Controlling the pace of change: the Urban Planning & Development Authority is drawing up a masterplan for Qatar to ensure planned infrastructure projects are compatible and able to move ahead on time.(DOHA)

With a booming economy and a population that is forecast to more than double from 400,000 to about I million within two decades, Doha is in the middle of a period of momentous growth. This in turn is radically transforming the capital, with new housing and roads being built.

To ensure public infrastrncture can cope with the rapid pace of change in Qatar, the Urban Planning & Development Authority (UPDA) was set up in 2005 to draw up a masterplan to guide development and major projects in the state over the next 20 years. The UPDA has the task of compiling a vision for future development that encompasses housing, transport and utility provision, economic development, environmental protection and land use. The report is expected to be completed in the coming months.

It will combine the plans for projects such as Education City and the Pearl and Lusall real estate developments into one integrated blueprint to ensure the compatibility of the projects and facilitate the timetabling of infrastructure work. However, the UPDA has not been given responsibility for the settlements and communities that have grown up around Qatar Petroleum-controlled areas, such as the onshore Dukhan oil field, Mesaieed port and Ras Laffan industrial city. The masterplanning for these is carried out by independent authorities, such as Mesaieed Industrial City Authority.

Population growth

Qatar's previous masterplan, the National Physical Development Plan, was completed in 1997 but became outdated as population growth averaged 5.8 per cent a year between then and 2004. This increase was not predicted in the 1997 plan.

The UPDA masterplan will support Qatar's National Vision 2030, which was approved in June 2008. Under the guidance of the General Secretariat for Planning Development, the plan aims to transform Qatar into one of the world's most advanced countries in terms of economic, educational and environmental standards through sustainable social and economic development. The development of a knowledge-based …