Discover Dubai’s climate‑controlled walking projects: Raining Street on The World, The LOOP and Dubai Walk. Cool air, rain on demand, and car‑free commutes.
When summer in Dubai sends the mercury past 45°C, even a short stroll can feel like an endurance test. Yet this city, already fond of records and audacious ideas, has pushed further: it is building streets where you can walk in cool air even as the sun scorches outside. Not a fantasy, but projects that are already open or about to debut.
One of the most striking projects sits on The World—artificial islands laid out as a map of the globe. Here, a roughly one‑kilometer street keeps a steady 27°C, moderate humidity, and a gentle breeze all year. And, remarkably, it can summon artificial rain—and at times even snow.
Called Raining Street, it is part of the Côte d’Azur resort and was developed with German engineers who helped design the entire system. Access is limited to hotel guests or those with a special day pass (about $80). It is a tourist magnet first, but it also shows how technology can reinvent something as ordinary as a street.
Another project, The LOOP, imagines a 93‑kilometer covered pathway for walking and cycling. Inside, conditions stay cool and comfortable regardless of what the weather throws at the city. The core idea is simple and ambitious: commuting without a car in 20 minutes or less.
But it aims to be more than a roofed corridor. Plans call for harvesting energy from people’s footsteps to power lighting and other systems, and for layering in plenty of greenery so the route feels welcoming rather than tunnel‑like. The city hopes that by 2040 most residents will get where they need to go without a car—on foot or by bike.
There is also Dubai Walk, a climate‑controlled pedestrian street with a roof that will begin at the Museum of the Future. It promises roughly two kilometers of walkable space, free from heat and dust. The intent is clear: make Dubai friendlier to pedestrians. Today many residents rely on cars because of the heat, and the city wants to change that balance.
These aren’t just pretty concepts. One is already operating, another is being built, and a third is in the pipeline. What unites them is a single aim: to make Dubai a place where living and walking feel comfortable despite a punishing climate. It is not merely about hiding from the heat; it is about reshaping the idea of the modern city.
Such ideas are already drawing interest in other countries with similar conditions. Not every place can afford this scale, of course, but Dubai is showing that with technology even the climate can be nudged—if only a little.