Mission beautification: How Green is my city

Private property owners will soon have a major role in greening Dubai.

Under a new voluntary programme, Dubai Municipality will enlist private property owners to boost greenery in the city.

Officials will approach villa and apartment complex owners with a proposal to green private properties fronting the streets and open treeless areas.

Abdullah Mohammad Rafia, Assistant Director-General for Environment and Health Affairs, Dubai Municipality, said the new plan will boost the city’s green space and help ingest harmful pollutants. "We’re asking the public to plant inside and outside of their homes," said Rafia.

Given that leafy plants and trees ingest carbon monoxide from car emissions and then release oxygen – the greener a city becomes, the better will be the quality of the air we breathe.

Rafia said private property owners will be asked to provide their own plants for front yards and streetside parks. In some cases, the municipality will review requests for help.

"The municipality will help the public with advice and some plants," he said. "

Beauty contest

According to Rafia, the municipality hopes that as the idea catches on, entire neighbourhoods will join together to green their corners of the city.

In some North American cities, friendly garden competitions have led to beautification of neighbourhoods.

"In the future we will have competitions and prizes for the house with the most beautiful area," Rafia said.

Greening Dubai

The private greening plan is the latest in a string of 109 new municipal greening projects that will landscape and beautify Dubai at a cost of Dh460 million in 2008.

Some of the projects include:

• Developing six existing public parks
• Establishing 21 new neighbourhood parks
• Setting up 23 new community green areas

109

The number of projects marked for 2008 by DUbai Municipality to beautify the Emirate