The Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council (UPC), the agency responsible for the future of Abu Dhabi’s urban environments, has launched the new website version of Estidama (sustainability in Arabic).

“Engaging and educating the community is one of UPC’s main objectives and the new Estidama website is aimed to promote an on-going, constructive dialogue and foster exchange of ideas and innovations for sustainable practices,' said Falah Mohammed Al Ahbabi, general manager, Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council.

The state-of-the-art online portal includes a number of interactive tools and also functions as a forum to exchange views, comments and ideas and empowers users to delve deep into the latest trends of sustainability directly from specialist Estidama experts.

Salem Al Qassimi, associate planner, Estidama said that visitors to www.estidama.org can learn details of the newly launched Estidama Integrative Design Process (EIDP) which focuses on the ‘how’ of sustainability rather than simply the ‘what’.

'The Integrative Development Process sits at the core of Estidama. It is an evolved model that redefines existing urban development practices and requires a level of collaboration that is rarely used in our region or in building projects currently underway.'

'This collaborative approach can be completed in a timely fashion, but because of its structure and philosophy, can save significant time and construction costs,' said Al Qassimi.-TradeArabia News Service