Al Ain
From The Report: Abu Dhabi 2013
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The city of Al Ain is sometimes known as “the Garden City”, and with good reason. While the UAE is largely composed of desert, Al Ain sits in the centre of a large oasis that it shares with the neighbouring Omani town of Buraimi and which has sustained human settlement for thousands of years. Now, diverse economic activity is offering new opportunities aerospace supplies production, food processing and tourism – all areas which the government hopes to develop in Al Ain. Furthermore, retail space, office space and hotel rooms are all set to increase under bold plans for the city’s expansion. Indeed, Al Ain had a population of only 338,000 in 2005, but this is expected to rise to 627,000 by 2020 as a result of growth, reaching 1m by 2030, as new jobs attract residents.

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Overview

Down the road: The second city is set to experience sustained growth
OBG
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The city of Al Ain is sometimes known as “the Garden City” in the UAE, and with good reason. While the UAE is largely composed of desert, Al Ain sits in the centre of a large oasis that it shares with the neighbouring Omani town of Buraimi and which has sustained human settlement for thousands of years. While Al Ain, one of three municipalities in Abu Dhabi, has shared in the emirate’s oil wealth, urban development in the area has been strictly controlled, in part due to building ordinances…

Analysis

A measured approach: Developments will help the city preserve its environment and traditions
OBG
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With a population of 389,400 as of mid-2011 – some 103,800 of whom are Emirati nationals – Al Ain is the second-largest city in the emirate of Abu Dhabi and the fourth largest in the UAE. It has grown without losing its character or damaging the oasis that has sustained it for more than 4000 years. However, the population of the UAE has been soaring in recent years, driven by high birth rates among nationals and strong inward migration, and Al Ain is no exception to this trend. At the…