ZEMCH 2015 - International Conference Proceedings | Page 36

Introduction
As the world is worried about the future sustainability and climate change is a global concern,
both energy consumption and CO2 emissions have been major targets in the built environment
to call for new strategies to saving energy. Dubai Plan 2021 is the latest strategy in the region to
implement a long term approach to achieve a greener economy for sustainable development and
an approach with main goals to define Dubai in 2021 the preferred place to live, work and visit;
a smart and sustainable city; a pivotal hub in the global economy; and a pioneering and excellent government. Dubai Plan 2021 consists of five main elements; the Society, the Experience,
the Government, the Place, and the People (Government of Dubai 2014). The main focus of the
study is to achieve one of the most important elements (the Society), and the study will highlight
the challenges and provide some innovative solutions to improve Dubai livability by improving
the indoor and outdoor environments with suggested strategies. The study will propose a sustainability package which will focus on the social aspects, which will carry different practices that
can be adopted to mitigate the impact of CO2 emissions and to help steer Dubai into sustainable
future. Moreover, this paper will discuss the results of each practice to demonstrate how this will
add value and help in achieving the highest standards of a clean environment.

Figure 1: UAE ecological foot print compared to the world bio capacity (Source: WWF UAE 2015)
Achieving the right practices for the social aspect is the main aim and is to achieve one of the
Dubai Plan 2021 elements, in this case the society, which will pave the way towards a city of happy
and satisfied people. Therefore, by understanding the culture of Dubai residents and the main urban ways of living, the study addresses human standards and role to achieve the image of Dubai
as a preferred place to live.

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ZEMCH 2015 | International Conference | Bari - Lecce, Italy