SUSTAINABLE, CLIMATE-SMART CITIES TO RISE IN 2025

Carbon tracking, bold decarbonisation, energy-efficient urban developments and regenerative design. Here’s what our built environment will look like this year.

It’s likely future generations will look back at this moment here (Jan 2025), at how we handled it. Cities, countries across the MENA region, for instance, have laid out 2030, 2040, 2050 targets.

So we should be seeing some substantial shifts right about now. And indeed when we asked our built-environment experts what to expect across the region in 2025, unsurprisingly, unanimously, they answered: a rise in sustainability.

CARBON REPORTING, DECARBONISATION, RESILIENCE

Farah Naz. She’s a well-known climate change strategist and sustainability expert, and Director of ESG and Innovation at AECOM Middle East and Africa. When we turn to her for her predictions for the year, she points us in the direction of the UAE’s 2024 decree On the Reduction of Climate Change Effects, which will come into effect this May. At its core, she says, it’s a carbon credit decree, and it’ll spur a terrific shift. ‘Carbon reporting will become the norm. Automatically, we’re looking at increased accountability, increased transparency.’

And it will, in turn, pave the way to climate-positive trends. We’ll see decarbonisation pathways emerge across the key sectors of power, industry, transportation, buildings, waste, agriculture — it all lines up with the UAE’s Net Zero 2050 Strategy, she says. ‘The UN tells us 80 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions is linked to infrastructure. But with this decree, we’ll see developers implement decarbonisation on a portfolio-wide level.’

There will also be a serious push for climate resiliency design across our public realms — remember that superstorm in the UAE in April 2024? We’ll need to scale up infrastructural resilience, says Naz, because with climate change, events like that will only grow more frequent and more severe.

SO: ENTER CLIMATE-SMART CITIES

Expert architect Sandra Woodall. She’s Design Principal at tangramMENA and UAE Country Lead for RIBA GULF Chapter. And in her turn, she reminds us that 2025 marks a full decade since the Paris Agreement was negotiated into action. Since, sustainability has sky-rocketed up the MENA region’s agenda. Two of the last three UN Climate Change Conferences have been held right here: COP27 in Egypt and COP28 in the UAE, while last year’s UN Conference to Combat Desertification was held in KSA.

‘We’re finally at this point: sustainable design is no longer an option, it’s an obligation. Governments across the region are insisting on stricter green-building regulations, they’re pushing for net-zero construction. This will not just continue into 2025, but it will intensify. Developers are now integrating renewable energy systems — think solar panels, wind turbines, the like — while architects are now leveraging materials with low-embodied carbon.’

And yes, she agrees, expect that surge in urban resilience. We’ve seen the disruptive effects of climate change — here, and in so many other parts of the world. These will absolutely grow more frequent, more severe, and so sharpen our need for climate-smart cities. So expect increased investments in resilience across urban developments in the region — for instance, we’ll likely see a rise in blue-and-green infrastructure to boost water collection and drainage, and sponge cities, all geared to help urban areas to bounce back more quickly.

AND THE RISE OF TRADITIONAL ELEMENTS

Seasoned architect Christine Espinosa-Erlanda. She’s also Associate Director at Godwin Austen Johnson, and she couldn’t agree more: sustainability will take centre stage, she tells us. True, much of the shift owes to the region’s commitment to net zero targets — governments, developers, they’re embracing sustainability like never before.

‘We’re seeing quite the step up in energy-efficient buildings. And a spike in passive design strategies. So, for example, techniques to boost natural ventilation, smart shading, to optimise thermal mass — basically, it’s all geared to reduce energy consumption. From LEED-certified skyscrapers to net-zero residential communities, we’re seeing the spread of resilient, climate-adaptive architecture.’

But, she notes, we will also see a deeper, more meaningful fusion of cultural heritage with contemporary design this year. ‘Some of the more recent projects I’ve been involved with, they’ve made excellent use of more traditional elements. They’ve incorporated mashrabiyas and courtyards — it’s modern interpretation of vernacular architecture. It pays tribute to the region’s culture, while simultaneously meeting contemporary needs. This balance between tradition and innovation will come to define the region’s most iconic developments.’

On a side note, in addition to the rise of cultural identity across contemporary design, we’ll also see enhanced public and culture spaces. Governments are recognising the social value of such spaces, she says, and they’ll be investing more in museums, parks, cultural hubs to promote community engagement.

FROM TECH-DRIVEN TO NATURE-DRIVEN

Now architect-urbanist Soumia Masmoudi — she’s also founder to her own studio, Ellearchitecture — she’s a proponent of regenerative design. Very roughly, regenerative design is based on the idea of designing buildings that mimics the restorative aspects of nature. So it doesn’t just stem the negative impacts of our built environment, but works to reverse them. And Masmoudi foresees a serious proliferation of this concept in 2025.

‘Nations across the region are now recognising the value of their natural capital. So we’ll see cities increasingly incorporate regenerative design principles. This will work to restore ecosystems, it’ll address climate change. We’re finally ready to integrate nature-based solutions alongside advanced technologies to drive sustainable urban development.’

She also sees a shift in smart cities — they’ll go from technology-driven to nature-driven and people-driven, she says. They’ll be inspired by concepts such as ubuntu design — incorporating ubuntu into architecture means designing spaces that prioritise gathering over separation. So urban spaces, cities, they’ll start to prioritise inclusivity, cultural heritage, healthy lifestyles and deeper connections to nature.

So seems 2025 could well be the year we step up, the year we make the most of the chance we still have left. Good thing too, because that window is closing. 

Davina Raisinghani | Jan, 2025