Dezeen Magazine

Plan Abu Dhabi 2030 film by Squint/Opera

Here are a few stills from a short film by Squint/Opera that illustrates proposals for urban improvements in Abu Dhabi until 2030.

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Commissioned by the Urban Planning Council of Abu Dhabi, the four-minute film consists of 3D imaging and Squint/Opera plan to combine it with real footage of Abu Dhabi.

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View the film at Squint/Opera's website.

See Squint/Opera's Flooded London series, depicting imaginary scenes in London in 2090, in our previous story.

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The following information is from Squint Opera:

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Award winning production studio Squint Opera creates film for “ Plan Abu Dhabi 2030”

The Urban Planning Council of Abu Dhabi (UPC) appointed London based studio Squint Opera to create a short film illustrating their grand Urban Planning Guide for Abu Dhabi. The Council chose Squint Opera after a three way tender to produce the film for presentation at the Cityscape Abu Dhabi on May 14th 2008. The film will communicate the principles and the concepts and visualises their plans for the expansion of the city and will hope to attract investors, developers and architects. The wide target audience will range from the professional to the public, a segment of which will already be very familiar with the global development sector, and therefore the film is to reach a high international standard. The UPC commissioned this film as an awe-inspiring vision demonstrating the scale, ambition and radical nature of the plan.

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Squint Opera founder Alice Scott directed the four-minute film that describes the plan in 3D bringing life to certain aspects* of the unique environment and a future evolving culture. We are shown pedestrians walking the shaded sidewalks, using the world-class metro system and trams surrounded by green, energy saving residential townhouses, villas, high rises, offices and retail developments. Clever imagery shows us desert landscaping, renewable energy measures and water-cooling canals in the streets of Abu Dhabi and demonstrates a efficient quality of life for the future population.

*at this stage the film is only produced in 3D. A team will go to Abu Dhabi in the next few weeks to do the filming and then we will edit a second version of the film that will be a combination of 23D and real footage.

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Squint Opera CEO Julius Coke explains, “With our experience producing the films for the London 2012 Olympic Stadium, Bradford Master plan, Singapore Gardens and much more we are have an understanding of how to bring a unborn city to life ensuring a very realistic experience of a futuristic environment such as Abu Dhabi’s plan for 2030.”

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Plan Abu Dhabi 2030: Urban Structure Framework Plan

The Government of Abu Dhabi has unveiled Plan Abu Dhabi 2030: Urban Structure Framework Plan, a comprehensive plan for the development of the city of Abu Dhabi that will guide planning decisions for the next quarter of a century. The Government also announced the establishment of a new Urban Planning Council to oversee the implementation of the plan and the further development of urban planning policy.

Plan Abu Dhabi 2030: Urban Structure Framework Plan has been created to deliver upon the vision of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE and Ruler of Abu Dhabi, for the continued fulfillment of the grand design envisaged by the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan and the ongoing evolution of Abu Dhabi as a global capital city.

Through ten individual policy statements, the plan specifies land uses, building heights and transportation plans for the entire metropolitan area of Abu Dhabi. Under the plan, the city is projected to grow to over three million people by 2030. As such, the plan provides for large new areas of Emirati housing, inspired by the traditional family structures of the local community, and a diverse mix of affordable housing options for all the citizens and residents of Abu Dhabi.