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Challenges to developing smart prisons in the United Arab Emirates

Mohammed Abdulla Aldhaheri (School of Architecture and Built Environment, Science and Engineering Faculty, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia)
Bo Xia (School of Architecture and Built Environment, Science and Engineering Faculty, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia)

Facilities

ISSN: 0263-2772

Article publication date: 14 July 2022

Issue publication date: 19 July 2022

401

Abstract

Purpose

The smart building concept has gained prominence in the construction sector during the past decade. In the United Arab Emirates, although smart building technology has been widely adopted in different building sectors, no empirical studies have examined the applicability of the smart buildings concept in prison facilities. The current study aims to understand the current status of prison buildings in the UAE and the challenges faced by the prison industry to implement new smart technology.

Design/methodology/approach

This study involved a semi-structured interview consisting of 14 participants who were interviewed face-to-face about their opinion about the objectives of the study. The interviewees were experts from the prison and construction industry of the UAE working at the top management level. Mind-maps were created from the thematic data using Nvivo software.

Findings

The results demonstrated that among current issues prevailing in prisons, overcrowding was regarded as the most severe issue. Additionally, in most cases, there is no systemic classification of inmates. Concerning the potential challenges in the implementation of smart technologies in the prison buildings, being too old and outdated of prison buildings are a significant concern, followed by a substantial gap in the approval system of budget to purchase new smart technology.

Originality/value

The findings of this study are of vital importance and help to identify potential challenges involved in the implementation of smart technologies in prison buildings that should be taken into consideration before selecting any new smart technology.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors are highly indebted to Abu Dhabi Police GHQ for providing the funds for this study. Also, special thanks to Mr Muhammad Farooq, QUT for his help in the data analysis and editing of this manuscript. The author is thankful to the supervisory committee of QUT for their continuous support throughout this research study.

Research funding: This research was funded by Abu Dhabi Police GHQ on behalf of the development of punitive and correctional facilities in the UAE. The funders had no role in study design, data collection, analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript.

Citation

Aldhaheri, M.A. and Xia, B. (2022), "Challenges to developing smart prisons in the United Arab Emirates", Facilities, Vol. 40 No. 11/12, pp. 793-808. https://doi.org/10.1108/F-02-2022-0015

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited

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