In Arabian Desert, a Sustainable City Rises !
People poo-pooed the idea, but now the first residents have begun to move in..
I love the idea and what they are trying to do... BUT .. Although it's futuristic, sustainable and modern... Does it have soul ??? Can it work ??
Back in 2007, when the government here announced its plan for “the world’s first zero-carbon city” on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi, many Westerners dismissed it as a gimmick — a faddish follow-up to neighboring Dubai’s half-mile-high tower in the desert and archipelago of man-made islands in the shape of palm trees.
The city, called Masdar, would be a perfect square, nearly a mile on each side, raised on a 23-foot-high base to capture desert breezes. Beneath its labyrinth of pedestrian streets, a fleet of driverless electric cars would navigate silently through dimly lit tunnels.
No petrol/diesel cars are allowed. The network of electric cars run underneath the city. Then, to further reinforce the purity of the city, all of the heavy-duty service functions — a 54-acre photovoltaic field and incineration and water treatment plants — outside the city.
Full article :
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/26/arts/design/26masdar.html?pagewanted=2...
It's only a flight away .. let us know what you saw!
A very high tech city! Much much more to offer... Its carbon free. Masdar! I wish I could see it soon.
It will survive... unless some disaster like Tsunami happens!
Carbon credits are a con.. they should be done away with. The fact that they can be "sold" on the market makes it even worse.
I think Masdar deserves to survive, albeit on a smaller scale as a test bed..
I recall yaers ago, going to Milton Keynes to see the show houses featuring latest technology advances. They were superb. However, apart from Solar panels, i haven't seen much other technology from them being adopted in current buildings :O(
http://www.greenprophet.com/2010/08/masdar-total-system-failure/
Masdar City has experienced knee-buckling setbacks, but we haven’t heard the last of them just yet
Masdar City is hanging on tenterhooks. After questioning the dicey science of carbon credits for big energy companies, we then published assurances by Masdar’s CEO Sultan Al-Jaber that although the project will be delayed because of certain hiccups – not least of which being that no one in the post-industrial world has aspired to a city free of carbon, or cars – it will still proceed. Yet critics like Brett Prior say the Masdar ship is sinking fast.
The government is spending nearly UD$22 billion on it..
It will act as a research centre as well as provide part of the energy for Abu Dhabi..
As the designer , Lord foster said "Masdar has far reaching significance as a test-bed and an integrated urban research project of unprecedented scale and ambition."
Mere words ? I don't know. Will te world come on board ? I hope so.
Let's see if its sustainable in the long run. Or will this city be abandoned?
work is suspended for that project right?
They have spent a lot of money..
The issue is - Is it neccessary in this region and secondly as teh article says - Is it just for a select few..
it looks cool...but we have to wait and watch if it really works that way...