Masdar City | cleanenergyy

Background

Established in 2006 and located in Abu Dhabi, Masdar City was to become the world’s first zero-carbon, zero-waste, car-free city – part of an ambitious plan by the Abu Dhabi government to develop clean energy technologies.

It was estimated to cost US$22 billion and projected to take 8 years to build; it was to be home to 50,000 people and 1,500 businesses

In a nutshell, the plan for Masdar was:

- The city to be mostly powered by solar energy (~90%), with the rest of energy use supplied through incinerating waste

- Residents to move around in zero-emission travel pods running on magnetic tracks

- City to create low energy buildings, with natural air conditioning supplied

Masdar City’s Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system – the pod cars and magnetic tracks

Largest Photovoltaic Plant in the MENA region located in Masdar City

Architectual exterior detail of the Masdar Institute Campus

Progress 2013

Construction restarted in 2008, following the financial crisis which had hit the UAE hard
Originally planned to be completed by 2016 as a functioning city, completion date has been pushed back indefinitely. At the moment however, construction is booming in the eco-city
Phase B has recently been completed and the city’s first residents are the Masdar Institute students and staff who test and develop a variety of technologies within the campus
Transport plans for reliance on PRTs have been scrapped, with a fleet of electric vehicles taking their place. There are plans for other mass transit
Architecture in Masdar consists of a blend of traditional design and state of the art modern technology to maximise energy efficiency – buildings reduce energy demand by 56% and potable water demand by 54%. Wind tunnels allow people to congregate outside in the hot summer months
Masdar officials say the city feels as much as 70Fahrenheit cooler than its surroundings – a layout which encourages walking and street life, something rare in Middle Eastern cities like Dubai. This encourages energy conservation – the cooler the city is, the less the need for electricity for air-conditioning

Electric vehicle deployed in Masdar

Exterior façade of Masdar Institute campus and windtower

Masdar Institute campus

Masdar City central courtyard and institute campus

Center courtyard and windtower at the Masdar Institute

Criticisms

Sceptics fear that Masdar may just be a fig leaf for the oil-rich Gulf emirate – a distraction from the fact that the region otherwise has a heavy carbon footprint – BBC News, 10 Feb 2008. Works starts on Gulf ‘green city’.
Fears that Masda might simply become a luxury development for the rich – a playground for tourists and the wealthy, out of reach of most of the world’s citizens – BBC News, 10 Feb 2008. Works starts on Gulf ‘green city’.
Designs reflect the ‘gated-community’ mentality – the idea of its utopian purity and its isolation from the life of the real cities next door, are grounded in the belief that the only way to create a truly harmonious community, green or otherwise, is to cut off from the world at large (limited relevance to the world most people live in) – Critic’s Notebook, (25 Sept 2010). In Arabian Desert, a Sustainable City Rises. New York Times/International Herald Tribune.

Limitations of plans

There is a need to change attitudes and mindsets of actual occupants who are to stay in Masdar – most Abu Dhabi citizens are used to keeping their air-conditioning as low as 60F (electricity is also heavily subsidized), whereas in Masdar, AC temperature needs to be set closer to 77F to keep within its efficiency targets
Behavioural regulations and controlled design that keep Masdar green might also limit the free and serendipitous qualities that mark a living city – not to mention discouraging potential residents who might not want to follow such a strict rulebook