Lusail City, Qatar

Lusail City is a sustainable city being developed as part of Qatar 2030, the national vision for 2030.

Lusail Real Estate Development Company (LREDC), a subsidiary of Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company, is responsible for the development, construction, marketing and management of the city. The total cost of the project is approximately $45bn.

Construction started in 2006 and is expected to be completed by 2025.

In October 2012, Lusail City was selected as the best mixed-use development at the International Property Awards, Arabia.

Lusail City will have an estimated population of 450,000, made up of 200,000 residents, 170,000 employees and over 80,000 visitors, upon its completion.

Features of Lusail City

Lusail City, one of the largest commercial projects in the Middle East, is a coastal city located 22km north of Doha. It will be spread over an area of 38km², with a waterfront location stretching over 28km.

The city is designed to have facilities for work, leisure and recreational activities to provide a comfortable life. It will consist of 19 mixed-use entertainment, commercial and residential districts. It will feature four islands, a blue lagoon with two marinas, 25,000 residential buildings, high- and low-rise buildings, a business square with a 20-storey mixed-use tower, and low-rise buildings Piazza 1 and 2.

Lusail City will also feature commercial towers, hospitals, ports, two golf courses, five stadiums, a commercial park for energy companies, retail spaces, schools, mosques, medical services, sports and entertainment centres, public avenues, recreational areas, cultural centres and shopping centres. It will also have 22 hotels that will oblige by international standards.

Some of the major elements of the city include the Marina District, Energy City Qatar, Entertainment City and the Fox Hills residential area. Energy City Qatar is the first fully fledged oil and gas hub of the region.

Qatar was chosen to host the World Cup 2022 games. A key development undertaken in this respect in the city is the Lusail Stadium, with a capacity of more than 80,000 seats.

Marina District is one of the 19 integrated districts planned in Lusail City. It will include a residential waterfront and mixed-use commercial and hotel facilities in approximately 1.8 million m².

Lusail City design

Lusail City has a unique design with comprehensive planning that considers all the possible disruptions during the construction and maintenance of the city without deterring daily life.

The city will have underground tunnels for maintenance works and underground gas networks. For the first time in the nation, electricity will be supplied to the city through a network of purpose-built stations and underground substations.

The smart city will employ the latest technologies to create a peaceful and safe environment. An operational control centre will control the entirety of the systems and activities functioning throughout the city. A centralised command and control centre will provide surveillance through the city 24 hours a day to retain the peace.

Parking will be designed to be equally accessible to both residents and tourists. The car parking will be connected by ten underground pedestrian tunnels located throughout the city. Water taxis will also be used to travel through the waterfront.

Transport in Lusail City

Several transportation modes will be available in the city. It will include a light rail network (LRT), a water taxi system, and a cycle and pedestrian network. The LRT system will be constructed to connect the city to Doha in the future and to other countries in the Arab Gulf. Phase one of the LRT was completed in November 2020 while the first section began operations in January 2022.

The planned transit network will comprise 29 stations and four main tram lines located both above and under the ground, stretching for a length of 34km. A rail network will be constructed in the future, connecting the Doha Metro Network at an interchange on AlKhor highway.

The highway is carefully designed to provide connectivity to AlKhor highway and fast access to Doha and its international airport. Bicycle and pedestrian routes are planned throughout the city, which connect to the LRT, car parks and railway interchange.

Sustainability of Lusail City

Lusail City will be built as per Qatar Sustainability Assessment System standards. The green city will utilise underground tunnels, which via pipes will carry chilled water to provide cooling to the buildings in an environmentally friendly and energy-efficient manner.

The city will be hygienic as all waste reaches the recycling site through a vacuum network. Sewerage will be transported through underground pipes to the treatment station outside the city, where it will be treated, and all waste grey water will be used for watering the green open spaces in the city.

Construction of Lusail City

Construction of the entire city is divided into 12 phases, which will be carried out through 12 construction packages.

The major construction projects that are part of the Lusail City development include Al-Khor Highway, Lusail Expressway, Lusail LRT, Al-Sidra Golf Residential Development, Lusail mixed-use development, Lusail Entertainment City, Lusail Iconic Stadium, Qetaifan Islands (residential development), and the Medical and Education District.

Lusail smart city development

The three main consultants of the project are Hyder Consulting, a design and engineering consultancy, Halcrow, an engineering consultancy and subsidiary of CH2M Hill, and Cowi & Partners, an engineering and architecture consultancy. Parsons Corporation, a construction, technical and management services company, is the project manager.

Kasian Architecture, an architecture company, was contracted to develop the master plan for the medical and educational district of the city.

Hochtief, a construction company based in Germany, is responsible for providing planning and construction services. AECOM, an infrastructure consulting company, is responsible for infrastructure development works.

In early 2012, Samsung C&T Engineering & Construction, a construction and engineering group based in South Korea, was awarded a $296m contract to build one of the primary roads in the city. Dorsch Gruppe, an engineering consultancy, is providing supervision and consultancy services contract for the project under a contract signed in April 2012.

In October 2012, LREDC awarded a contract to construction company Al Jaber & Partners, for the construction of highways, roadway structures, intersections and utility networks, as a part of construction package six of the city’s development.

In April 2011, Draieh Contracting, a general contracting company, received a $164m contract from DAMAC Properties, a real estate company, to construct the Business Square, Piazza 1 and Piazza 2 developments.

In the same month, Parsons and AECOM entered a five-year contract with railway company Qatar Railways Development to serve as a project manager and consultant for the LRT system in Lusail.

The LRTC Consortium comprising Alstom, a transport solutions company, and QDVC, a construction company, was contracted to build the LRT system. SYSTRA is responsible for the design of the transport system.

Zaha Hadid was commissioned to design a 70,000m² hotel and residential apartments in Lusail City’s Marina district.

Turner & Townsend, a professional services company, was contracted to provide pre-and post-contract cost management services for the project.

In 2006, Sinohydro, an engineering and construction company based in China, was awarded the contract for marine, earthwork and site preparation as part of construction package one of the project.

Engineers Hyundai Engineering & Construction constructed the Lusail Expressway project connecting Doha to the Pearl-Qatar, and the Al Bustan Street South project to expand Al Bustan Street north and south of the capital.

Architecture company Foster+Partners designed the Lusail Plaza Towers development, which is part of a larger master plan. It was also responsible for the design of the Lusail Stadium, which was built by a joint venture (JV) of construction companies Hamad Bin Khalid Contracting and China Railway Construction.

Construction companies KD Construction, Consolidated Contractors, RC Al Mana, Midmac Contracting, NSCC International, Qatar Project Management, Ceinsa – JTC JV and Al-Ali Projects JV are involved in building various components of the project.

WJ Group, a water management company, Pinnacle Infotech, a building information modelling solutions company, Cracknell, an architecture company, Amorim Cork Composites, a cork composites solutions provider, ANEL Group, a mechanical, electrical and plumbing solutions company, Volvo Construction Equipment, a construction equipment supplier, are some of the other contractors involved in the project.

Formwork and scaffolding solutions companies ULMA and DELMON, Rider Levett Bucknall, a construction and property consultancy, Tecfire, a glass protection solutions provider, Precipio, a management consultancy, and BEXEL, a construction and engineering consultancy are also involved in the project.

Other contractors involved in the project include GE, a technology company, Systech International, a construction consultant, Avanceon, a provider of automation and control systems integration services, Irinatech, an engineering, procurement and construction company, and architecture companies BDP and Safdie Rabines Architects.