r ec o g n itio n

I N O VE R 2500+ P R O JE C T S

CONSTRUCTION

Hospitality-inspired residence launched by SOHO Development

TECHNOLOGY

FEDS and Flybotix partnership brings new drone technology to the Gulf

INFRASTRUCTURE

Acrow installs 90m prefabricated modular bridge

INDUSTRY

NAZ Industries gains workplace certification

SUSTAINABILITY

NMDC to launch pioneering beach cleaning technology

ANALYSIS: Building Sustainable and Secure Data Centres in the GCC

EVENT: 20 experts share insights at inaugural Critical Infrastructure Summit

EXPERTS: Unveiling the vitality of sewerage tunnel construction

FINANCE

Emaar’s Q1 revenue reaches US $1.8bn

Extremely strong start for 2024 includes 16% growth on profitability year-on-year

SUSTAINABILITY

Abu Dhabi invests in material recovery facility

Tadweer Group closes bidding for reprocessing plant set to play a crucial role in diverting emirate’s waste from landfill

PROPERTY

Symbolic announces residential project in Al Furjan

Sky Garden residences will feature ‘greened’ balconies, smart home management and generously-sized apartments

OPERATIONS

Saudi Red Sea Authority issues marina licences

The boating facilities have achieved certification for technical procedures, quality of service, and sustainability

CONSTRUCTION

Shapoorji Pallonji wins Roshn residential contract

The firm will develop 429 units in the Riyadh community with an emphasis on sustainability and reduced utility costs

ENERGY

Japan’s Marubeni appointed for KSA wind projects

INDUSTRY

Azizi appoints Arup for spatial planning of Azizi Opera

Abu Dhabi DMT launches ‘Plan Capital Survey’

PROPERTY NEOM launches Jaumur

CONSTRUCTION

Construction of Tesla Megapack battery begins in Shanghai

“The company is people first and foremost”

In a sector where scale, expectations and complexity are all rapidly evolving, what are the ‘touchstone’ factors that keep Compass Project Consulting ahead of the curve and a buoyant force in the market? We spoke to Luke Somerville, COO, about innovation, AI - and recruitment policies that accurately reflect a highly contemporary and outwardfacing company culture…

within a shared view of what the future must look like.

we also have Nawfal Al Khudhairy headingup the business, which of course is highly advantageous in terms of connecting with key government institutions and the main market-makers.

“There is also the opportunity to embrace new working patterns. Since COVID, there has of course been a terrific shift of emphasis, and we use this to our advantage. We’re able to provide services more remotely than we used to; while clients are happy to pay for really good people, they don’t necessarily expect those people to be in the office - they can work remotely. Ther’s another benefit here, too. This means we can broaden our recruitment and talent pool, and recruit internationally.

‘Let’s not also forget the role of AI. This is a maturing technology; we know that it’s set to have a really massive impact, and as a company, we’re always monitoring the opportunities it can offer.

“Now, let’s turn to the challenges. There are three major challenges - and the first one is definitely the inflationary environment; inflation has been rife worldwide and everyone is suffering from that, as it puts pressure on prices, rates, remuneration and construction costs. It also puts pressure on retaining staff.

uke, what do you see as the greatest opportunities and challenges for Compass in the current market climate?

“First things first: let’s start with the opportunities. The first major opportunity - which is truly unique to this market - is the strong leadership and vision set by governments and leaders here in the GCC. There are a number of published ‘Visions’2030, 2040, 2070, etc. - and these create the right framework and context for enterprise, giving the opportunity to pull together

“The second opportunity, also perhaps strongest here in the GCC, is the ability to develop local talent. There’s a sophisticated educational system here to give the right training to local citizens. This means that we not only have the ability to involve the local community in everything we do, but also, we can empower training and employment in key areas that can really leave a legacy and end up changing people’s lives.

“In terms of how fast things are moving, whereas just a few years ago, we could see a number of locals actively engaged in project management, now we also see involvement in the cost management field, for example. Young locals are coming right into the heart of the business, in clientfacing roles: they’re not just peripheral or in back-office functions. In Saudi, of course,

“There is, though, a flip side to this too: growing project values have brought increasing numbers of businesses into the market, and the Saudi government in particular has been quick to respond to this. It’s dramatically streamlined the setup process for creating a new entity - so in practical terms, it’s much easier to get into the market.

“The other challenge is cash flow and financing; it’s really important to understand right from the start whether or not the project is fully funded and where the funds are coming from. We see so many wonderful projects being announced, but of course not all of them will actually be

Luke Somerville, COO, Compass Project Consulting.

built. At Compass, we constantly monitor the market and the commercial state of play on projects we’re likely to become involved with; this helps overcome these challenges. I would also say that our reputation - built around a number of major deliveries - really helps us sustain and grow a foothold in the market.

“We’re also helped by the fact that while we’re a relatively new company, we have very agile management - and this enables us to behave like a very mature company. A lot of the competitors we come up against tend to be much older than us, but they can be much slower to respond; it’s a truism that the bigger you become, the more opinions you have to take on board, and this can kill competitiveness.”

We hear more and more about the role of AI and new-era, generative software as tools for project design, costing and delivery. To what extent are these Digital tools driving Compass’ working practices?

“Look, potentially the impact of AI in the construction industry can be revolutionary. Predominantly, right now, this industry is manual, it’s not highly automated at all - and because every project is unique, there’s always the potential for chaos. AI coming through can clean up a lot of thatautomated design, automated procurement, automated Bills of Quantities, etc. - and shortly, robots will begin to perform tasks in factories, and eventually, on sites. There are many companies now racing to build robots, because we can already see the breakthroughs they can enable in the next few years.

“We use packages that help us summarise and analyse data more effectively and we’re committed to this to the extent that we have people out in the market who can track what’s new. Among the raft of packages that we currently use, Chat GPT 4, Adobe

AI and Co-Pilot all play important roles. Plus, we use specialist, specific software for auto BOQs, take-offs, auto-scheduling and critical path planning.

“Having said that, I have no doubt that the major, big-impact changes are just around the corner, and we’re ready for them. We partner with our software providers, so our teams are very fluent on what their packages can do. We don’t just work with the big providers but also the smaller, niche software houses. We work with them and actually take part in their trouble-shooting and product refinement. So, we’re involved in these new areas from Day One.

“We also use a dashboard report for all aspects of company performance. Plus, there’s a big emphasis on data protection. We do a lot of work with governments and potentially sensitive institutions, and of course they want to make sure their data is safe with us.”

We are very particular in our hiring; we try to make sure that each and every person is the right cultural fit for the company, so we can get the decision right from Day One. I’d say that we look at what people are aspiring to before we even look at their CVs!”

Luke believes that recruitment needs to have highly proactive protocols which ensure that candidates are the best possible cultural fit from Day One.

As very much a ‘people business’, how do you go about enriching the quality of the people you recruit? Do you have a Mentoring system in place, as well as formal training and induction?

The company is people first and foremost; the success of the company relies on the quality of our staff. We don’t sell a product, we sell services, which at their core are all about the people who provide them. So, we are very particular in our hiring; we try to make sure that each and every person is the right cultural fit for the company, so we can get the decision right from Day One. I’d say that we look at what people are aspiring to before we even look at their CVs!

“We try to manage a life/work balance as best we can, and offer mentorship with the senior leadership team, in order to help people flourish and deal proactively with any of the challenging issues that a career path might otherwise involve. We encourage people to pursue the relevant and most important qualifications in their field. Retention is also incredibly important, and we always try to keep the best people within the business. We also keep people busy with the opportunities to work on the very best and most fulfilling, challenging projects. All of which means that people are busy and they’re happy - and their careers are advancing in the right way with us.

“I’d add to this that you have to make sure that the company is outward-facing and very much aware of what’s going on out there in the market. Too many companies are inward-facing and this can easily result in people getting lost in internal politics, unaware of what the company’s real culture and working values actually are.”

What do you see as the critical market trends now impacting the built environment? While we hear from the media that there is more emphasis on micro-hubs and vibrant, mixed-use

communities, is this in fact the case?

“Broadly speaking, the hot markets are predominantly around hospitality, tourism and heritage, closely followed by residential. These projects are enticing people to come. The challenge around following those trends is that all these projects will need a ‘wow’ factor: they have to be special and different from anything else in the market.

Of course, there are also extra challenges here too, like cost - and how are you physically going to build it?

“I also see a trend where countries are trying to get their own populations more

highly skilled, as well as bringing in talent, and these skillsets mean a better chance of avoiding overruns on costs and timings. Constantly, governments are doing things to address these challenges. There is also a big push for techniques such as modular construction, and so on.”

Factors such as the quest for Sustainability and the incorporation of Smart Data networks are undeniably adding to project duration and completion times: how does Compass best navigate these important changes?

“There has definitely been an upward trend, but remember, there are still no government mandates around sustainability. It’s still the case that each and every developer can take their own steps in terms of the style of accreditation to opt for, and so on. At the end of the day, when it comes to the sustainability factor, it’s doable, although it does add some cost - but generally, the client is prepared to pay for it.

“All in all, it’s still a case of developers trying to promote their own product in the market and targeting the end-users who will best value the factors they are adding. Each developer will take a decision on what suits their feasibility, and work towards their own goals.”

In both KSA and the UAE, we see a focus on the ‘greening’ of communities, whether in terms of new communities or re-purposing existing areas. To what extent is Compass playing a key role in conceiving and delivering this new emphasis?

“There’s clearly an emphasis on ‘greening’ initiatives, and Riyadh in particular has undertaken a huge greening project. Here at Compass, we’re involved in hundreds of projects, but the best example is King Salman Park, which, at 4,102 acres, will be one of the biggest parks in the world. We’re managing four parcels on that particular piece of land. Dar Al Arkan are themselves looking to be involved in this as well.

