Aldar to build 5,000 homes in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi's biggest developer, Aldar, has announced a 5,000-home construction project. The housing will be available to middle-income UAE nationals only. The Al Falah scheme is part of the Abu Dhabi government's housing initiative aimed at tacking the severe shortage of homes in the UAE's capital.

It will comprise five villages, each with its own village centre, schools and mosques. The town centre will be the focal point of the entire development and will contain civic buildings, a 65,000m² retail mall, a hospital, 50,000m² of commercial office space, a hotel and a sports and leisure complex.

Located to the east of Abu Dhabi international airport and the Abu Dhabi-Dubai highway, Al Falah has been designed as a sustainable community covering about 12 million m².

The design moves away from the traditional "grid" approach for developments, seen for example in Abu Dhabi's city centre. Instead the layout aims to encourage community gathering, with open parks that connect the residential, commercial and leisure elements.

Speaking at the launch of Al Falah, at the Cityscape conference in Abu Dhabi, Aldar chairman Ahmed Ali Al Sayegh said: “Aldar is proud to be a major contributor to one of the main pillars of Plan Abu Dhabi 2030. Increasing housing availability for middle-income families is one of many ways through which Aldar is living up to its mission of building sustainable communities to cater to the growth needs of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.”