Home Dubai, United Arab Emirates Wheelchair Accessible Travel Guide Dubai Sidewalk Accessibility
Dubai Sidewalk Accessibility
If there is one thing that takes away from Dubai’s overall rating for wheelchair accessibility, it is the sidewalks. Although many areas of the city have walkways that are well cared for, the “curb cut revolution” hasn’t touched every sector. I enjoyed rolling around Dubai in my wheelchair, but I did face some difficulty.
Pictured above is an example of an ideal sidewalk/crosswalk in Dubai. It is well marked and is outfitted with pedestrian signals. Curb cuts exist on either side, and in the median between lanes of the roadway. But, just a few blocks away from this intersection near the Business Bay Metro Station, there are sidewalks in significant disrepair and others without curb cuts at all.
If you’re a power wheelchair user like me, you will not be able to hop the curbs that lack ramps. You’ll have to go around them, which means operating your wheelchair in an active roadway. It might raise your heart rate a bit, but it’s definitely not as scary as wheeling in the streets of Bangkok (See my YouTube video). In Dubai, I was typically forced to roll in the street for no [...]