Abu Dhabi city is on an island with a resulting shortage of land for development. The houses are built to fill all available land with the building. Most housing in Abu Dhabi is in high-rise apartment buildings that also contain shops, offices, and even hospitals. Because of the shortage of apartments with dedicated, secure parking, at levels low enough to ensure that fire rescue equipment can reach them, and in areas that are not consistently overloaded with traffic, the Embassy was successful in 1998 in getting a housing pool profile approved that should ensure all employees are assigned houses, not apartments, for residences. The American Community School is the school of choice for the American community.
Spaces are limited which makes advance registration extremely important.
Some families have chosen to send their children to the American International School. There are a number of private preschools. Yes, There are numerous child care facilities available for preschool age children. Yes, except for the summers. Most expatriate families leave during the summer when the temperatures and humidity levels are so high that outdoor activities are inadvisable except for very short periods of time.