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364714
Thu, 04/23/2015 - 10:08
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Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council launches new corporate vision

ABU DHABI, 23rd April, 2015 (WAM) -- The Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council, UPC, has unveiled a new corporate vision and mission that more accurately defines its role. The updated vision and mission statements reflect the way the organisation has evolved since its inception in 2007 and are more specific in the way they represent the UPC’s objectives. Both are now more aligned with the UPC’s mandate as guardian of the Abu Dhabi Vision 2030, and are accompanied by a new set of corporate values. The UPC made the announcement yesterday at Cityscape, the region’s largest annual real estate event, where the UPC revealed some of its project approvals for Q1 2015. UPC recently finalised its 2016-2020 Strategic Plan, and the results of this process have helped form the new vision and mission. The statements encompass the evolution of the UPC into a model of international best practice, with a strong emphasis on sustainability. The new vision statement is: Planning Abu Dhabi Emirate for the next generation as a visionary, international model of sustainable urban development towards achieving Vision 2030. Its new mission statement highlights the values of leadership, visionary, excellence, collaboration, sustainability, responsibility and innovation, which will drive its management of the sustainable urban growth of the emirate by creating emirate-wide urban strategies, master plans, policies and regulations. It will develop the necessary procedures for development approval by working closely with public and private sector stakeholders. Falah Al Ahbabi, UPC’s Director-General, said, "The UPC has come a long way since its inception in 2007, and as our plans, policies and guidelines are regularly being revised and updated, so must our vision and mission to bring them in line with our Strategic Plan for 2016-2020. This was an intricate process that involved many stakeholders, including our employees, to ensure everyone understood why we were revising our vision and mission, and what it means both internally and to the people of Abu Dhabi. We believe it now clearly explains the UPC’s role and what we do as we move towards Vision 2030." In a relatively short amount of time, the UPC has made enormous contributions to the controlled planning and development of Abu Dhabi Emirate. It has devised major framework plans covering the whole of the emirate, including Plan Capital 2030, Plan Al Ain 2030, Plan Al Gharbia 2030 and Plan Maritime 2030, as well as important policies, regulations and guidelines that have improved and streamlined planning processes for developers, for the benefit of Abu Dhabi. The UPC is responsible for approving large-scale projects and master plans as well as managing the Emirate’s mandatory Estidama Pearl Rating System for sustainable design, construction and operation. In light of this, UPC also announced that it has given detailed approval for 22 projects spanning almost 700,000 sq.m. of GFA in the first quarter of 2015. Some of the key developments given the go-ahead include residential projects, schools and retail facilities. On Al Reem Island, the Centre of Excellence in Early Childhood Development will offer a variety of state-of-the-art resources and programmes to support young children’s development, including an early learning centre for 96 children under six and an auditorium to host workshops for teachers and parents. Detailed planning approval for Repton Abu Dhabi Senior School was given. The extension will accommodate up to 1,480 students from years 3 to 12, and has been designed as a ‘smart school’ that uses technology to build knowledge and skills, increase student engagement and enhance classroom monitoring capability. In the residential sector on Al Reem Island, the project plan for Al Noor Tower, a modern 73 apartment building with generous amenities for residents, was approved. On Abu Dhabi mainland, the project plan for Al Falah Mall was given the go-ahead. The project comprises a two-level community retail mall in the southwest corner of the Al Falah area, to the east of Abu Dhabi International Airport. The gross leasable area (GLA) of the development is approximately 30,000 sq.m.. In the Madinat Zayed area of Al Gharbia, the Western Region, the Shams Residential Development was given the go-ahead. The project consists of 73 residential villas featuring three bedrooms, living and dining areas, a swimming pool and open outdoor spaces. The compound will offer residents a communal recreational space and community facilities. In parallel, the UPC announced the number of Estidama Pearl Ratings that were awarded in Q1 2015. A total of 45 villas were awarded a 1 Pearl Rating, and 23 villas 2 Pearls. 48 buildings were awarded a 1 Pearl Rating, 27 buildings 2 Pearls and three buildings 3 Pearls, making the total number of Pearl Ratings for Q1 146. In addition, nine Estidama training sessions were held with 567 trainees in attendance. To date, the UPC’s Urban Development and Estidama Sector has delivered 454 projects and master plans spanning 97,255,323 sq.m., and since the Estidama Pearl Rating System was launched four years ago, a total of 11,881 villas and 921 buildings have been awarded a Pearl Rating. – Emirates News Agency, WAM – http://www.wam.ae/en/news/general/1395279582298.html

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