On my recent visit to Dubai, I found another Brownfield site (abandoned development might be more accurate) where some interesting natural regeneration is occurring. Like most such places, it is presumably awaiting redevelopment. This particular area is located in Bur Dubai, next to Creek Park. If you’ve read any of my older posts, you will
Last month (January 2026) I visited, for the first time, Al Mushrif park, on the outskirts of Dubai. I’ve passed it many times on my various visits, but this time I went straight there from the airport in my hired car, having arrived early morning, with the day to myself. I’d left a cold, drizzly
This article was originally published in March 2020, and updated here July 2025 This is the third in a four-part series. In previous articles (links at the bottom), I discussed the spontaneous regeneration of brownfield sites in the UAE and the utilisation of seeded landscapes to create semi-natural ecosystems without irrigation. Another factor of these
This article first appeared in Landscape Middle East magazine, in May 2025, worded slightly differently. There is a new opportunity arising within landscape/urban design, of delivering Nature Based Solutions (NBS or NbS) to both our urban and rural landscapes. The design of urban parks, commercial developments and streetscapes need an uplift to become ‘ecosystem communities’
First published in Landscape Middle East magazine, September 2024 (with different title). If there is one thing that makes being outdoors bearable in an urban arid environment, it is trees. It can be up to 20°C cooler in the direct shade of a tree, whilst a street with trees planted along it will be several
This article was published in Landscape Middle East magazine in January 2024. In light of the recent severe storms and floods in the UAE, I thought it would be timely to post this here. How we treat soil and irrigate trees has a big effect on how resilient trees are in resisting damage from such
Some of you will know that I have been following the ups and downs of a brownfield site in Abu Dhabi, near the Corniche. I’ve written two articles on it already, one in 2018 and one earlier this year. Links to these are at the end of this post. I visited again last week, the
This is last in a four-part series of articles on this subject, somewhat separated from the other three by time, because of COVID. Links to the first parts are at the bottom. In searching for a new way of creating natural, non-irrigated landscapes in the Middle East, I have already shared how certain species, often
Article updated June 2025 This is the third in a four-part series. In previous articles (links at the bottom), I discussed the spontaneous regeneration of brownfield sites in the UAE and the utilisation of seeded landscapes to create semi-natural ecosystems without irrigation. Another factor of these landscapes would be to make them productive in a
In part one of this four-part series, I discussed the colonization of brownfield sites in the UAE’s cities with a range of trees and shrubs – almost all of them “exotic invasive” species. I argued that these could be forming the basis of new, adapted ecologies. To revise those arguments, please the link at the
