Participants in Qatar Leadership Centre’s Rising Leaders programme, 2015-2016, recently met with Msheireb Properties CEO Abdulla Hassan al-Mehshadi, who heads the QR20bn flagship Msheireb Downtown Doha project.    
The visit to Msheireb provided participants with an opportunity to learn about Qatar’s real estate sector, where government investment in infrastructure development alone will amount to more than QR650bn in the next few years.
Al-Mehshadi explained to the participants how the pillars of Qatar National Vision 2030 influenced the development of Msheireb Properties’ innovative approach, blending traditional Qatari architecture with modern design and technology to achieve Msheireb Downtown Doha’s distinctive features.   
“We wanted to challenge the standard concept of urban planning by fundamentally changing the way people live and work in urban environments,” al-Mehshadi said.
Msheireb Downtown Doha’s features include integrated transportation, sustainable solutions and an improved standard of living, the company said in a statement.  
Rising Leader Mohamed Abdulla al-Bader, a manager at Ooredoo, said: “The visit to Msheireb Properties gave us the opportunity to understand the importance of the role of a leader in applying effective management to transform an organisation’s vision into reality.”
“Our approach to the creation of a new downtown community has been achieved by merging smart design and the latest technology to build the world’s first sustainable downtown regeneration project,” al-Mehshadi said, explaining how buildings and streets were planned so as to provide shade and take advantage of cooling winds in a warm climate.
Msheireb Properties also integrated the latest management systems and technologies to achieve high rates of energy efficiency, water conservation and effective waste management.
Once the project is completed, Msheireb Downtown Doha will have the highest concentrations of LEED - (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified sustainable buildings in the world, the statement added.
During the briefing, the Rising Leaders learned how Qatar’s traditional architecture and cultural heritage have influenced the shaping of Msheireb Downtown Doha.  
Sara Jabor al-Kubaisi, who heads the planning unit at Qatar Olympic Committee, said: “Through this visit, I learned how Msheireb Properties is realising a vision of building a modern community that also preserves Qatar’s architectural heritage for future generations.”
The Rising Leaders are among the participants in QLC’s National Leadership programme, conducted in partnership with leading international universities. It is designed to develop the leadership capabilities of Qatari professionals aged 25 to 35 years.
This year’s 34 participants come from a range of sectors and organisations across Qatar, such as communications, energy, finance, health, real estate and transportation.