The future of liveability is personal

Personalisation has changed what we expect from the world around us.

The device in your hand reflects the news you read, the journeys that you make, and the services you use.

Businesses increasingly use data and artificial intelligence (AI) to understand their customers and tailor services to their needs.

This raises a question for cities. Could they understand and respond to their residents with the same degree of precision?

The question matters in both Singapore and Abu Dhabi.

Both have invested heavily in infrastructure and quality of life, and both are considering how to respond more closely to the different needs of their residents.

A tale of two cities

Singapore has spent decades refining the relationship between housing, transport and neighbourhood planning.

Its public housing towns bring homes, schools, shops, parks, community facilities and transport together around everyday life. As its population changes, that model is evolving.

In Abu Dhabi, we are approaching the same challenge from a different starting point.

We are increasingly looking district-by-district at what communities have, what they lack and what residents need.

The next phase of liveability, however, needs to go further than neighbourhood planning, because people living on the same street can experience their city very differently.

A young family may care most about schools, playgrounds and getting children around easily. An older resident may place greater importance on accessibility, healthcare and reaching everyday services on foot.

A commuter may prioritise public transport and congestion, while someone else may value cycling routes, public spaces or community facilities.

Those priorities also change throughout our lives. The challenge is for cities to recognise these differences and respond to them.

Liveable cities are adaptable ones

Singapore provides a compelling example.

By 2030, one in four Singaporean citizens is expected to be aged 65 or above.

Age Well SG is adapting neighbourhoods to help older people remain active, socially connected, and supported within their communities.

The principle is straightforward. As people’s needs change, the city needs to change with them.

In Abu Dhabi, our district-level approach is helping us build a more detailed picture of individual communities.

We look at existing facilities, how people move through neighbourhoods, where services are under pressure and where improvements could make the greatest difference.

Our Dream Neighbourhood Survey adds to this understanding by asking residents directly what they want from their communities. Their answers can challenge planners’ assumptions.

One community may prioritise better public transport, while another may need improvements to traffic flow. Families may want easier access to schools, while other residents may value parks, walking and cycling routes, micromobility or places to come together.

Ways of working to get there

Technology allows us to understand these patterns in greater detail.

Data and AI can show how people move, how places are used and where services and infrastructure are under pressure. Their purpose is to help make everyday life better.

That also requires the government to work differently.

Singapore has long demonstrated the value of connecting decisions about housing, transport and community infrastructure. The same principle applies in Abu Dhabi.

People’s experience of a city is shaped by many things at once. Education planning needs to reflect where families are moving.

Public transport, walking, cycling and micromobility need to connect people with the places they need to reach.

Healthcare and community services must respond to changing populations, while public spaces need to be accessible, maintained and used.

No single government department can deliver this alone, and there is no single model that every city should follow.

Singapore’s experience of integrated neighbourhood planning and demographic change offers lessons for other cities.

Paris has pursued its own approach through the 15-minute city, while Melbourne has focused on 20-minute neighbourhoods.

Abu Dhabi also has experience to share and much to learn.

Measuring liveability beyond the city level

For decades, we have tended to measure liveability at city level.

Rankings and averages remain useful, but they cannot fully explain how individual people experience their daily lives.

The next step is to understand liveability at the level of the neighbourhood and, increasingly, the individual.

This conversation was a part of many held at the Liveability & Investment Exhibition (LIVEX) in Abu Dhabi, bringing together governments, planners, investors, developers and technology leaders from around the world to compare experiences and learn from one another.

The cities that make the greatest progress will not necessarily be those that find a universal formula.

They will be those that become better at understanding the people who live in them.

The future of liveability is personal.

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His Excellency Mohamed Ali Al Shorafa is a Member of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council and Chairman of the Department of Municipalities and Transport (DMT).

In this role, H.E. oversees the development of Abu Dhabi’s master plan, including infrastructure, urban planning, construction, transport, real estate, and municipal services. H.E. also leads the Abu Dhabi Projects and Infrastructure Centre (ADPIC).