In March 2022, Diamond Developers in partnership with the Oman Tourism Development Company (OMRAN Group), announced the launch of ‘The Sustainable City – Yiti' in Muscat 

With an investment value of nearly US$1bn, the city aims to meet the highest global green practices and adheres to the highest sustainability standards, just like its sister developments in the UAE: The Sustainable City in Dubai and Sharjah Sustainable City. 

With a people-centric philosophy that embeds safety, inclusion, wellness, arts, culture, and education, Diamond Developers is currently one of the region’s leading sustainable development companies in the Middle East.

In an exclusive interview with CM today, Salah Habib, Chief Executive Officer, of Diamond Developers, talks about the company’s ambitions for the future and why other developers should join it on its sustainability journey.

1. Most developers are reluctant to go green in a colossal way because of the high costs involved. What made Diamond Developers take the plunge? 

We have been very keen on correcting this misconception, Sustainable developments do not come with elevated construction costs. When planned from the early stages, the construction cost is the same as or in some cases even lower than conventional developments, and they add a significant reduction to operational costs. 

When we planned The Sustainable City, we had bold ambitions to prove this, and I can proudly say that we did.

We’ve been able to achieve this by integrating sustainable construction, material, and strategies to initial project frameworks and designs.

Additionally, in recent years, we’ve witnessed continuous technological developments in the sustainability space. Smart solutions are increasingly available and affordable, which makes sustainable developments even more appealing to developers.

With the proven feasibility of our striving sustainable communities, we encourage other industry players to join us on this eco-friendly journey in order to expand sustainable living and see tangible results in reducing carbon emissions.

2. I have heard that The Sustainable City is the community with the longest waiting line of people wanting to buy a property. Is this true? Could you please share some statistics? 

I am proud to say that we are at 100% capacity when it comes to our residential units and have more than 50 clients on our waiting list that we hope to welcome to our community at the soonest.

Ever since the launch of The Sustainable City, demand has been on the rise, which is a reflection of the quality of life and the standards our existing residents enjoy. 

We always strive towards bringing the best to our community members, from residents to business owners and partners, and we do that with sustainability at the center of the experience.

3. What sort of property owners does the community attract?

Our community at The Sustainable City is very diverse, with around 65 nationalities from around the world, residing in it. 

The Sustainable City appeals strongly to families with kids because of the live-work-thrive led community we’ve created. Families also feel safe within the borders of the city as the residential clusters and common walking areas are free of cars. Parents also really enjoy being able to walk their kids to school in the morning, as well as giving them the freedom to walk or cycle to school safely and confidently by themselves. 

The Sustainable City is also attractive for people looking for a healthier lifestyle, as we offer facilities such as jogging and cycling tracks, indoor and outdoor sports auditoriums, an equestrian club, and swimming pools. We encourage members of the community to adopt a healthier and more active lifestyle and hope to deliver and exceed expectations with the amenities we offer. 

We ensure that our cities allow for access to a wide range of facilities including educational, healthcare, retail, as well as entertainment. Within our wider mission, this reduces the need to leave the city and encourages a sense of belonging through social engagement. 

Our community is also one that attracts home-grown business owners, who have been able to thrive in the community through a grassroots network. In fact, we’ve witnessed some of those businesses succeed to a very wide scale of popularity and recognition globally.

4. What are the upcoming plans for Diamond Developers?

The Sustainable City Yiti in Oman is our biggest upcoming project, with an investment value of nearly one billion US dollars, in partnership with the Oman Tourism Development Company (OMRAN Group).

It is well underway and set to be the largest operational sustainable community in the world, spanning approximately one million square meters. It will offer 1657 residential units including 300 villas, 1225 apartments and 132 luxury serviced apartments housing 10,000 residents. The vibrant community plaza will encompass community living and it will also be home to a sustainable school, a professional education institute, an autism center, wellness center, equestrian club, sports complex and plaza, a cultural center and a ‘Green’ mosque, among others. 

The community is designed with the highest social, environmental and economic sustainability standards in mind, and has ambitions to be the world’s first Net Zero Carbon city by 2040. It reduces the per capita carbon footprint of its residents by at least 75% compared to conventional 

housing and living in Oman. This is achieved by lowering emissions across all six pillars of environmental sustainability: food, energy, water, products, mobility, and waste. 

It will offer its residents stunning views of the Sea of Oman and combine class-leading, premium living standards with community health and wellbeing at the heart of the development. 

Our sustainability journey will continue beyond this, with many other projects in the pipeline across various markets, adding to our portfolio in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, and Muscat.

5. Could you list some of the ways in which The Sustainable City truly stands out from other communities? 

The Sustainable City takes an integrated and inclusive approach to urban life. The masterplans amalgamate green, energy-efficient designs with a people-centric philosophy that includes nature and animals thus ameliorating public space. The Sustainable City understands that for a city to thrive, it should cater to all aspects of life, work, and wellness. 

For designing these cities, we have created our own DNA which quantifies all sources of manmade carbon emissions and their contribution towards global warming under six categories – food, energy, water, products, mobility and waste. This allows, TSC to reduce or eliminate emissions to bring forward the 1.5°C Paris Agreement targets, towards climate positivity. 

We also believe in sharing knowledge and values and educating our community. Through educational programs, it continually monitors and collects sustainability data for research and development in collaboration with global academic institutions.

As a testament to its success, The Sustainable City Dubai was recognized as the “happiest community” in GCC at the first Gulf Real Estate Awards instituted by the Dubai Land Department for the fourth year running. This summarizes the beauty of being part of it.

6. How is Diamond Developers using technology to improve the community living experiences of tenants?

Technology and innovation are engrained into all our projects at Diamond Developers, right from the skeleton planning phase. These innovations are for the most part technological and span from a selection of materials to the logistical methods of construction.

We believe that sustainable development is a forever-evolving field and one that is accompanied by challenges and hurdles that we welcome to test our capabilities and allow us to integrate new solutions into our projects as we progress. These projects continually require new solutions to incorporate some of the most advanced technological advancements in food, energy, water, products, mobility, and waste management. For example, solar PV modules fitted in our Sharjah project are 30% more efficient than in TSC Dubai, and PV modules in TSC Yas will be 20% more efficient than in Sharjah. 

We also use the latest technology of high-efficiency PV modules, and advanced inverter technology with higher production and greater reliability, we are confident that residents of The Sustainable City projects will live comfortably with all-time access to clean energy, with reduced bills. 

Moreover, we design all our cities with tailored and unique solutions that suit their needs. To give an example, in our Abu Dhabi project, we are building a distributed chilled water system that will be powered from surplus solar energy, and in our Sharjah project, we are building the first small-scale biogas facility to convert organic waste into energy.