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The World’s Smartest, Most Sustainable Highway Has Everything But Cars

Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Amsterdam! After the unveiling of the world’s most impressive underwater bike parking facility in The Netherlands’ capital, you’d think cyclists the world over would want to be nowhere else but there. Dubai would like a word.
The Loop is a planned "urban highway" for bikes and pedestrians in Dubai 6 photos
Photo: URB
The Loop is a planned "urban highway" for bikes and pedestrians in DubaiThe Loop is a planned "urban highway" for bikes and pedestrians in DubaiThe Loop is a planned "urban highway" for bikes and pedestrians in DubaiThe Loop is a planned "urban highway" for bikes and pedestrians in DubaiThe Loop is a planned "urban highway" for bikes and pedestrians in Dubai
City authorities from all over the world are struggling to keep down congestion and pollution, and that's not news. Neither is the fact that one way of doing that is by encouraging people to get on their bicycles for their daily commute, instead of into their cars. Proper infrastructure for two-wheelers is a must for this, so Amsterdam built the Stationsplein underwater garage and is working on another one opening soon. In total, Amsterdam will soon boast an extra 11,000-bike parking capacity.

Dubai is not among the most bike-friendly places, if only in consideration of climate and geographical conditions. You could be the most passionate rider out there, and you’d still be excused for not wanting to go out in temperatures in excess of 43 °C (109 °F), which is fairly standard in Dubai in the summer months.

Local design studio URB is proposing to take cycling indoors in order to convince more car owners to embrace it. This would become possible through The Loop, a proposed highway for pedestrians and cyclists, which would ultimately serve to make Dubai the most connected city in the world by offering its residents the chance to complete the daily commute within 20 minutes either by foot or by bicycle.

The Loop is still in the project stage, but the first renders for it have been made public. It would look like a stretched-out greenhouse on stilts, which would have all-year use through climate control and would traverse even the most inhospitable sandy terrains. Stretching over 57 miles (93 km), it would offer a little bit of everything for everyone, including leisure facilities, socializing spaces, and perhaps shopping venues.

URB imagines The Loop as the world’s smartest and most sustainable highway (that is not designed for cars). The massive energy needs of such a project would be met by means of kinetic flooring (“so everyone would contribute”), there would be vertical farms to support local communities and counter food insecurity, and the water for irrigation would be recycled. In addition to cycling and walking paths, The Loop would have pocket parks with sports facilities and areas to encourage remote working or socializing.

The design firm is hoping that The Loop will become a benchmark for future developments of the kind in the world, setting the tone for a new, cleaner, and healthier mode of transport for the daily commute. Dubai has a 2040 goal for the so-called 20-minute city initiative, which hopes to make cycling and walking the primary mode of daily transportation for at least 80% of residents.

“The Loop is thus a paradigm shift from car-centric infrastructure to people-centric infrastructure,” URB highlights. “It will make urban mobility a joyful experience for Dubai residents whilst also making them healthy.”

Skeptics will say 2040 is too close a deadline to complete a project of this scale, but if there’s one place where this is possible, it’s probably Dubai.

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About the author: Elena Gorgan
Elena Gorgan profile photo

Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends.
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