“This quest for green spaces and more pleasant, varied environments is where we’re really witnessing the efforts of the government to move things forward. We’re currently engaged with a portfolio of projects where this emphasis on ‘greening’ comes front and centre - and in every case, we bring to that mix a pool of expert consultants with proven credentials to deliver the client’s vision for the environment.”

Bringing global knowledge to a local level

The dynamics currently driving the Construction consultancy sector in the GCC are many and complex. How can a business not only overcome them but work proactively to ensure that they supercharge project work, rather than challenge it? Here, ME Consultant shares a raft of powerful answers from Scott McKeever, Country Director - UAE & MENA, Head of Building Services, Cundall

certifications such as LEED and WELL is growing, it does still need to evolve further. Additionally, many government-linked developers are becoming more focused on sustainability to align with their National Visions, further advancing these efforts.

cott, while the theme of sustainability is much discussed, to what extent do clients actually request a sustainability commitment as part of the project brief? Is it only something for highend client projects, or is it now trickling down as a ‘given’ across the board?

“Sustainability is becoming increasingly prevalent, and we have seen a positive shift in the level of awareness and commitment from organisations. This shift is largely driven by regional government pledges and COP28. While the demand for sustainable

“Sustainability is a journey. While it is great to see it increasingly becoming a part of project briefs, the extent of this does vary. We believe that sustainable solutions are available at all levels, and we strive to work with our clients to find the solutions appropriate for their projects and budgets. At Cundall, we are passionately committed to bringing our clients with us on the journey to achieving net zero carbon design.

“Of course, the UAE's recent extreme weather events have also acted as a stark reminder of the impacts of climate change and the need to not only focus on sustainable new designs but also

to prioritise climate adaptation and resilience. Consequently, we are already seeing an increased demand for climate adaptation in master-planning.

“Ultimately our region's cities must find ways to equitably mitigate and adapt to climate impacts, enhancing community resilience.”

There is an increasing trend that we are starting to see when it comes to retrofitting the UAE's existing buildings. What insights can you share about the growing market for retrofits in the UAE?

“We are starting to see the beginnings of a trend in terms of retrofitting the UAE’s existing buildings, however, it is still far from reaching its peak and where it needs to be. I believe this market will grow exponentially in the coming years as many existing buildings will lose stature in the market and become unlettable, stranded assets that do not align with modern tenants’ ESG values.

“There are also clear signals from the UAE government that some form of building classification system will be in put in place to rate existing buildings, which could influence rental values, potentially lowering them for underperforming buildings. Proper, well-considered retrofitting of existing buildings can realise up to a 50% reduction of energy consumption, with green certified buildings bringing economic savings to owners, environmental benefits for the planet, and of course future-proofing the leasability of the building.

“The challenge for building owners is finding quality consultants and contractors to support them on this journey. Retrofitting is often oversimplified, but without experienced consultants conducting thorough surveys, studies and analysis of the

Scott McKeever, Country Director - UAE & MENA, Head of Building Services, Cundall.

building’s existing systems, use patterns and futureproofing potential, many opportunities for additional benefits can be missed. This can result in a superficial retrofit that falls behind sustainability benchmarks within a few years.

“More than 80% of the 170,000 buildings in Dubai will still exist in 2050, so finding ways to decarbonise them is crucial for achieving net zero. Of course, with Cundall’s vast experience in this sector, and our exceptional Building Performance Services team, we are very well-placed to support our clients through these challenging times.”

Given Cundall’s recent expansion, is it fair to say that you are a ‘locally global’ business, with strong bespoke expertise in each hub, but with global outreach and skillsets?

“In short, yes. Every client, in every region, benefits from Cundall's strength as a global business due to our highly connected internal operations. This connectivity ensures that each client receives the right level of expertise and experience tailored to their projects, effectively bringing global knowledge to a local level. Our digital infrastructure ensures smooth communication, knowledge-sharing and collaboration both internally and externally; and additionally, we leverage our global expertise to provide the latest tools, technologies and certifications, ensuring our clients benefit from cuttingedge solutions in their projects.

Locally, we operate with the agility and personal touch of a smaller business, maintaining close relationships with clients and project stakeholders. I’m very proud of our rich multicultural team as this

"We are all about generating awareness of the vast opportunities within engineering".

provides us with a solid understanding of local cultural nuances - something that enables us to effectively engage with clients. Our personalised and diverse approach is evidenced through the high volume of repeat business we receive.”

We’re hearing a good deal currently about the way that AI is transforming urban master-planning - and also the shift in priorities away from an anonymous ‘megalopolis’. How is Cundall leading the change, especially in regard to the climate-resilient cities and hubs of the future?

“As with most urban centres around the world, the Middle East is becoming increasingly impacted by climate change. It is key that our region’s cities find ways to equitably mitigate and adapt to the impacts of the changing climate on citizens and enhance overall resilience in communities.

“Cities are becoming smarter as a result of their rapid progress and AI-powered analysis of the massive datasets generated by managing and maintaining these urban centres. Subsequently, it is fair to presume that smart cities and AI will together influence how society evolves in the future. Urban expansion requires infrastructure that keeps up with the pace of change. AI is supporting this evolution by enabling digital twin modelling and simulation, helping city planners make informed decisions about infrastructure development.

“We are taking this one step further at Cundall, by introducing AI-generated scripts within GIS, helping to spatially analyse vulnerable land use, buildings and even populations at risk of climatic threats. Our teams are influencing urban areas

across the region, with projects including developing structure and masterplans for Greater Muscat City, Salalah Smart City and Greater Salalah.

Today, innovation is everything, particularly in terms of how it’s manifest in digitisation and new-era, generative AI. How is Cundall building market leadership in its approaches to AI? What is its role in zero carbon design?

“The recent explosion of AI and generative AI technologies promises to play a pivotal role in decarbonising the built

More than 80% of the 170,000 buildings in Dubai will still exist in 2050, so finding ways to decarbonise them is crucial for achieving net zero”

environment and driving the transition to net zero. These innovative technologies are crucial for the evolution of smart buildings and cities, transforming urban spaces into more livable, sustainable environments.

“At Cundall, we are actively enhancing our AI capabilities - not only integrating AI into our operations but also fostering an environment where both technology and human skills thrive, driving innovation and excellence in all that we do. While we are embracing AI, we also understand the critical importance of human skills and are continually developing these to ensure our

teams are well-equipped to succeed and work alongside AI technologies.

“As digitalisation continues to be both a constant and an accelerating force in our industry, we are not only prepared for itwe are eagerly embracing it.

You have spoken before about the MENA regions skills gap. What steps are Cundall taking to address this issue, particularly with in the UAE?

“The UAE’s talent shortage is real, and now more than ever we have a responsibility to play our part to address this challenge. Cundall recently launched a STEM initiative in the UAE with local secondary schools, to inspire young people to pursue careers in the construction industry.

“The programme aims to generate awareness about the vast opportunities within engineering and highlight the positive societal impact the profession can have. This is an opportunity for us to engage with talented young minds and inspire them to consider the construction industry as a viable career choice - and it’s something I am personally very passionate about.

“Additionally, our in-house graduate training programme ensures young engineers are not pigeonholed into a specific discipline so early on in their careers, with a uniquely structured training scheme.

“It’s an incredibly exciting time to be part of the construction industry, and we are proud to be playing our part in creating a more sustainable future for generations to come, not just through our projects, but also through the people we employ and hope to employ in the future.”

“GENERATING FRESH VALUE FOR COMMUNITIES”

Re-purposing is rapidly becoming a key tool not only for urban regeneration, but as a powerful means for delivering better sustainability - and for stimulating vibrant, engaging community hubs. Middle East Consultant spoke to Paul Ludlam, Director Fit-out UAE, Project & Development Services, JLL

and floor. At JLL, we have successfully transformed various types of assets, such as offices into education facilities and retail spaces into leisure facilities and offices.

During the thorough feasibility assessment, our team assist clients in identifying the optimal solutions that yield favorable results, both in terms of physical requirements and financial considerations. This ensures the best outcome for our clients.

space is on the rise. However, our research indicates that without a significant increase in adaptive reuse efforts, the supply of such spaces will struggle to meet the demand.

Among the leading global office occupiers, a substantial portion of their future space requirements will be linked to carbon reduction commitments. In 21 cities around the world, it is projected that by 2025, 30% of the demand for low carbon space will go unfulfilled. This gap is expected to exceed 70% by 2030, considering the quality of existing buildings and the pace of new developments.

Tenants are prioritising buildings that are energy efficient, free from onsite fossil fuels and powered by clean energy. For construction projects, occupiers are beginning to focus on lower embodied carbon designs.

We see an opportunity in the UAE and Middle East in general to re-purpose older structures and create meaningful environments.

Since re-purposing essentially avoids demolition, what are the ‘green building’ advantages?

Sustainability in construction matters, as repurposing a building or existing structure will reduce pollution, save energy, will decrease the demand for new materials and reduce waste and more importantly, repurposing reduces greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global climate change.

s there a particular genre or category of structure which best lends itself to re-purposing?

One aspect to consider is the preservation of any external and internal heritage elements or architectural values whilst ensuring the redesign supports a high energy efficiency and low energy consumption by users.

The classification of buildings is not fixed, but it is typically determined by the vertical distance between the ceiling

To what extent is re-purposing an important strategy for upgrading the sustainability quotient of older buildings?

Re-purposing is an important strategy and contributor to sustainability objectives in general. In construction, fundamentally there will come a point where building owners will have buildings that are obsolete and are not attractive to potential tenants or landlords.

