Abu Dhabi · 24.45°N 54.38°EExecutive advisory · 2026

Shaping how
cities are built.

Sovereign infrastructure, city masterplans and spatial intelligence—translated into clear decisions for ministers, boards and capital leaders.

AED 80B: Sovereign capital
33+: Masterplans & sites
USD 18.5B: Budget platform
AED 30M: Governance savings

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§ 01 — Thesis

Cities are shaped where capital, form and data meet. I connect sovereign infrastructure, architectural city design and spatial intelligence into decisions leaders can fund, govern and deliver.

§ 02 — Advisory practice

Etihad Rail · 7 Emirates

National rail masterplanning and station-network strategy—plus the separate Railway Oriented Development policy guidelines—shaping the commercial case of an AED 80B programme.

2×Projected network revenue

Capital ↔ form ↔ evidence01 / 04

Capital priorities set the network; district access and land-use evidence test its value.

§ 03 — Flagship mandates

Evidence, not claims.

01 / 07

Conceptual strategy diagram · not an approved alignment

01Masterplanning & strategy · Etihad Rail

Role · Group Head of Masterplanning

UAE National Rail Masterplan & Network Strategy

Network masterplan and station strategy for the AED 80B national railway across seven Emirates. Separately authored: the National Railway Oriented Development Guidelines (2025), the policy instrument for development around stations.

AED 80B programme
2× network revenue
AED 30M saved
ROD Guidelines · 2025 policy

Source: ADTC · UrbanLoop Executive Summary, Slide 2

02Autonomous mobility · Abu Dhabi Transport Company

Role · Transit Architecture & Urban Integration

UrbanLoop Saadiyat

Investment proposal aligning justification, funding, phasing, risk and governance for an automated cultural-district loop.

13 stations
6,560 m
7,500 pph

Source & photograph © Site Design Group · Riverwalk East

03Civic waterfront · Site Design Group

Role · Project Designer (Site Design Group employee)

Chicago Riverwalk East

Reconnecting Chicago with its river between Michigan Avenue and Lake Shore Drive—a widened, realigned edge composed as a sequence of outdoor rooms, from urban plazas to native, park-like landscape at Lake Michigan.

2022 Illinois ASLA Merit Award
2020 ENR Midwest Best Project
2020 Silver Ribbon Award
~USD 14M (press reports)
Source & photo © Site Design Group

Case study

Source: DC Council Budget Lookup Tool · agency-to-account detail

04Public finance · Office of the Budget Director

Role · Creator · frontend architect · data strategist

DC Council Budget Lookup Tool

The first tool of its kind to let any resident follow every dollar of the District's budget—agency, program, activity and cost centre—plus WMATA service-area and fare-sensitivity analysis.

NCSL commended
USD 18.5B budget
Citizen-grade transparency

Live tool BudgetExplained

Source: Ali Al-Sammarraie · Tableau Public · modeled 2070 scenario

05Spatial intelligence · Springfield, MA

Role · Urban form tessellation & geospatial model architect

Harvard Linear Urban Forests

Land-use and street-network tessellation modelling native forests along streets—stormwater, urban heat, accessibility, afforestation and carbon sequestration, read as ESG impact at macro and micro scale.

Harvard Chan School
Climate Change Solutions Fund
Afforestt

Geospatial model Harvard Chan Afforestt

Source: Ali Al-Sammarraie · Tableau Public · access-to-jobs model

06World Bank · Chennai Metropolitan Area

Role · Co-author · accessibility & masterplanning

A Connected, Green and Safe Chennai

A data-driven, accessibility-informed mobility framework: jobs reachable in 30/60 minutes, low-income affordability, 30-minute neighbourhoods, access for women and children, and land use / TOD.

World Bank working report
Indicator framework
CUMTA

Accessibility indicators

Source: MIT Mobility Futures Collaborative · Flocktracker, Dhaka (not Nayichaal)

07MIT · Applied mobility ventures

Role · Co-founder

Nayichaal & Flocktracker

Nayichaal reached the finals of the Toyota Mobility Foundation Sustainable Cities Challenge among 360 entrants. Flocktracker is an MIT spinoff, co-founded under Prof. Chris Zegras, for mobile mapping of transit.

Finalist · honourable mention
360 contestants
MIT spinoff

Nayichaal Flocktracker

§ 04 — Leadership record

Nineteen years across capital, form and data.

MIT MCP · Rodwin Fellow
BArch, AUS · magna cum laude
PMP
LEED AP ND
MIT Certified Urban Design
AIA Associate · NCARB
APA · USGBC · PMI
Arabic · English · Russian

2026—Now
Transit Architecture & Urban Integration
Abu Dhabi Transport Company
2024—2026
Group Head of Masterplanning
Etihad Rail
2022—2024
Head of City Planning
Etihad Rail
2021—2022
Lead Consultant, Masterplanning & Transit Strategy
The World Bank
2021—2024
Director, Geospatial Analytics & Urban Design
Harvard University
2019—2022
Policy Analyst & Strategic Advisor
DC Council
2017—2019
Researcher, Autonomous Mobility & Transit Systems
MIT Media Lab

Intellectual capital & policy

Keynote · 2024
Transport Infrastructure Construction Summit UAE — Future of Mobility & Urban Development
Speaker
EVIS — Collaborative Mobility
Talk · 2022
UNDP KnowTalks — Geospatial data for the 2030 Agenda, Abu Dhabi International Book Fair
Podcast
Building Green Podcast — Sustainability myths and economic value
Panel
Digital Twins for the built environment — real estate, MEA
Moderator
MIT SciTech Conference — Future of cities and infrastructure in MENA
Speaker · 2018
ILEM, Istanbul — Urban crises and trends in the Muslim world
Exhibition · 2017
Transition — Menier Gallery, London
Award
MIT Lloyd & Nadine Rodwin Award
Award
Toyota Mobility Foundation — Finalist, honourable mention
Research · MIT
Planning Autonomous Evacuation for Access and Flood Resilience
Research · MIT
Sustainable tree landscaping in hot arid regions: Emirati neighbourhoods, Abu Dhabi

Secure channel · openMandate intake

> scope: sovereign infrastructure · city design · spatial intelligence

> engagements: boards · ministries · sovereign developers

> status: accepting select advisory mandates

Begin a briefing.

alijay@alum.mit.edu LinkedIn

> awaiting mandate parameters

> output: diagnosis · precedents · approach · indicators · risks

Shaping howcities are built.