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Dubai Spatial Reserves
Competition project

Where Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Team Misha Miterev, Elizaveta Mitereva
Year 2025
Dubai Spatial Reserves proposal reimagines underutilized spaces across Dubai, such as parking lots, road edges, natural reserves, and waterfront gaps, into vibrant public destinations. By addressing connectivity, environmental comfort, and contextual character, each zone offers a unique spatial strategy. The project promotes walkability, multifunctionality, and identity through adaptable designs tailored to the specific character and needs of each zone.
The design proposes a modular, layered structure that integrates shading, amenities, and hidden service functions to enhance the beachfront experience. Its stepped form creates terraces and public spaces with sea views, while lightweight canopies offer comfort in Dubai’s climate. Designed for Sunset Beach but adaptable citywide, the system creates a flexible, elegant edge condition that blends infrastructure with leisure, activating underused coastal zones through refined, site-responsive architecture.
The design introduces a sleek pedestrian bridge that connects university and residential areas, overcoming barriers created by busy road infrastructure. Elevated pathways offer shaded, safe passage, while generous green landscapes expand the public realm below. The structure is modular and adaptable, integrating seamlessly into its urban context. More than a crossing, it becomes a civic spine, activating underutilized land, encouraging walkability, and stitching disconnected districts into one coherent environment.
The proposal reimagines the natural setting of Al Qudra Lakes through a network of elevated walkways and viewing platforms that immerse visitors in the landscape without disturbing it. A central pavilion with F&B amenities becomes the experiential anchor, offering panoramic lake views. Curved pathways guide pedestrians and cyclists through designated birdwatching zones and lush wetlands, blending ecological preservation with leisure. The result is a sensitive, sculptural intervention that enhances access while celebrating nature.
The Comprehensive Zone introduces a dynamic waterfront destination, linking Al Jaddaf Walk with the Mohammed Bin Rashid Library. Floating platforms offer a new pedestrian experience, while a layered landscape buffer discreetly screens the industrial zone. The result is an engaging public realm that strengthens connections and enhances the waterfront’s identity.
A modular canopy system transforms the industrial landscape into a shaded urban oasis and future heart of the district. The structure offers safe pedestrian crossings, lush green respite, and opportunities for retail integration beneath. Suspended vegetation and timber grids redefine the area’s identity, stitching together disconnected zones and inviting social interaction in an otherwise harsh environment.
The design revitalizes the historic coastline by transforming an underutilized parking area into a vibrant, multifunctional platform. Elevated above the embankment, the new structure introduces cultural spaces for museums, markets, and performances, seamlessly enhancing the waterfront experience while preserving visual and physical access to the historic context. Lush landscaping softens the edge, blending heritage with contemporary use.
The High-End Zone proposal transforms underutilized space beneath the bridge into a vibrant, active pedestrian hub. It introduces daily-use functions, greenery, and safe pedestrian zones, separated from traffic. Bridges improve connectivity, turning the area into a dynamic urban node and welcoming threshold between neighborhoods.
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