Extracting the Planning Elements for Sustainable Urban Regeneration in Dubai with AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process)

Dubai has experienced rapid economic growth and a remarkable urban reformation during last two decades. In Dubai's old urban fabrics, however, the infrastructure and buildings are being deteriorated, the local economy was stagnated, the urban community became weak, and the vitality of the city center was degraded. Dubai's sustainable urban regeneration project called Deira Enrichment Project plans to improve the lagging physical environment as well as comprehensive urban regeneration across the economy, society, and culture. The objective of this paper is to investigate the planning elements for sustainable urban regeneration in Dubai and evaluate the weights of the derived elements. As a methodology, expert brainstorming is conducted with AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) to determine the final planning elements, an expert survey is conducted, and the importance of sustainable urban regeneration planning elements is analyzed. The AHP results had shown that Urban Environment Sector (Weight: 0.254, Rank: 1) was the most important factor in top planning elements, as well as the Economic (Weight: 0.235, Rank: 2) and Social/Cultural Sectors (Weight: 0.194, Rank: 3). Regarding lower planning elements, Green and Water-friendly Spaces (Weight: 0.252, Rank: 1) is top priority in Urban Environment Sector, Public Transport-Oriented System (Weight: 0.254, Rank: 1) is top priority in Transportation Sector, Restoration of Historical and Cultural Resources (Weight: 0.233, Rank: 1) is top priority in Social/Cultural Sector, Policies for Low-Income Families (Weight: 0.257, Rank: 1) is top priority in Economic Sector, and Energy Efficiency-Oriented Design (Weight: 0.300, Rank: 1) is top priority in Sustainability Sector. This study will serve as a basic data for sustainable urban regeneration in Dubai.