Sustainable Status Assessment of the Transit-Oriented Development in Doha’s Education City

Abstract

Doha, the capital of the State of Qatar, has seen rapid growth in recent years, resulting in challenges that can be addressed through sustainable urban design strategies. Such approaches, including Transit-Oriented Development, aim to provide compact urban forms with mixed-use development enabling easy access to the city’s transit services. In light of such objectives, and with the 2022 World Cup being hosted in Qatar, the government has invested heavily in its public transportation system and in implementing Transit-Oriented Development. This work presents an analysis of the current status of Transit-Oriented Development in the knowledge hub in Doha known as Education City. A case study methodology was used, which included site observation, photographic documentation, mapping, and statistical analysis based on recent census data. The analysis shows that the use of public transportation throughout the site is relatively low, largely due to the region’s hot climate and the local mobility culture, in which there is a general preference for private vehicle use. The culmination of this investigation is a master plan for the study area, which foresees further enhancement of the area while still holding to the aims of Transit-Oriented Development. To this end, key recommendations for modifying the prevailing mobility culture are suggested, such as increasing the availability of multimodal transportation in order to improve public transportation functionality and modifying certain aspects of the public transportation system so that it is convenient and comfortable, even during periods of very hot weather. The findings of this study highlight the potential of urban design to change people’s behavior and increase awareness of multimodal transport options.