The demand for sustainable, low carbon

Typically, the main structure of a building accounts for 70% of its embodied carbon. Preserving this structure instead of demolishing it can lead to significant carbon savings, making it a major victory. Various adaptive reuse projects globally have seen carbon emissions savings of between 40% and 70% when compared to new builds.

In Australia, the Quay Quarter Towers in Sydney achieved a savings of 8,250 tons of greenhouse gas emissions (two years’ worth of the buildings’ operational emissions) and about $130 million by retaining two thirds of the original building’s structure.

Green buildings offer numerous benefits, including environmental and

energy savings, cost savings, higher rental and property values, as well as social advantages for the community and the occupants of these buildings.

What sectors and markets are currently showing most interest in re-purposing, as opposed to building from scratch?

Landlords who own retail and hotel spaces are exploring ways to introduce crossfunctionality in order to increase footfall and occupancy rates. This approach has proven successful by incorporating elements such as cloud offices, gyms, university campuses, and leisure

destinations, more communal spaces are being created, enhancing the overall appeal of the real estate. In general we are seeing a trend to create mix-use environments with multiple purposes, creating hubs that welcome tenants and visitors during the 9-5 working hours.

But it’s not just re-purpose, retrofits are equally if not more important. The lack of Grade A assets is the biggest challenge

for the office market in the Middle East and Europe, but work is being carried out to establish more premium office spaces through repurposing.

Tell us about the role of BIM, AI and the Digital Twin in the re-purposing process, and how this can both expedite the process and better engage the key stakeholders?

Advancements in construction technology are making it easier to accurately assess the building condition, plan the refurbishment process, visualise the outcome, estimate costs, manage construction, and enhance

The Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood has become a prime attraction in an area previously overlooked, but offering immense cultural potential.

collaboration among project teams and clients.

For example, when as-built drawings are no longer accessible or accurate, laser scanning technologies and Building Information Modelling (BIM) provide an accurate 3D representation of the existing structure, façade, and services. This allows for a detailed assessment of its condition and provides the design platform to work with. This results in an efficient and informed process, with reduced redevelopment risks and improved outcomes. In addition, during the design process both BIM and AI can expedite the creative outputs providing clients with photorealistic representations of the future design. Digital Twin can provide a shared platform to all team members involved in the construction process.

Is the re-purposing of buildings helping to preserve local communities, given that we are not tearing them down? How do you see re-purposing as complementing today’s thinking around the ’15-minute hub’?

Absolutely, re-purposing will provide future generations a story of the ME’s heritage, communities, and history.

Across the Middle East there is a vast stock of buildings and structures that can be preserved as part of its future story as well as its sustainable commitment.

15-minute hubs can contribute to reducing carbon usage in several ways:

1. Decreased Delivery and Transport: By creating localised hubs where people can access goods and services within a 15-minute walk or bike ride, the need for long-distance

Reimagining the potential uses of a space can draw people and businesses to underutilised buildings, generating fresh value for communities”

delivery and transportation is reduced. This means fewer vehicles on the road, resulting in decreased carbon emissions.

2. Efficient Land Use: 15-minute hubs encourage mixed-use development, optimising the utilisation of existing buildings and infrastructure. Instead of constructing new buildings on undeveloped land, these hubs maximise the use of available space, reducing the need for additional construction and associated carbon emissions.

3. Building Reuse: Rather than demolishing existing structures, 15-minute hubs can promote the adaptive reuse of buildings. By repurposing and renovating existing spaces, the embodied carbon in the original construction is preserved, eliminating the environmental impact associated with demolition and new construction.

4. Enhanced Public Transportation: 15-minute hubs often prioritise and encourage the use of public transportation. By improving accessibility and connectivity within these hubs, more people are incentivised to use public transit options, leading to a decrease in individual car usage and carbon emissions.

Transitioning into a state-of-the-art cultural hub, Al Serkal Avenue features several of the UAE's most striking galleries.

5. Sustainable Infrastructure: These hubs can be designed with sustainable infrastructure in mind. This includes incorporating green building practices, renewable energy sources, efficient waste management systems, and promoting sustainable mobility options like bikesharing and electric vehicle charging stations. All of these initiatives contribute to reducing carbon use.

By combining these approaches, 15-minute hubs can have a substantial impact on reducing carbon emissions, creating more sustainable and livable communities.

Some notable examples in the UAE include the historical Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood (or Bastakiya) - a restoration and conservation project that transformed 56 traditional wind tower court houses into a cultural destination that is now home to cafes, art galleries, museums and boutique hotels. This highlights its historical significance while fostering a sense of culture and community.

Another remarkable transformation is seen in Al Serkal Avenue. Formerly an industrial area, it has been revamped into an arts and cultural hub with galleries, studios, and performance spaces.

One of the most recent adaptive reuse projects is Expo 2020 Dubai's transformation of a 483-hectare mixed-use site originally built for a world fair. The site has been turned into Expo City Dubai, a sustainable 15-minute city with a net-zero emissions goal by 2050.

Of course, re-purposing can enable a building to completely change its purpose and shift if from residential to commercial office space; do we see many projects of this type coming on to the market?

Adaptive reuse is gaining traction in the Middle East as sustainability takes precedence in the region. Building owners are recognising the advantages of

diversifying or repurposing properties to align with market trends. With a substantial number of retail malls and the rise of hybrid working, there is a growing variety of uses emerging around these facilities.

For instance, Aldar's headquarters in Abu Dhabi was transformed from retail spaces into a cutting-edge regional office. The neighbuoring mall has also adapted by

incorporating entertainment, offices, and fitness facilities.

In numerous office buildings, the ground floor is now considered an important area for engaging with local communities. Repurposing projects might involve adding public facilities like collaboration spaces, retail, and dining, or converting unused spaces into green areas that benefit both building occupants and the general public. Reimagining the potential uses of a space can draw people and businesses to under-utilised buildings, generating fresh value for communities and contributing to their renewal.

For example, Heriot-Watt University Dubai’s campus is the redevelopment of two empty office buildings into a technologyrich learning centre with contemporary design and sustainable features.

In KSA, the Boutique Hotel Group, owned by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) are repurposing historic and cultural palaces into ultra-luxury boutique hotels.

Paul Ludlam, Director Fit-out UAE, Project & Development Services, JLL.

Dubai Expo 2020 has won international acclaim for blending traditional cultural themes with an utterly modern purpose.

THE 12 TRENDS OF MODERN URBAN DEVELOPMENT

The recent Future of Architecture Summit highlighted the dramatic shifts in emphasis now underway in today’s urban planning. Here, three specialists from Deloitte - Miguel Eiras Antunes, Jean Gil Barroca and Daniela Guerreiro Oliveira - explain in detail the 12 major themes influencing the urban development agenda

hether we are talking about the ‘15-minute city’, the Smart city, or the ‘new suburbs’, all of these ideas fundamentally share a similar purpose: the importance of making cities more human and the importance of nurturing a strong sense of connection. In short, they all put people first.

As the team from Deloitte put this article together, the raft of practitioners interviewed included researchers, policymakers and city leaders; their insights helped identify 12 trends that cities, leveraging technology and data, can follow on the road to becoming smarter, more sustainable and resilient.

The 12 trends are not equally applicable or desirable for all cities. They cover most of the domains of a city and touch on the main changes emerging from the pandemic. All these trends don’t necessarily form a recipe for every city - after all, there is no one-sizefits-all approach to city development.

These are the 12 trends we identified:

TREND 1: GREEN PLANNING OF PUBLIC SPACES

Cities need to be planned and designed for people, with ‘green’ streets, new corridors and public spaces as centres of social life. Urban areas are traditionally characterised by high population density and heavy construction to support modern amenities, such as transport and commercial buildings. They now face increasing pressure from expanding populations, limited resources and the growing impact of climate change. One of the indicators for measuring SDG 11 is the area of public and green space in a city, as the lack of natural space creates an unhealthy urban living environment.

Cities should be driving a decarbonisation agenda. Becoming low carbon is the first step towards mitigating carbon emissions

and achieving ecosystem resilience. At the same time, cities should ensure that urban planning is capable of dealing with the pressures of climate change in the adaptation agenda. Green public spaces entail:

• A large number of trees in cities (Singapore ranks first in the Green View Index from MIT’s Senseable City Lab, which measures the canopy cover in cities);

• Creation of more and larger public parks and nature-based solutions in the urban environment, fostering a closer connection to nature even in cities with high population density;

• More walking and cycling facilities instead of car-centric designs and parking areas, with space for children and adults to enjoy outdoor activities, and fostering a sense of security and safety (according to a study by C40, investing in a shift to mass transit and developing walking and cycling corridors can reduce carbon emissions in cities by 5-15 per cent.).

Cities around the world are recognising the benefits of a green approach to urban planning, as it has the potential to lower urban temperatures, mitigate air pollution and build natural environmental resilience. World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on the Future of Cities has included increasing green canopy cover in its top ten list of urban planning initiatives.

How to ensure a successful implementation:

• Understand sustainability drivers and societal targets.

• Promote equal, fair and integrated urban planning.

• Do not underestimate the power of community engagement.

• Ensure funding and financing.

TREND 2: SMART HEALTH COMMUNITIES IN THE CITIES

Cities are developing health care ecosystems that are not only focused on diagnosing and treating sickness but also on supporting well-being through early intervention and prevention, leveraging digital technologies. The health crisis during the pandemic

made the case clear: there is a community role in creating a better health environment, and cities need to pay more attention to the well-being of their citizens. Globally, five of the top ten causes of death are related to unhealthy behaviour. This brings into the spotlight the need for preventive medicine. The factors that affect a person’s health and behaviour are complex; therefore communities (physical and virtual) must play a part.

