Minister of Municipality H E Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Subaie yesterday inaugurated Umm Al Seneem Park, with the largest air-conditioned jogging tracks in the world, in Umm Al Seneem, Al Rayan Municipality, breaking Guinness World Records.
The 1,143-metre-long air-conditioned jogging tracks received the title of Guinness World Records for the ‘longest air-conditioned outdoor path’ on October 17, 2022.
The jogging tracks, ensuring temperatures about 26 degree Celsius aim at encouraging visitors for exercise in a bid to make them fit and healthy.
Speaking to the media, Minister of Municipality said that Umm Al Seneem Park spreads over an area over 130,000sqm is part of an initiative of the Ministry to improve the quality of life by increasing green spaces in Qatar.
“We have increased the green spaces in the country over 10 times, compared to those in 2010 by building parks, landscaping and green areas,” said the Minister. He said that public parks are equipped with fitness machines, children play areas and joggers trackers, including some of them air-conditioned for the comport of visitors.
“The parks have been built following sustainability goals to cut the carbon footprint and provide fresh air to visitors,” said the Minister, adding that the efforts will continue to open more new parks in near future.
Speaking to The Peninsula, Director of Public Parks Department, Muhammad Ali Al Khouri said that the jogging tracks of Umm Al Seneem Park has been registered in the Guinness World Records and an official certificate for the title of the record was issued by the officials about a week ago.
The Umm Al Seneem Park was developed by the Public Works Authority (Ahghal) in coordination with the Ministry of Municipality.
The park, stretching over an area of 130,105sqm, can accommodate about 6,000 visitors per day. The green spaces of the park covers 68 percent of total areas, 88,400sqm dotted with 912 trees of 18 types, including 75 local trees and 820sqm long green walls. The park includes many important facilities, including the outdoor air-conditioned jogging-track for running and walking with a length of 1,143 metres, which is in a circular shape around the park.
The cycling track is 1,135 meters long. There are three areas for exercises, a fitness box that allows visitors to exercise through a screen that displays a trainer teaching exercises. The park also has two children’s play areas, one for the age group 2 to 5, and the other for 6 to 12 years, with games dedicated to children with special needs.
There are seven service kiosks, including six for food and beverages, one kiosk for renting bicycles and bicycle parking, besides providing garden furniture, locally manufactured benches from Fiber Concrete (GRC) and Glass Reinforced Plastic (GRP).
Energy-saving lighting poles haven installed. There are parking spaces for people with special needs, in addition to seven water fountains, prayer rooms, and bathrooms.
The eco-friendly air-conditioning system of jogging tracks relies on generating 60% of the electricity required to operate the air conditioners with solar panels, reducing electricity consumption while maintaining temperatures up to 26 degrees Celsius.
Director of Public Parks Department Muhammad Ali Al Khouri said that the number of public parks in Qatar increased from 56 in 2010 to 143 in 2022, recording 164% growth.
He said that green spaces jumped from 2,614,994sqm in 2010 to 43,861,133sqm in 2022, taking per capita share of green space from 1sqm in 2010 to 16.2sqm in 2022, recording 16-fold growth. “The total number of trees that have been planted across the country under ‘Plant Million Tree’ initiative has reached 1,193,665, surpassing the target, which is equivalent to 15,517,645sqm green areas,” said Al Khouri.
Eng Mohammad Arqoub Al Khaldi, Chairman of the Supervisory Committee of Beautification of Roads and Public Places in Qatar said Umm Al Seneem is an added value for achieving the environmental sustainability strategy, and enabling citizens and residents to adopt a healthy lifestyle.
Director of Building Affairs Department at Ashghal, Eng Jarallah Al Marri said that the park is eco-friendly as its air-conditioning system is powered by solar energy.
