Work begins on Dubai’s ‘20-minute city’ masterplan

Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority has started work on the “20-minute city” masterplan, awarding the project’s first contract.

The first phase covers the development of 12km of walkways and 5km of cycling tracks to make up the Historic Al Ras Walkway in the old Deira district and 10 artistic spaces in coordination with Dubai Culture and Arts Authority.

The contractor’s name and the contract value and timeline for completion were not disclosed.

The Dubai Walk masterplan includes rolling out a walkway network across 160 areas (around 6,000km) by 2040, with 110 pedestrian bridges and underpasses to support connectivity between districts.

The aim is to increase the share of walking and “soft mobility” (environmentally friendly modes of transport such as bikes and scooters) trips in Dubai from 16 percent in 2025 to 25 percent by 2040.

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Mattar Al Tayer, director-general of the Roads and Transport Authority, said the project advances a key objective of the Dubai Urban Plan 2040 to give residents access to more than 80 percent of essential services within a 20-minute journey.

Dubai approved the plan to support the “20-minute city” concept in July 2024 by developing land close to metro stations.

In November 2023 it approved the expansion of the world’s largest driverless metro line, expecting the resident population to surge to more than one million.

The 30km Metro Blue Line project will have 14 stations and is scheduled for completion in 2029. It will be built at a cost of AED18 billion ($4.9 billion).