Bahrain is looking to take its parks, gardens, walkways and waterfronts into a new era where green spaces do more than provide shade and recreation ... they would actively respond to the people who use them.
From smart irrigation and solar lighting to artificial intelligence, sensors, digital feedback and even autonomous maintenance, the kingdom has an opportunity to draw on successful experiences from around the world as it builds its own model for the public spaces of the future, Capital Trustees Board chairman Saleh Tarradah said.
According to him, China stands out as one of the leading examples. Beijing is deploying 72 robots and smart devices across 14 municipal parks, with the machines being used for cleaning, intelligent patrols, visitor services, landscape maintenance, water rescue and ecological monitoring. Some autonomous cleaning robots can navigate around obstacles and recharge themselves, while other systems monitor pests, identify equipment hazards and analyse ecological data.
Mr Tarradah said Bahrain could explore some of these systems through its own municipal projects.
He believes artificial intelligence could help transform the way parks are managed by providing authorities with a much clearer picture of how residents actually use them.
He has proposed working with universities to test AI systems capable of analysing visitor numbers, peak periods, age groups and the amount of time people spend in different areas.
The proposal has been referred to Municipalities Affairs and Agriculture Minister Wael Al Mubarak for review.
“You could take a park and ask: what are the peak hours and who comes here?” Mr Tarradah said.
The resulting data could help determine opening hours, identify underused facilities and highlight potential safety problems around children’s play areas, steps and other features.
Mr Tarradah also stressed that technology must be introduced responsibly, with privacy safeguards for people using public spaces.
For Capital Trustees Board vice-chairwoman Dr Khulood Al Qattan, the starting point is understanding that parks are community facilities rather than simply pieces of greenery.
The Capital is already working on a major maintenance and renovation programme covering 43 public parks, with priorities determined by factors including the condition of facilities, population, usage, available services and feedback from residents.
The board is also studying the experimental use of AI to analyse visitor movement and identify which services are most needed for people of determination, children, the elderly, pregnant women and couples.
That could eventually mean parks that adjust according to real-life demand – from lighting and cleaning schedules to irrigation, seating, sports facilities and children’s play equipment.
Municipalities Affairs and Agriculture Ministry Municipalities Under-Secretary Shaikh Mohammed bin Ahmed Al Khalifa said the ministry was committed to developing public waterfronts and beaches as spaces where residents could spend leisure time with their families while promoting health and sporting activities.
That vision is already visible on the ground.
The upgraded A’ali Walkway, for example, combines solar-powered lighting, security cameras, improved landscaping, sports facilities and a water-mist cooling system – features particularly relevant to Bahrain’s hot climate.
Earlier developments have also incorporated smart irrigation and security cameras, showing that technology is gradually becoming part of the kingdom’s standard park infrastructure.
“The next step could be to connect these individual technologies into one intelligent system,” Shaikh Mohammed said.
“Solar-powered smart shades could monitor temperature and provide cooling.
“Air-quality sensors could feed live information to municipal control rooms. Smart irrigation could respond to soil and weather conditions, reducing unnecessary water use.”
He added that even small vacant plots could become smart pocket parks, bringing shaded seating, trees, exercise equipment, free Wi-Fi and children’s facilities closer to residents in densely populated neighbourhoods.
“Digital platforms could complete the circle by allowing residents to report damaged equipment, request facilities, suggest improvements and provide instant feedback on their local parks,” he said.
For Bahrain, he explained, the opportunity is therefore not to fully copy one country’s model.
“It is to pick the best ideas from global smart-city leaders – including China – and adapt them to the kingdom’s own climate, culture, coastline, neighbourhoods and community needs,” explained Shaikh Mohammed.
“The result could be a new generation of Bahraini public spaces – greener, cooler, safer and, perhaps most importantly, designed around how people actually live.”
mohammed@gdnmedia.bh
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