Cities will develop health care ecosystems that move away from a focus purely on diagnosing and treating sickness and injuries to one that is equally focused on supporting well-being through early intervention and prevention. Instead of being designed and funded to treat individual patients one by one, they will have a greater appreciation of the interconnectedness of communities. The social determinants of health will be better understood, and government and the private

sector will collaborate to address some of these challenges.

As care moves outside of the hospital walls, new community players and disruptors will become critical in forming the new ecosystem. Scientific advancements and the affordability of personalised health care (genomics, micromics, metabolism and behavioural economics) will ensure that care is tailored for individuals and their families. The citizens’ health journey will be underpinned by interoperable data and analytics guiding them through positive health choices and behaviours.

Cities have a responsibility to create a healthy environment. Smart Health Communities (SHCs) engage patients, companies and public entities to deliver digital health services, in order to develop and shape communities, reducing costs dramatically, improving wellness and longevity, and promoting economic growth.

Singapore, which is the greenest urban environment in the world, features numerous compact parks which provide vibrant community interaction.

Cities around the world are recognising the benefits of a green approach to urban planning”

Governments act as enablers of change by promoting this interconnected health care ecosystem. A city, as a geographical SHC, can drive a shift towards preventive and curative therapies, as well as provide solutions that foster collective and cooperative healthy behaviour, and generate and analyse interoperable data to predict risks and evaluate impact. While privacy is a concern, investment in smart public health initiatives generates substantial return on investment for cities while improving public health and well-being.

How to ensure a successful implementation:

• Work to generate trust.

• Invest in a data privacy and security infrastructure.

• Establish partnerships between public and private stakeholders, namely government agencies, technology companies, health care and life sciences players, the media, NPOs/NGOs, social care entities and citizens.

• Collaborate with technology companies to launch awareness-creation programmes and knowledge-sharing platforms.

• Establish community-driven funding hubs to strengthen the reach and support capabilities and operational efficiency of SHCs.

• Restructure policies and consider incentivising SHC development plans.

TREND 3: THE 15-MINUTE CITY

Cities are being designed so that amenities and most services are within a 15-minute walking or cycling distance, creating a new neighbourhood approach.

The ‘15-minute’ city concept - primarily developed to reduce carbon emissions by reducing the use of cars and motorised commuting time - is a decentralised urban planning model, in which each local neighbourhood contains all the basic social functions for living and working. Many people argue that the concept of creating localised neighbourhoods in which residents can get everything they require within 15 minutes by walking, cycling or on public transport will

ultimately improve the quality of life. Such spaces entail multipurpose neighbourhoods instead of separate zones for working, living and entertainment, which reduces the need for unnecessary travel, strengthens a sense of community and improves sustainability and liveability.

Today most cities have ‘operationbased’ neighbourhoods, with separate areas used predominantly for business or entertainment. Fragmented urban planning results in a sprawl, with people having to travel long distances across the city to get to their destination. In contrast, compact cities of the future, or ‘hyperlocalisation’, prioritise strategies for urban infrastructure that aim to bring all the elements for living and working into local neighbourhood communities.

The ‘15-minute’ city is an iteration of the idea of ‘neighborhood units’ developed by American planner Clarence Perry during the 1920s. The theory of ‘new urbanism’, an urban planning and design concept promoting walkable cities, subsequently gained popularity in the US in the 1980s. Similar versions of ‘urban cells’ or 30- and 20-minute neighbourhoods have also emerged across the globe in the past decade.

Autonomous transport remains largely experimental, despite its proponents believing that the technology is already mature.

The rezoning model will gain further traction in the future, boosted during the COVID-19 disruption, by new ways of working that require less transport. With climate change as a major global concern, C40 in its “C40 Mayors’ Agenda for a Green and Just Recovery” has recommended this model for cities worldwide, arguing that its pedestrianisation approach contributes to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and supports environmental sustainability. While this approach may not be entirely applicable to every city - for example, it is probably more suitable for a big metropolis than for smaller cities - remote working and the digitalisation of services have increased the impetus to apply the principle of neighbourhood planning regardless of city size.

How to ensure a successful implementation:

• Correlate sustainability goals and urban planning initiatives.

• Ensure community endorsement.

• Decentralise core services.

• Launch schemes to promote affordable housing in every neighbourhood.

• Allow flexible use of urban spaces and properties across neighbourhoods.

TREND 4: MOBILITY: INTELLIGENT, SUSTAINABLE AND AS-A-SERVICE

Cities are working towards offering digital, clean, intelligent, autonomous and intermodal mobility, with more walking and cycling spaces, where transport is commonly provided as a service.

This is one area where cities should expect huge disruption. Some major changes in how people move around in cities are already under way, but the trend will accelerate further in the next decade, with electrification, autonomous driving, smart and connected infrastructure, modal diversity, and mobility that is integrated, resilient, shared and sustainable - powered by disruptive business models. In answers to an ESI ThoughtLab survey question, 54 per cent of city leaders admitted they will rethink mobility and transportation in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Less need to travel. It is expected that

in general people will travel less than they have in the past. With new urban planning concepts such as the ‘15-minute city’ promoting compact environments, ‘connected corridors’ and changes in the way that people work, movements within urban areas will decrease substantially and bicycles, scooters and even walking will increasingly be the preferred options in community neighbourhoods.

Electrification. It is estimated that in 2030, electric vehicles (EVs) will have around 32 per cent of the total market share for new car sales globally, although there will be differences between regions.

Connectivity and automation. Recent Deloitte research in the United States estimates that by 2040, up to 80 per cent of passenger miles travelled in urban areas could be in shared autonomous vehicles. This development will be led by major technologybased corporations or the automotive and transport sector and by technology-based start-ups. Solutions such as passenger drones by EHang and drone delivery by Amazon are making rapid advances. Logistics companies look increasingly to autonomous technology to meet the rising demand for goods.

Sharing. Cities will also benefit from an increase in on-demand multimodal mobility and Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) platforms, such as in Helsinki. For instance, residents will be able to plan and book door-to-door trips digitally, use the same fare card for all transport modes, access automated last-mile cargo shipment services, and have end-toend real-time visibility of freight in transit - and with seamless payment models.

Intelligent mobility. With data playing a central role in some of these shifts, customised travel is something that cities will start to deliver, segmenting their customers (citizens) in a mobility context and implementing strategies for each market segment. The value of ‘intelligent’ mobility is forecast to grow to €850 billion by 2025, representing more than 1 per cent of global GDP.

How to ensure a successful implementation:

• Embrace a holistic approach (and consider

Cities are working towards offering digital, clean, intelligent, autonomous and intermodal mobility, where transport is commonly provided as a service”

the total mobility mix), and start with a minimal viable ecosystem for ‘smart mobility’, adding features over time in an agile way.

• Invest in infrastructure – physical, energy, digital and telecoms - that supports effective transformation.

• Be aware that a new generation of vehicles is needed, and there should be a resurgence in the use of some existing types of vehicles, such as motorbikes and bicycles, with a strong focus on micromobility.

• Make mobility management a priority, both management of assets (infrastructure and vehicles) and management of clients (people).

• Make sure regulation adapts to the new circumstances, covering vehicle security and liability in cases of accidents, data management and privacy, interoperability, connectivity, risk and responsibility, and cybersecurity.

TREND 5: INCLUSIVE SERVICES AND PLANNING

Cities are evolving to have inclusive services and approaches, fighting inequalities by providing access to housing and infrastructure, equal rights and

participation, and jobs and opportunities. Cities are not only centres of economic development; they symbolise equality, healthy communal coexistence and prosperity for all. Social inclusion should be a key pillar of urban growth and development for the cities of the future, bearing in mind the three building blocks identified by World Bank: spatial inclusion (providing affordable housing, water and sanitation), social inclusion (expanding equal rights and participation) and economic inclusion (creating jobs and offering citizens opportunities for economic development).

Cities should be planned and designed to generate social and economic outcomes for everyone, avoiding the costs that occur when people are excluded. Although the poor are usually the most affected, cities will also remove the barriers caused by differences in gender, race, nationality, disability or religion. Inclusive design could mean building gender-inclusive urban centres to provide safe and secure spaces for carers and installing wheelchair-accessible features for those with mobility difficulties. Inclusive design may mean building greener and safer neighbourhoods for all citizens and investing to create secure and joyful spaces for children to play and accessible places for the elderly, making cities pleasurable for the silver generation. An inclusive social care system will embrace migrants and offer them tailored services that address their particular needs and circumstances, just as for everyone else.

There are already some signs of cities prioritising inclusion. A survey of 167 cities worldwide found that 40-47 per cent use metrics to track progress towards inclusion goals, although the majority are in advanced economies.

Digitalisation enables governments to facilitate access to a range of services, accelerate business opportunities, analyse societal gaps, educate mass audiences, collect real-time data, boost data-driven decisionmaking, facilitate predictive and proactive governance, and engage larger audiences in social activity. It also frees up government capacity to re-direct finite administrative and

case management resources to those who need it most.

Although a fundamental requirement for social inclusion, technology may also create disparities. City planners should remain aware of the large numbers of ‘digitally invisible’ citizens, to avoid skewing the results of city analysis that would compromise urban planning efforts and even contribute to widening the inequality gap.

How to ensure a successful implementation:

• Implement proactive multisector solutions, both preventive and curative.

• Promote an integrated planning approach instead of a fragmented one.

• Follow an equity-centred design approach.

• Improve the adoption of technology solutions and digital skills, supported by adjusted regulation.

• Pursue data equity.

• Establish inclusive living labs.

• Use agile methods to respond rapidly and anticipate citizens’ needs.

