This is an amazing project. Doha will get a 35 km mist cooled, covered network of cycling paths in 2007. It’s almost unbelievable.
Streetsblog » Mist-Cooled Bike Paths Being Built in Qatar:
The ruler of Qatar, Emir Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani wants to get his people riding bicycles. One of the challenges in accomplishing this goal is the fact that, for much of the year, Qatar is hotter than a blast furnace.Fortunately, when you’ve got a pannier full of oil money, 115 degree daytime temperatures are no big deal. The Emir hired the Rand Corporation and Rand proposed a 30 kilometer shaded, solar-powered, mist-cooled bike path. The Emir gave the green light and with no cumbersome democratic processes to get in the way the project sailed through to approval
One thing that caught my eye was that this project was proposed by the Rand corporation, a US think tank which is often connected to military and national security research. Very interesting that they came up with such a ‘green’ idea.
I will be visiting Qatar for the first time next month. I am actually quite excited to visit this little country which is doing so much to put itself on the world stage.
Listen to this podcast about the project.
[Hat tip: Cycling Jordan]
Comments
7 responses to “Qatar’s amazing 35 km cooled cycling path!”
It is quite a cool & Dubaiesque project.
But like you said, more interesting is the involvement of RAND…. It is not far fetched that they are advising Qatar on more than just recreational solutions… and getting paid very generously.
This project would actually be considered a break through.
Such things do exists, but only in textbooks. Seeing this coming through would be amazing.
I think Heat Transfer textbooks would include this project in their future editions.
Solar heating and air conditioning should be the future of energy production. Lets hope it do catches in Jordan (good for mother earth and good for my pockets
)
Congratulations Ahmad on winning those awards! You deserve it.
This is something to make you proud. As a cyclist I find this project as very impressive, now I hope we have normal roads in Jordan where it’s not life threatning to ride a bike or even cross the street.
Shame on Jordanian drivers and the Ministry of Transportation!
That’s amazing.
This is very impressive but what would impress me more is if someone would actually tell me where this path is. Better yet, publish a map of the current and the future paths. That’s how you get people to use it.
i AM A TEACHER AND PLANNING TO COME AND WORK IN qATAR. i HAVE DONE THE ARGUS IN SOUTH AFRICA AND IS A KEEN CYCLIST BUT NOW I AM EVEN MORE EXCITED COMING TO QATAR AFTER SEEING THIS AMAZING TRACK
I live in Qatar and have not seen or heard anything about this fantastic project. Any ideas as to whether this is actually happening?