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29 March 2024

UAE residents gear up for return of the 'walking weather'

(Ashoke Verma)

Published
By Majorie van Leijen

“It is just a walk in the park,” or so goes the proverb describing the simplicity of something.

Walking, then, should be one of the simplest things to do. “Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time,” goes another saying, this time by Steven Wright.

In the UAE, outdoor activity is pleasant at least half of the year, after summer’s over.

While some places are more suited to vehicles of whatever shape and size, there are other places welcoming enough for pedestrians to set foot outside.

Basically, the smaller the place, the more people walk. As such, Ajman still hosts the charm of streets filled with people making their walk around the block. For daily shopping, a visit to the mosque or even a hospital visit, it is very easy to go by foot, explains Osama F, an Egyptian resident of the emirate.

However, in if anyone wanted to cross Dubai on foot, it is not that simple because multiple-lane highways slice up the emirate at several points. That does not mean that pedestrians should pack off their sneakers to never set foot outside again. A considerable number of communities in Dubai are designed to lure residents into the open, and the promenade or walkway form a popular landscaping element.

“I think it is the best environment to be motivated for walking outdoors. When the weather is right, one is always tempted to roam around the lakes and enjoy the fresh air as it is full of greenery,” Kinana Homsi-Mardini, a Syrian who lives in The Greens, said about her community.

“Reaching the shops is also very easy, as you can see around people of all ages taking a stroll to the supermarket. There are plenty of sidewalks and zebra crossings, assuring everyone, especially families, that they can walk without worries. The best time to prove that is in the morning when parents and children take a walk from their homes to their community school.”

Self-sufficient communities with all the basic amenities one desires within walking distance are aplenty in especially new Dubai. However, move further north towards old Dubai, and the landscape changes, and so does the pedestrian.

Although walking here is more popular than in other areas, in places such as Karama, Deira, or Bur Dubai, the infrastructure is such that pedestrians and other traffic are bound to share the streets and mingle.

As a result, pedestrians can be everywhere, and they are. If you’ve ever driven in Karama, experience will tell that pedestrians could pop up from anywhere, cross the street everywhere, and walk everywhere.

“The most important places, like the Metro for example, are all accessible by foot. I walk all the time," says Neesha Kapoor, an Indian resident in the area behind Al Muraqabat.

“There are enough facilities for pedestrians. However, many pedestrians do not follow the rules. There are many jaywalkers, for example.”

According to the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), a lot has been done to improve the safety of pedestrians over the years. The Traffic Law was updated to take pedestrians in consideration and extra attention has been given to jaywalkers, to the point of displaying the rules and fines regarding jaywalking at high risk areas,” said Maitha bin Adi, CEO of the Traffic and Roads Agency.

“The Traffic Safety Section at the Traffic and Roads Agency (TRA) receives all traffic accident forms from Dubai Police, and they are analysed to get the core cause of all accidents. From these analyses, pedestrian issues were found to constitute a higher than average percentage, which was then dealt with according to the cause, location, age, nationality, circumstances, and time of the accident.

“Accordingly remedial projects were recommended to be implemented and laws were updated to deal with this issue according to best international practice, taking local conditions into consideration,” Maitha elaborates when asked how pedestrian safety is accomplished in Dubai.

While the walking population in Dubai is determined geographically, walking seems to be part of life in Sharjah.

“Whereas walking in Dubai is a form of entertainment, walking in Sharjah is a means of transportation,” agrees AS, a frequent Sharjah visitor.

Living in Al Tawun area, Sharjah resident EA finds plenty of options to go shopping in his neighbourhood. Be it to the butcher, green grocers, pharmacies or fashion shops, it is an easy walk and everybody is doing it, he explains.

However, according to residents of the emirate, more pedestrian crossings and bridges are needed.

For instance, many pedestrians have died while crossing to the other side on Al Ittihad Road. Two malls – Al Ansar Mall and Safeer Mall – are located on one side of the road, which attracts residents living on the other side.

“The population on the residential side is increasing and there is no pedestrian crossing,” said Naseem Abbas, a Pakistani resident of Sharjah.

“A similar situation is at Al Khaleej crossing. In order to cross the street, you have to walk about 200 meters to reach the nearest pedestrian crossing. Many people cross this road at any place, I have also done this,” he said.

Deema B, a Syrian resident who recently moved from Sharjah to Dubai, used to walk to Al Wahda Souk, which was an easy walk to make, if it were not for the bridge located next to Al Fardan building.

“It was impossible to cross that bridge because there is no designated pedestrian lane, unless you go down and walk through the tunnel. But if you do this, the road will take you across Al Qasba all along!” she describes.

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