TREND 6: THE CITY AS A DIGITAL INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM

Cities strive to attract talent, enable creativity and encourage disruptive thinking; developing themselves through an innovation model approach and a combination of physical and digital elements. While traditionally companies and industrial parks have been concentrated in suburbs of the city, start-ups and digital

nomads are bringing innovation and ideas to the city centres. As population numbers increase in urban areas, cities compete for investment, skilled workers (talent) and cultural prominence, and this is turning urban regions into innovation hubs, leveraging data.

In some cities with an innovation or technology department, individuals try to innovate from a silo. This is not what we mean. Cities will adopt a multidimensional approach to innovation, the so-called quintuple innovation helix framework (of interactions between university, industry, government, public and environment), and city governments will act as platforms enabling the right connections, policies, places and infrastructure to make the ecosystem flourish; solving the town’s most prominent challenges and bringing positive change to the city and its industries.

Cities will be Living Labs for digital transformation and centres of experimentation, using data to develop pilots that can be scaled up. By putting talent attraction at the centre of its strategy, a city can develop with the goal of being the most attractive host (of people, companies and research centres), in order to facilitate ecosystem development. The City Hall has to develop the right skills, and data collection and usage, and modernise its governance model to foster collaboration and encourage open innovation. Increasing the level of adoption of digital innovation in high-priority economic sectors generates a positive impact on local competitiveness, by opening up new sources of employment and economic growth. It also supports the uptake of disruptive and promising digital technologies. Remote working has lengthened the list of cities that can adopt this strategic approach. In line with the ‘rise of the rest’ theory put forward by Richard Florida in 2019, the shift from enterprise attraction to talent attraction makes it possible for smaller cities to thrive in a post-pandemic world, using data as a source of competitiveness in the digital innovation environment. It is a time for small remote hubs.

The last five years have seen a worldwide emphasis on innovation hubs being adjacent to downtown communal working zones.

How to ensure a successful implementation:

• Create capacity to attract talent, expertise and open talent networks.

• Foster agile processes and avoid a riskaversion culture.

• Add the required skill sets and gain an awareness of the opportunities that new technologies offer.

• Ensure data mastery and interoperability standards.

• Embrace a new way of management and leadership.

TREND 7: CIRCULAR ECONOMY AND LOCAL PRODUCTION IN THE CITY

Cities are adopting circular models based on a healthy circulation of resources; principles of sharing, reusing and restoring; and with emphasis on limiting municipal waste volumes and on producing locally - for instance, urban farming.

Do you know that on average a car is parked more than 90 per cent of the time? Or that the average office is used only 35-50 per cent of the time? That 30 per cent of food is wasted? That half of all the world’s waste is produced in cities? Increasingly, cities are developing aspects of a circular economy, which entails decoupling economic activity from the consumption of finite resources and designing waste out of the system. What does it mean to live in a city with a circular economy? It is a city that:

• Promotes a better use of resources through procurement policies;

• Consumes less, and reuses and recycles water, energy, products and materials;

• Recycles and manages waste according to regulations;

• Stimulates an economy of repair, borrowing and second-hand commerce;

• Nurtures a sharing mindset (e.g., car trips, spaces and materials);

• Fosters better use of resources in construction (e.g., 10-15 per cent of building materials are wasted during construction);

• Stimulates an innovative approach to how the city and its citizens consume, store and use resources.

A circular economic model is one of the pillars of the European Union’s European Green Deal strategy, and there are already some examples of its application, as well as policies and mechanisms to fund the transition. Cities will also increasingly encourage a ‘produce local’ approach to food and energy. Urban and small-scale farming is gaining traction in some urban centres as a way to deliver fresh and healthy food, establish direct contact with food

producers and reduce carbon emissions, while strengthening the local economy. Innovative approaches make better use of space and light, such as vertical farming, hydroponics, LED indoor farming and rooftop farming. Simultaneously, the energy revolution is contributing to the circular economy through decentralisation of energy production, mainly through renewable sources (biogas, wind, solar, wood biomass, waste, etc.), and off-grid and microgenerators, paving the way for self-sufficiency whereby cities generate as much energy as they consume, creating communities of energy and offering further economic opportunities.

How to ensure a successful implementation:

• Secure funding for the transition.

• Establish flexible and simple regulatory structures and smart procurement.

• Create or rethink metrics to measure circularity.

• Leverage national or regional policies and invest in awareness campaigns.

TREND 8: SMART AND SUSTAINABLE BUILDINGS AND INFRASTRUCTURES

Cities aim to have regenerated buildings and to leverage data to optimise energy consumption and the use and management of resources in buildings and utilities: waste, water and energy.

Hydroponics provide the key to serious levels of organic harvesting in otherwise concrete areas of bustling cities.

had ‘some level’ of focus on buildings.

In 2019, the Coalition for Urban Transitions estimated that it should be possible to cut emissions from cities by about 90 per cent by 2050 (15.5 GtCO2e by 2050) using proven technologies and practices, in particular for buildings and infrastructure. Estimated cuts include 36.5 per cent from residential buildings and 21.2 per cent from commercial buildings. Buildings are currently responsible for 30-40 per cent of total city emissions. To achieve the COP21 target by 2050, emissions from buildings must be 80-90 per cent lower than they are today. Many buildings are energy inefficient and contribute heavily to carbon emissions. In the EU, as of February 2020, roughly 75 per cent of building stock was energy inefficient. So there is some way to go. A 2019 Navigant report stated that only 5 per cent of the smart city projects that it tracked had a focus primarily on building innovation, and just 13 per cent

The World Green Building Council defines a green building as one that, “in its design, construction or operation, reduces or eliminates negative impacts, and can create positive impacts, on our climate and natural environment; preserve precious natural resources and improve our quality of life”. Given the pressure on cities to act on climate change, green buildings are going to invade our urban centres. Besides being built with sustainable and ethical materials, they will be energy, water and resources-efficient; environment-friendly by design - powered by renewables (such as solar) and capable of producing their own energy (electricity prosumers); covered by vertical and/or rooftop gardens; and able to provide a better indoor environment for those who live in them or use them.

On top of that, they will leverage data and digital technology to enable components of infrastructure to become more efficient and better adapted to the stakeholders’ usage. Business models provided by flexible office operators will foster an Office-as-a-Service or even Real Estate-as-a-Service approach.

Gartner predicts that by 2028 there

will be more than 4 billion connected IoT devices in commercial smart buildings. They will be powered by telecommunications infrastructures, with 5G and High Efficiency Wi-Fi (6 or 6E) at the forefront, and smart utilities such as power, waste and water.

As of May 2020, 28 major cities have signed up for the World Green Building Council’s Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment, which calls for cities to reach net-zero carbon operations by 2030 for all assets under their direct control, and to advocate for all buildings to become netzero carbon in operations by 2050.

How to ensure a successful implementation:

• Define a vision and technological guidelines, and develop a roadmap.

• Stimulate and prioritise sustainabilitytargeted renovation, construction and restoration projects.

• Launch incentive plans to promote alternate materials and build a strong engagement ecosystem.

• Beyond investing in buzzwords like 5G or sensory-tech solutions, extract value from data.

• Promote data-sharing standards and policy.

Copenhagen has won numerous awards for its ability to provide close-knit community hubs, ease of access, and a prestigious setting for global corporations.

TREND 9: MASS PARTICIPATION IN CITY BUILDING AND DEVELOPMENT

Cities are evolving to be human-centred and designed by and for their citizens, promoting mass participation by the ecosystem in a collaborative process and following open government policies.

What does an ideal experience in our city look like? How can our city contribute to a brighter global future? How would we like our children to grow up in the city? What would we like our city to be known for around the world?

These are some of the questions you will be asked in cities where there is open government and mass participation. These are places where citizens, social innovators, civil society organisations, businesses and academia are part of the process of building their cities (in a quintuple helix model), closing the gaps between local government and the ecosystem.

Through mass participation, supported by open data and technology, and with local government acting as a platform, cities can use citizens as a ‘sensor’ and benefit from greater innovation, better utilisation of resources and an increased sense of ownership. Cocreation through mass participation is a bi- or multidirectional human-centred approach, rather than just a bottom-up or traditional top-down approach.

Cities are increasingly innovative in the way they promote participation, and technology plays a key role in enabling innovation - for instance, mobile applications and reporting websites overcome the need for groups to meet in person to discuss new ideas and collaborate; and digital currency opens the door to gamification strategies. But to ensure the three principles of open government are met (participation, collaboration and transparency), it is necessary to have open data platforms and other initiatives. Participatory budgets are a good starting point. Some cities go a step further and provide citizens and the ecosystem with real-time access to information, to keep them informed about changes that affect where they live. Ultimately, cities will progress towards having true platforms for

collaboration, fostering co-creation and leading to new governance models (cogovernance), where responsibility is shared among the participants and is not just a burden on the local government. From this perspective, a new culture is created, and citizen engagement emerges as critical for ensuring the long-term sustainability of policy initiatives.

How to ensure a successful implementation:

• Engage the city population at scale and combine physical and virtual interactions whenever possible.

• Follow the digital imperative, but create a smart population for smart cities.

• Ensure accessibility and inclusiveness for all citizens.

• Establish clear governance processes and transparency to boost trust - an enabler of open governments and collaboration.

• Align objectives and expectations, and make clear connections between participation and decisions taken.

TREND 10: CITY OPERATIONS THROUGH AI

Cities are adopting automated processes and operations (orchestrated by a city platform) and following data-driven planning approaches.

