Dubai: A robotic car park linked to the office tower at Ibn Battuta Gate can hold up to 765 cars and is the first of several planned for the UAE intended address parking woes.

Because the park is robotic, it means that it can fit twice as many cars in the space than if it was a regular car park due to saved space.

Watch video: Dubai's robotic car park

And in terms of time, the system can retrieve your car and deliver it you within three minutes - a claim tried and tested by local media.

The robotic car park, one of the three largest in the world, can park 250 cars every hour.

It is possible for 32 cars to be in motion within the seven-storey system at any one time.

The car is revolved 180 degrees once it is inside the car park which will save time once the car is retrieved as it will come out facing forward, said Sami Eisa, general manager of Robotic Systems, the technology licensor.

"In a world of increasing urbanisation and traffic congestion, the future is robotic parking. As more and more vehicles in the UAE and the Middle East share a limited volume of available space, the need for a solution has become acute," Eisa said.

And at no point in the process does the equipment or another person touch the cars, making it less likely to be scratched.

The office tower itself is the first phase of Ibn Battuta Gate. The second phase is a hotel which will be in operation at the beginning of 2010 and 150 serviced apartments which will be finished in the next four months, said Ahmet Oktay Cini, chief executive of Asteco Development Management.

The system will be free for tenants of the office tower but there will be a charge for visitors which has not yet been finalised.

Andrew Chambers, managing director of Asteco, which is leasing Ibn Battuta Gate, said that not only is the office tower close to the mall and metro, but the cars will be protected from the actions of the weather and micreants.