Municipality approves 1,000ha construction space in Dubai

Dubai Municipality approved 1,000ha of construction space in Dubai until December 2017.,

Up to 1,000ha of construction projects were approved by Dubai Municipality until December 2017, it has been revealed.

These developments have a floor space of 1,100ha, and are distributed across categories such as residential, commercial, public services, mixed-use, tourist, and open area projects.

Eng Dawoud Al Hajiri, assistant director general of Dubai Municipality's engineering and planning sector, said that the authority approved seven major development projects in 2017.

The size of project areas approved in 2017 increased by 71% over 2016, while the size of approved urban project floor areas rose by more than 73%.

Dubai Municipality said it was focussed on reducing the time required to acquire master plan approvals for major urban projects.

Eng Najib Mohammed Saleh, director of Dubai Municipality's Planning Department, said his team completed the approval of 500 applications for urban projects in 2017.

The approvals were completed "with an average implementation time of no more than eight days, or 16% less than in 2016", Saleh revealed.

Additionally, the municipality prepared 13 studies to rehabilitate and re-plan some parts of Dubai in 2017.

These activities were carried out with a view to providing better services, and increasing the number of public recreational facilities and walkability in these areas.