Machines run 24/7, and there are operations and tasks that cities perform that will become increasingly smart and

Digital Twins will become increasingly powerful in enabling data-driven decisions and will have a high adoption rate among city governments”

powered by artificial intelligence (AI). AI will contribute to the optimisation of operational efficiencies, benefiting city managers, and ultimately citizens, through reshaped service delivery. In an ESI ThoughtLab study, 66 per cent of 167 cities surveyed are investing heavily in AI, and 80 per cent will do so over the next three years.

While chat assistants are currently among the most common solutions powered by AI, cities will evolve to have digital platforms as ‘city brains’, where all urban activity is orchestrated and operated, providing a holistic view of the city, allowing for events correlation, fast and assertive rootcause analysis, predictive analysis (through machine learning) and incident management; and providing operational insights through visualisation. If the behaviour of almost every citizen is registered through anonymised data, and 5G technology enables cities to become huge connected ecosystems, it will be of paramount importance to maximise data value and improve planning and decision-making using AI and data analytics, on the way to a cognitive city. Gartner predicted in 2019 that a city platform will be a mature smart city solution in five to ten years’ time, when it is expected that 1-5 per cent of cities will be using a city platform to manage their operations.

But cities can go even further. We see cities like Dublin, Abu Dhabi and Singapore, among others, creating a Digital Twin - a dynamic digital replica of their physical assets and environments and their interdependencies - for urban planning purposes and using machine learning to predict future events and trends. Digital Twins will become increasingly powerful in enabling data-driven decisions and will have a high adoption rate among city governments, with the promise of making cities more resilient. ABI research has predicted that by 2025 the number of urban Digital Twins will exceed 500.

How to ensure a successful implementation:

• Start with data strategy and governance.

• Be aware of privacy issues, and stimulate a culture of trust.

• Ensure data standards and interoperability.

• Avoid algorithmic bias.

• Develop the right skill sets among the city workforce.

• Follow a citizen-focused approach to operations.

TREND 11: CYBERSECURITY AND PRIVACY AWARENESS IN THE CITY

Cities strive to promote awareness of the importance of data privacy and to get prepared for the impact of cyberattacks, since data will be an important city commodity.

As services are becoming highly integrated and interconnected, and vulnerabilities created during data exchanges are more common, data security is vitally important. In 2018, the total cost of losses from cyberattacks for cities in a survey averaged €2.8 million.

Cybersecurity is now a key consideration for developers and planners of smart cities, and attention is turning to the risks inherent in such a highly interconnected environment. However, while the cybersecurity industry has developed a mature understanding of how to measure and mitigate the impact of cyberattacks on infrastructure in ‘non-smart’ cities, there is limited knowledge of the potential impact of attacks on smart cities.

An attack on smart city infrastructure may create effects that cascade - or ‘ripple’ - outwards and affect other parts of the city or country, or beyond. Resilience is the essential concept that must be considered when creating these complex and highly interconnected environments. It is essential to use resilience as a cornerstone of city building, and to do so in a way that can be scaled up and remain flexible for future upgrades and enhancements.

As the complexity of technologies, operational interdependencies, and systems management increases, so does the interest of hackers in profiting from this environment. Developing smart city initiatives without considering cybersecurity and privacy can result in a highly vulnerable environment that poses security risks to critical infrastructure and data, and in some cases may even create safety risks for citizens.

Monitoring human behaviour and footfall patterns is a powerful means of creating environments that are truly fit for purpose.

Surveillance and predictive policing through AI is the most controversial trend in this report, but one that has important implications for the future of cities and societies”

Advance planning is essential. By one estimate, 95 per cent of Cities 4.0 (as labelled by ESI ThoughtLab, referring to hyper-connected cities that use technology, data, and citizen engagement in pursuit of the SDGs) ensure that cybersecurity is considered early in the process, compared with only 51 per cent of other cities.

However, many cities are not ready for the challenges. Besides lagging far behind in the digital revolution, with outdated technologies running critical infrastructure, they lack the human resource expertise to be capable of addressing the challenges. Creating ecosystems of innovation - as Tel Aviv has done - could be one approach to improving security. Another approach is to invest in models of public/private cooperation and coordination. Efforts must be backed by city executives and not left to external entities or departments alone.

How to ensure a successful implementation:

• Ensure three major goals:

• Govern like a nation.

• Treat smart cities as a defensive ecosystem.

• Reboot with resilience.

• Syncronise the city with cyber strategy, and allow for flexibility.

• Have a clear cyber and data governance in place, with accountability.

• Leverage the ecosystem and build strategic partnerships to grow cyber capabilities.

• Align regulation policies.

• Adopt a specific tool to manage the cybersecurity landscape of a smart city.

• Invest in awareness campaigns on privacy.

TREND 12: SURVEILLANCE AND PREDICTIVE POLICING THROUGH AI

Cities are leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to ensure safety and security for their

citizens while safeguarding privacy and fundamental human rights.

Surveillance and predictive policing through AI is the most controversial trend in this report, but one that has important implications for the future of cities and societies.

Technology is frequently used as a synonym for evolution, but the ethics of its use may need to be questioned. An underlying question is what society we are aiming to build. There are doubts and uncertainties about the impact of AI on communities and cities: the most fundamental concern is privacy, but there are frequent debates about AI from other perspectives, such as its impact on jobs, the economy and the future of work. Therefore, one cannot disconnect the discussion about surveillance and predictive policing from recent debates about the societal, ethical and even geopolitical dimensions.

The pace of adoption of AI for security purposes has increased in recent years. AI has recently helped create and deliver innovative police services, connect police forces to citizens, build trust and strengthen associations with communities. There is growing use of smart solutions such as biometrics, facial recognition, smart cameras and video surveillance systems. A recent study found that smart technologies such as AI could help cities reduce crime by 30 to 40 per cent and reduce response times for emergency services by 20 to 35 per cent. The same study found that cities have started to invest in real-time crime mapping, crowd management and gunshot detection. Cities are making use of facial recognition and biometrics (84 per cent), in-car and body cameras for police (55 per cent), drones and aerial surveillance (46 per cent), and crowdsourcing crime reporting and emergency apps (39 per cent) to ensure public safety. However, only 8 per cent use data-driven policing.

Surveillance is not new, but cities are exploring the capabilities of predicting crime by analysing surveillance data, in order to improve security. Cities already capture

images for surveillance purposes, but by using AI, images can now be analysed and acted on much more quickly. Machine learning and big data analysis make it possible to navigate through huge amounts of data on crime and terrorism, to identify patterns, correlations and trends. When the right relationships are in place, technology is the layer that supports law enforcement agencies to better deliver their job and trigger behaviour change. The ultimate goal is to create agile security systems that can detect crime, terrorism networks and suspicious activity, and even contribute to the effectiveness of justice systems. How to achieve these goals while respecting privacy and liberties remains a crucial question.

Experts say it is almost impossible to design broadly adopted ethical AI systems, because of the enormous complexity of the diverse contexts they need to encompass. Any advances in AI for surveillance and predictive policing need to be accompanied by discussions about ethical and regulatory issues. Even though the value proposition of these technologies might seem attractive from a use case perspective, liberties and civil rights need to be protected by proper privacy and human rights regulations.

In summary, cities need to consider if using technology for surveillance and policing implies making concessions to convenience at the expense of freedom.

How to ensure a successful implementation:

• Balance security interests with the protection of civil liberties, including privacy and freedom.

• Experiment responsibly, and regulate first.

• Establish institutional review boards that include experts from multiple disciplines.

• Create mechanisms for monitoring and reviewing algorithms.

• Privilege the usage of environmental data instead of personal data.

• Promote strong collaboration and trust between law enforcement systems and citizens.

• Accompany digitalisation with a change in culture.

THE RACE

TO THE SKY

At the Future of Architecture Summit on 12th June, a key theme was whether building super-tall is really a genuine answer to today’s overcrowded urban landscapes; but nonetheless, more and more skyscrapers are being built annually, and here, we feature a detailed review of the key trends and the structures of note, courtesy of international design commentator Dezeen…

he last 20 years have seen a massive acceleration in the rush to build supertall around the world. Architects are now able to reach record heights due to advances in structural engineering and more sophisticated lightweight elevator infrastructure.

This trend reached an all-time peak in 2019, which saw a record number of supertalls - ie, buildings over 300 metresreach completion worldwide. However, the title of the world's tallest building is still

held by the Burj Khalifa, decked out in 2010 and designed by architect Adrian Smith while working at architecture studio SOM.

At a height of 828 metres, the Burj Khalifa is actually classed by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat as a ‘megatall’ - a building that is over 600 metres tall. Its 14-year reign as the tallest building could soon end though, as construction of Kingdom Tower in Saudi Arabia, also designed by Smith, is underway with a goal of exceeding 1,000 metres in height.

The world's three other megatall buildings are the Shanghai Tower in China, which Gensler completed in 2015, Merdeka 118 in Kuala Lumpur, by Fender Katsalidis & RSP, decked out in January 2024, and the Abraj Al-Bait Clock Tower in Saudi Arabia that Dar al-Handasah Shair & Partners completed in 2012.

GLASS FACADES

Clean-cut glazed facades have come to define the modern skyscraper, with eight of the world's 10 tallest skyscrapers - including the Burj Khalifa and the Shanghai Tower - wrapped in large expanses of glass.

While becoming a symbol of progress in contemporary cities, glass towers have also exploded in popularity as they provide well-lit interiors and double as viewpoints. Typically, they are achieved using curtain walls - a thin facade that hangs on the exterior of a building.

The Shanghai Tower is part of a trio of buildings, which together have the highest average height in the world.

However, using glass in this way requires high levels of air conditioning; this makes glass skyscrapers notoriously energy inefficient, and some architects believe the trend of glass skyscrapers could be coming to an end. In New York City, mayor Bill de Blasio recently announced plans to ban their construction in an effort to help tackle climate change.

