Qatar National Day: Qatar powering ahead with 2022 World Cup preparations

TEXT: Qatar was awarded the right to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup™ on 2 December 2010. Soon after, in 2011, the State of Qatar established the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) to deliver the required infrastructure and host country planning and operations for Qatar to host an amazing and historic 2022 FIFA World Cup™ which accelerates progress towards achieving national development goals and creates a lasting legacy for Qatar, the Middle East, Asia and the world.

The stadiums, non-competition venues and other infrastructure the SC and our stakeholders are delivering will contribute to a compact and connected FIFA World Cup™ with sustainability and accessibility at its heart. After the tournament, the stadiums and surrounding precincts will become vibrant hubs of community life – an integral part of the legacy we are building.

Working closely with the Qatar 2022 Local Organising Committee (LOC), the SC is also responsible for 2022 FIFA World Cup™ host country planning and operations. Families and groups of fans arriving from around the world will experience a secure, human-centred tournament that both celebrates and exemplifies the hospitality for which Qatar and the region are known.

Finally, through programmes including Generation Amazing (corporate social responsibility), Challenge 22 (supporting regional innovators) and Workers’ Welfare (ensuring the safety and security of workers on our projects), and initiatives such as Community Engagement and Josoor Institute (career development), the SC harnesses the power of football to stimulate human, social, economic and environmental development in communities across Qatar, the region and Asia.

Milestones continue to be reached at Qatar 2022 stadium sites

To mark the two-year countdown to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, check out the progress we are making at each of our eight stadium sites.

Three stadiums – Khalifa International, Al Janoub and Education City – have all been inaugurated and are fully operational, with the remaining five at various stages of construction.

All eight stadiums will be completed well in advance of the tournament, which will kick off on 21 November 2022.

Qatar Delivers a World-Class Transportation Corridor Project

The Lusail Expressway will transform transportation in Qatar by improving the movement of people and services around the Doha area to benefit this growing region for years to come.

Amidst Qatar’s swaying palm trees and impressive skyline is the developing Lusail Expressway, a best-in-class transportation corridor that will transform the way in which people and goods travel across the country. Located in Qatar’s capital city of Doha, this new Expressway will run north from the West Bay’s business district to the Pearl (an innovative island development of top-quality real estate), along the Gulf to the fast-growing, modernistic city of Lusail: a sustainable planned city contributing to Qatar’s vision of cultivating a prosperous social and economic society.

Msheireb Downtown Doha Project

Msheireb Downtown Doha will transform the center of the capital city, recreating a way of living that is rooted in Qatari culture.

Msheireb is the world’s first sustainable downtown regeneration project, that will revive the old commercial district with a new architectural language that is modern, yet inspired by traditional Qatari heritage and architecture – its proportion, simplicity, space, light, layering, ornament and response to climate. Utilising the latest in sustainable technologies, Msheireb will adhere to the highest standards in green building. The strategic objective of the Msheireb project is to reverse the pattern of development in Doha, which has tended towards isolated land use, reliance on car transportation and energy hungry structures. Msheireb Downtown Doha will become a new social and civic hub in the city centre – a place where it is enjoyable to live, work, shop, visit, and spend time with family and friends.

Msheireb Downtown Doha Key Figures:

Project Cost: Approximately QAR20 billion (US$5.5 billion)

Land Area: 31-hectares (310,000 square metres)

Project Name: Msheireb means ‘a place to drink water’ in Arabic

Project Timetable: Construction commenced in 2010, construction completion scheduled in phases

Parking Spaces: 10,000+

Total Buildings: 100+

Building Height Range: 3 to 30 storeys

LEED Rating: Entire development is targeting LEED Gold minimum, with several buildings targeting LEED Platinum.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020