Name: Dr. Khaled Alawadi
Department: Civil Infrastructure and Environmental Engineering
Theme: Future Forms and Design of Sustainable Cities
Under the auspices of the Civil Infrastructure and Environmental Engineering Department, the Urban Research Studio was created, which is committed to building a premier, cutting-edge design and applied research platform to enhance the quality of urban living in Abu Dhabi and the broader region. The studio’s overall goal is to position the UAE as a knowledge hub and engine for exploring cities’ transformation and performance, sustainable development patterns, trends of urbanization, and future forms of sustainable cities.
In particular, the studio is committed to investigating the role of urban design and planning in promoting sustainable development. Its guiding question is: Which urban forms and policy initiatives will effectively improve environmental, social, and economic integration in our regions, cities, and neighborhoods? The studio is devoted to achieving this goal by using advanced methodical, analytical, and urban representation techniques in interdisciplinary, collaborative research projects.
The complexity of current world issues necessitates a new generation of ideas for designing and sustaining our cities. The world is now more complex and politically driven; pressing cultural and ecological concerns oblige a new level of accountability, justification, transparency, and innovation in city design. Sustainable design solutions recognize that no one model fits all cities. The most meaningful solutions are achieved through a range of plans, methods, and technologies that respond to a place’s cultural, political, and environmental characteristics at different morphological scales, from the regional scale to the city at higher and lower densities to city blocks. In this regard, the studio responds to research areas that have a significant potential to improve urban form and develop more sustainable communities. Such projects include:
The overall aim of the Urban Research Studio is to explore the transformation and performance of Abu Dhabi and the region and generate context-sensitive urbanization models, infrastructure innovations, and creative design and policy solutions that address elements such as transportation systems, urban design, city forms, livability, and cultural integrity. The studio employs researchers and students to integrate design solutions, systems thinking, and behavioral and cultural relationships within a city context. Today, the studio comprises four sections:
Typological Index: Atlas of Abu Dhabi’s Neighborhood Morphologies. The Index provides spatial information (graphical and quantitative) on Abu Dhabi’s residential neighborhoods forms and evolution. This work provided a large dataset for the Department of Municipalities and Transport (DMT), and Abu Dhabi’s Housing Authority (ADHA) to inform more efficient practices and policies. Link to the Atlas: (kindly retain the confidentiality of the copy):
Shaping sustainable urban growth for the UAE: Understanding the role of street networks’ efficiency and centrality in city design. This project, in collaboration with Department of Municipalities and Transport (DMT) and Dubai Municipality, addresses Abu Dhabi’s and Dubai’s street connectivity at the neighborhood (local) and city (global) scales. It focuses on two parameters of street network analysis: efficiency and centrality. Efficiency is evaluated in terms of directness, noting that network designs that provide short and direct access between origins and destinations are more efficient. Centrality is evaluated using graph theory metrics that enable the identification of high- and low-accessibility locations within networks. The project offers scientifically grounded strategies and policies that will enable various stakeholders to design more sustainable street systems and land uses. Faculty, research staff, and around 15 MSc students collaborated in the analysis, data collection, engagement sessions with the industry, and the production of forthcoming guidebook “Rethinking Suburbs: Morphological and Network Analysis Review.” The book has been completed except for a minor subsection. It includes 8 chapters and around 2,247 maps have been formatted to the book layout. The book provides a scientific evidence-based approach for the development of more sustainable neighborhoods in the UAE.
Abu Dhabi International Virtual Research Institute for Food Security in the Drylands. This Project aims to integrate food production into urban living environments
Other published work concerned with urban livability, sustainability, and the performance of the built environment can be found in the table below:
|
Faculty |
Author |
Title |
Source |
Journal Ranking |
Date |
Case Study |
APA |
|
Khaled Al Awadi |
Khaled Alawadi |
Planning in the Age of Pandemics: Renewing Suburban Design |
Sustainable Cities and Society |
Q1 – Geography, Planning, and Development – Transportation |
17-Oct-22 |
Abu Dhabi & Dubai, |
Alawadi, K., Khanal, A., Mouselly, A., & Aletaywi, A. B. (2022). Planning in the Age of Pandemics: Renewing Suburban Design. Sustainable Cities and Society, 104261. |
|
Khaled Alawadi |
Typological index of alleyways: mapping the pattern of a forgotten urban form element |
Journal of Urban Design |
Q1 – Geography, Planning, and Development – Urban Studies |
16-Aug-22 |
Abu Dhabi & Dubai, |
Alawadi, K., Khanal, A., & Abdelfattah, R. S. (2022). Typological index of alleyways: mapping the pattern of a forgotten urban form element. Journal of Urban Design, 1-26. |
|
|
Khaled Alawadi |
Perspectives on Everyday Urbanism: Evidence from an Abu Dhabi Neighborhood |
Journal of Planning Education and Research |
Q1 – Geography, Planning, and Development – Urban Studies |
03-Jun-22 |
Abu Dhabi, |
Alawadi, K., Hashem, S., & Maghelal, P. (2022). Perspectives on Everyday Urbanism: Evidence from an Abu Dhabi Neighborhood. Journal of Planning Education and Research, 0739456X221097839. |
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