MIXED-USE PROGRAMMES

In the last 20 years, some architects have shifted their focus from designing monofunctional skyscrapers to a preference for mixed-use towers. This often sees traditional commercial functions married with transportation, residential programmes or publicly accessible cultural facilities.

The benefit of mixed-use skyscrapers is that they can help save space in increasingly dense cities while benefiting the wider community, rather than just office workers.

A notable example of a mixed-use skyscraper is London’s The Shard by

Renzo Piano Building Workshop, and there are a number of others currently under development around the world. This includes a pair of skyscrapers in Toronto by Frank Gehry and KPF's scrolling supertall in Tel Aviv.

In Tokyo, Sou Fujimoto Architects is working with Mitsubishi Jisho Sekkei on the design of a public plaza on top of the Torch Tower, to make it "a place for people instead of an object".

SKINNY SKYSCRAPERS

The number of skinny skyscrapers, otherwise known as pencil towers, has also soared worldwide. Skinny skyscrapers typically contain apartments and are built in cities where land available for building is

scarce, such as in Hong Kong and New York.

While there is not a universal definition that is used to determine whether a skyscraper should be categorised as skinny, structural engineers generally consider those with a minimum widthto-height ratio of 1:10 to be slender.

The trend exploded in popularity in the 2010s in New York City, home to Rafael Viñoly's 432 Park Avenue, One Hundred East Fifty Third by Foster + Partners and Christian de Portzamparc’s towers.

New York is also home to the world's skinniest skyscraper, 111 West 57th by SHoP Architects, on Billionaires' Row. It is 24 times as tall as it is wide and has only one residence on each floor.

Elsewhere, architecture studio Durbach Block Jaggers is developing the Pencil Tower Hotel in Sydney with a widthto-height ratio of 1:16, while Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron and Canadian studio BDP Quadrangle are developing the superskinny 1200 Bay Street tower in Toronto.

111 West 57th sets the tone for a new style of super-tall which features highly imaginative and innovative external shaping.

The Shard is exceptional not only for its beauty and creativity, but for its multi-purpose, mixed-use, profile.

FREE FORMS

While experimenting with the width of skyscrapers, architects have also challenged the tradition of rectilinear skyscrapers, opting for circular, contorted and amorphous forms instead.

Some of the most unusual examples can be found in China, where Italian architect Joseph di Pasquale designed a doughnutshaped skyscraper and OMA completed the angular looped CCTV Headquarters.

However, twisting forms have become the most favoured alternative to boxy skyscrapers, with notable examples including Gensler's 632-metre-high Shanghai Tower, the Absolute Towers by MAD in Canada and SOM's Cayan Tower in Dubai.

According to a study by the Council

on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) in 2016, the rise of twisting skyscrapers has been partly driven by technology and sustainability, as a contorted forms can lead to more aerodynamic and energy-efficient structures.

LINKED TOWERS AND SKY BRIDGES

Linking skyscrapers together with high-elevation sky bridges is another significant trend that has boomed in the last two decades of skyscraper design.

Sky bridges is a term to describe enclosed structures positioned at least six floors above ground to physically connect two or more separate buildings. They are typically used for circulation and programmatic purposes, offering a valuable way to save space in densifying cities.

One of the most notable examples of where skyscrapers have been linked by sky bridges is at Marina Bay Sands resort in Singapore, where Safdie Architect has connected three towers with a 340-meterlong SkyPark.

Other recent examples of interlinked skyscrapers include the mixed-use Collins

Arch in Australia by Woods Bagot and SHoP Architects and NBBJ's "vertical campus" for Tencent's headquarters in China.

VERTICAL FORESTS

In the past decade, the trend for incorporating greenery in high rises and skyscrapers has become fashionable in cities around the world. While helping to reconnect city-dwellers with nature, using greenery in this way can also be used to promote biodiversity, improve air quality and create cooling islands.

A project that brought global attention to the concept was Stefano Boeri's Bosco Verticale high-rise, which incorporates as many trees as could be planted in one hectare of forest.

In Singapore, a policy introduced in 2014 requires any greenery lost due to development to be replaced. This

MAD's Absolute Towers have striking external form, designed to provide maximum efficiency in a geographic area noted for high wind speeds.

Marina Bay Sands stands out not only for being the best-known sky bridge structure in the world, but for the colossal internal volume of the towers.

has given rise to towers such as Eden by Heatherwick Studio, which is lined with plant-filled balconies, and the Robinson Tower by KPF that incorporates planted terraces.

Foster + Partners is currently designing "the first green high-rise building" in Greece while UNStudio and Cox Architecture are developing a pair of twisting towers for Melbourne that will feature greenery across its facades.

However, French landscape architect Céline Baumann has commented that while this trend is ultimately positive, plants can be used as a way to greenwash developments.

HYDROPONIC FARMING

As land becomes increasingly scarce in cities, and populations continue to rise,

Incorporating greenery in high rises and skyscrapers can be used to promote biodiversity, improve air quality and create cooling islands”

architects have been turning their focus to ‘agritecture’ - the marrying of agriculture with architecture.

In skyscraper design, this has seen a rise in concepts for vertical farms that rely on hydroponics to grow fruits, vegetables, and grains. Hydroponic farming relies on water-based, mineral nutrient solutions instead of soil, meaning crops can be grown in vertical formations and in a variety of climates.

Architecture studio Precht has developed a concept for modular housing where residents produce their own food in vertical farms, while Carlo Ratti Associati is currently designing a 218-metre-tall skyscraper in China that would use hydroponic farms to produce 270 tonnes of food per year and feed roughly 40,000 people.

The Bosco Verticale features biophilic gardens and terraces, giving the overall impression of a 'greened' facade.

PLANT WALLS: WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?

For more than a decade, architects have incorporated biophilic surfaces into their designs - across everything from low-rise, mixed-use environments to the fascias of supertalls. Yet we can also use this same technology indoors, adding Plant Walls to the interiors of offices and homes alike. Here, ‘greening’ experts Viritopia give their informed views on the benefits of indoor Plant Walls - arguably the most practical biophilic avatar…

The once-prevalent spacious gardens and open landscapes have increasingly given way to towering skyscrapers and compact living spaces. While this urbanisation has brought undeniable progress and opportunity, it has also left in its wake a yearning for the solace that nature provides.

In this article, we look at the principles of Biophilic Design, with particular reference to Plant Walls, and explore the immense benefits they have on the mental and physical well-being of inhabitants.

WHAT ARE THE PRINCIPLES OF BIOPHILIC DESIGN?

Biophilic design is a holistic design approach that seeks to bridge the gap between our increasingly urbanised lives and our intrinsic connection with nature. It goes beyond mere aesthetics and delves deep into our biological affinity for the natural world. By incorporating elements such as plants, water features, natural light, and even nature-inspired materials, biophilic design creates a harmonious environment that nurtures our well-being on multiple levels.

Our evolutionary history has instilled in us a fundamental need to be surrounded by nature and its cycles. This connection is far from being a relic of the past; rather, it remains crucial for our health, wellness, fitness, and happiness in the modern era.

One of the key pillars of biophilic design is “Nature in a Space” which places value on bringing the outdoors inside. Indoor living walls are a perfect example of this principle. These green walls not only add visual appeal but also improve air quality and create a calming atmosphere, reducing stress and promoting a sense of tranquility in our fast-paced urban environments.

hroughout history, architecture has served as a reflection of society, adapting to the shifting demands and priorities of its inhabitants. From grandiose palaces to minimalist modernism, each era bore witness to the unique essence of its time. As we move further into the 21st century, our lifestyles and environments have undergone remarkable transformations.

In our rapidly urbanising cities, where concrete jungles often dominate the landscape, the longing for a connection with nature becomes more profound than ever before. As a response to this growing desire, designers and architects have ingeniously embraced the concept of Biophilic Design, a paradigm that seeks to harmoniously merge the outdoors with indoor/outdoor spaces, transforming them into green sanctuaries for city dwellers to enjoy.

In the era of today’s ‘megalopolis’, embracing biophilic design becomes increasingly relevant in addressing the challenges posed by modern living. Biophilic design is a powerful reminder that despite our technological advancements, our bond with the natural world remains an essential aspect of what it means to be a healthy and happy human.

A prime attraction of Plant Walls is their close interaction with the users of the environment.

WHAT ARE THE PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH BENEFITS OF BIOPHILIC DESIGN THROUGH INDOOR PLANT WALLS?

Biophilic design, particularly through the incorporation of Indoor Plant Walls, offers a plethora of physical and mental health benefits, making them a perfect addition to workplaces, and other urban commercial settings. Let's explore some of the key advantages:

PHYSICAL HEALTH BENEFITS:

1. Improved Air Quality: Indoor plants are natural air purifiers, absorbing harmful pollutants and releasing oxygen. They help remove toxins like formaldehyde, benzene, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the air, leading to cleaner and healthier indoor environments.

Indoor Plant

Walls create a soothing and calming atmosphere, promoting relaxation and overall well-being”

2. Humidity Regulation: Plants release moisture through a process called transpiration, which can help maintain optimal indoor humidity levels. Adequate humidity can reduce the risk of respiratory issues, dry skin, and respiratory infections.

3. Reduced Stress and Blood Pressure: Studies have shown that being in the presence of greenery and nature can lead to reduced stress levels and lower blood pressure. Indoor Plant Walls create a soothing and calming atmosphere, promoting relaxation and overall well-being.

4. Enhanced Immune Function: Some research suggests that exposure to nature and green spaces can boost the immune system, potentially reducing the frequency and severity of illnesses.

5. Noise Reduction: Indoor plants can act as natural sound absorbers, dampening noise levels and creating a quieter and more peaceful indoor environment.

MENTAL HEALTH BENEFITS:

1. Stress Reduction: Biophilic design, particularly the presence of plants, has been linked to reduced stress and anxiety levels. Being surrounded by greenery and natural elements can create a sense of calm and promote relaxation.

2. Improved Mood: The presence of plants and nature indoors has been associated with enhanced mood and increased feelings of happiness and contentment.

3. Enhanced Cognitive Function: Exposure to nature and natural elements has been shown to improve cognitive function, including memory, attention, and problem-solving skills.

4. Increased Productivity and Creativity: Incorporating Indoor Plant Walls in workspaces has been found to boost productivity and creativity, fostering a more conducive and enjoyable work environment.

Exposure to nature and natural elements has been shown to improve cognitive function, including memory, attention, and problem-solving skills”

5. Faster Recovery: Studies have suggested that access to nature and green spaces, even in indoor settings, can aid in the recovery process for individuals healing from illness or surgery.

6. Sense of Connection: Biophilic design fosters a sense of connection with nature, even in urban environments, helping to counteract feelings of disconnection and isolation.

By integrating nature into our indoor spaces, we can create environments that promote well-being, foster a sense of calm, and contribute to a healthier and happier lifestyle. Whether at home, in the workplace, or in public spaces, embracing biophilic design can have a positive impact on our lives and the overall quality of inhabitants’ lives.

This awareness of the benefits of Plant Walls also links, of course, with the wider ‘Wellness’ movement - the proactive quest to reduce sickness and deliver a 360-degree environment suited to encouraging better states of mind and, ultimately, happiness. Plant Walls align perfectly with the way that, Post-Covid, the designers of both office and home environments are making considerably more use of easily-sanitised materials such as aluminiums and hard woods, with less emphasis on plasterwork, synthetics and decorative surfaces. There is also the added ‘plus’ that every Plant Wall is truly unique - growing at different rates, with varied plants, no two walls will be alike, and even the most more modest installations provide a value-added route to a truly bespoke interior.

Modern hydration techniques enable even the most challenging surfaces to host vibrant plant selections.

CELEBRATING INWED 2024

Middle East Consultant is delighted to celebrate International Women in Engineering Day 2024, as multidisciplinary titan AECOM profiles three of its women engineers…

process and overseeing the delivery of design drawings from conceptualisation to detailed implementation across numerous ventures.

n annual event that celebrates the contributions of women engineers worldwide, on 23rd June, International Women in Engineering Day (INWED) marks its 11th anniversary.

This year, its signature theme is #EnhancedByEngineering. INWED celebrates women engineers who have enhanced lives and livelihoods through their work - and accordingly, AECOM is proud to showcase three of its women engineers, and highlight their thoughts on the importance and relevance of INWED.

SINDHU NAIR, SENIOR STRUCTURAL ENGINEER, BUILDINGS + PLACES

Over the past 15 years of her career, Sindhu has garnered extensive experience and achieved success across a diverse range of projects in the Middle East region. She has been entrusted with leadership roles, guiding teams through the structural design

Sindhu’s expertise spans various sectors, including residential, commercial, educational, cultural, hospitality, theme parks, healthcare, retail, leisure, industrial and infrastructure. It was during her academic exploration that she first encountered the transformative power of structural design.

She comments: “I am profoundly conscious of the enduring impact of our work as structural engineers on society. Each structure we design is not merely a temporary fixture, but a lasting contribution to the fabric of communities, built to endure for generations. The knowledge that our creations will serve as enduring assets, enriching lives and facilitating the activities of countless individuals over decades, imbues our work with profound significance and purpose.

“It is imperative to acknowledge that women constitute half of the global population and therefore their inclusion and active participation in engineering are crucial for fostering diverse perspectives and driving meaningful societal impact. Women engineers possess unique insights and ideas that can complement those of their male counterparts, enriching the field

with a broader range of perspectives and approaches.”

INWED takes the view that in order to cultivate a more balanced representation of women in engineering, it is essential to promote and support their engagement from an early age. Encouraging talented young women in STEM fields, providing mentorship and creating opportunities for hands-on experience can help them develop the skills and confidence needed to pursue careers in engineering.

“As a structural engineer”, says Sindhu, I resonate deeply with the theme #EnhancedByEngineering. Our role extends beyond the mere construction of buildings and structures; it encompasses the development of innovative solutions that ensure the safety, stability, and longevity of the built environment.”

Structural engineers are integral to the foundation of society, as they bear responsibility to create structures that not only withstand the test of time, but also enhance the quality of life for communities. The buildings and infrastructure systems we design are essential components of the social and economic framework, facilitating the seamless functioning of daily life.

“As cities and communities evolve, so too must our approach to urban growth and infrastructure development,” emphasises Sindhu. “The future lies in the creation of smart and sustainable communities, where advancements in information and communication technologies play a pivotal role.

“By harnessing these technologies, structural engineers can leverage datadriven insights to devise efficient solutions to complex challenges, ultimately contributing to the resilience and adaptability of our built environment.

“To remain at the forefront of this dynamic field, engineers must continually strive to stay abreast of the latest developments and trends. Embracing a mindset of lifelong learning and innovation enables us to adapt to evolving needs and seize opportunities to make meaningful contributions to society.

“Above all, remember to stay resilient and determined in the pursuit of your goals. Embrace challenges as opportunities for growth, and never underestimate the impact you can make as a woman in engineering. Your unique perspective and talents have the power to shape the future of the field and inspire generations to come.”

LOUKIA VOULTSAKI, CONSTRUCTION MANAGER, PMC

Loukia’s role involves overseeing and coordinating more than 14 infrastructure construction projects. Leading a team of over 130 professionals, she prioritises

maintaining exceptional levels of organisation and communication to ensure project excellence and client satisfaction.

A standout moment in her engineering career to date was her pivotal role in managing the Hanoi Metro Line project in Vietnam. The project presented complex engineering challenges and spanned 12.5 km with 12 stations and a depot. Managing it refined her expertise in handling largescale endeavours, navigating cross-cultural interactions and fostering innovative problem-solving techniques. Its successful completion contributed significantly to the city’s progress and modernisation.

“My passion for engineering”, says Loukia, “was solidified during my academic years, particularly through my fascination with transportation projects like the London Underground Metro and Greece’s Egnatia Odos motorway.”

In fact, these projects showcased engineering’s transformative impact on improving community infrastructure, and this continues to drive Loukia’s career.

One of the primary imperatives in the modern STEM agenda is the transitioning of women from academic study into practical roles in the workplace.

Her role has a significant impact on current projects by ensuring smooth progression, adherence to schedules and compliance with quality standards. “By effectively managing and coordinating infrastructure construction initiatives, we enhance community infrastructure and quality of life,” continues Loukia.

She remains committed to mentoring and supporting the next generation of women in engineering by providing guidance, mentorship and professional development opportunities. “I advocate for inclusivity and diversity within the engineering community to empower individuals of all genders to excel,” she adds.

To improve women’s participation in engineering, Loukia identifies a need to nurture interest in STEM from an early age, provide robust support and mentorship programs, combat workplace biases and foster inclusive policies that promote gender diversity. “The theme #EnhancedByEngineering resonates profoundly with me as it underscores engineering’s role in bettering society through innovation and problem-solving. Engineering improves infrastructure, addresses global challenges and drives societal progress.”

Her advice to young women considering engineering is to boldly follow their passion, trust in their capabilities, remain inquisitive and seek guidance when needed. Loukia concludes: “Embrace

challenges as opportunities for growth and contribute your unique perspective to shape the future of engineering.”

EMAN DHAHI ALHARBI, CIVIL ENGINEER

Since joining AECOM, Eman has had the privilege of working on various projects, starting with a major airport and now transitioning to an arrival building lounge, upon recommendation of the client. “When reflecting on my engineering career so far”, says Eman, “one highlight stands out - my journey of gaining extensive experience in construction and witnessing significant improvement in my communication skills.”

Collaboration is of course intrinsic to engineering, whether it is discussing plans, troubleshooting problems or consulting on infrastructure upgrades. In her role, Eman works closely with stakeholders, leveraging her engineering expertise to ensure safety and efficiency in projects ranging from building maintenance to water and sewage systems.

“My passion for engineering has always been strong, nurtured by the encouragement and support of my father. A pivotal moment solidifying this passion was realising the transformative

impact engineering has on shaping our surroundings,” says Eman.

Navigating challenges is an inevitable part of any project, but with the right mindset and adaptability, hurdles become opportunities for growth. Embracing challenges fosters creativity and resilience, ultimately leading to innovative solutions.

“As a civil engineer”, Eman adds, “my role in projects is transformative. Witnessing the metamorphosis of barren land into magnificent structures reaffirms the significance of my work.” She also believes that mentoring and supporting the next generation of women in engineering is crucial. By demystifying the profession, inspiring diversity, fostering continuous learning and providing mentorship, young women are empowered to pursue careers in STEM fields.

“To improve women’s participation in engineering, we must address discrimination and stereotypes, encouraging girls and young women to study STEM subjects and pursue engineering careers.”

The theme #EnhancedByEngineering resonates deeply with her as it encapsulates the essence of engineering: enhancing lives, communities and the world at large through innovation and problem-solving.

For young women considering a career in engineering, she advises: “Be confident and vocal. Your voice matters. Speaking up not only facilitates learning, but also fosters inclusion.”

(left to right) Sindhu Nair, Senior Structural Engineer, Buildings + Places.

Loukia Voultsaki, Construction Manager, PMC. Eman Dhahi Alharbi, Civil Engineer.

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