A Sustainable Middleeast- AbuDhabis 1st steps

I dont know if this topic is right for QATAR living, but whats been planned for Abu Dhabi is just too exciting.

Different from the outta-this-world weirdness of Dubai, you ought to give credit to abudhabi for taking the bold first steps in large scale sustainable initiatives in the region.

The Masdar City, with 50,000 inhabitants and an area of 6 square kilometers, will be completely CAR FREE, with ZERO carbon emmisions and ZERO waste production.
It will be a compact high density city (a climatic response). The narrow streets between the buildings ensure shaded pedestrians areas and year round usable areas. The streets and buildings will be shaded by PV collecting canopies. Courtyards and wind towers will draw cool winds into the narrow streets. Materials with high thermal mass are to be used for construction. The city aims to achieve zero carbon emissions and zero waste production, with zero fossil fuel consumption and waste recycling programs. The master plan ensures that every inhabitant of the city is no further than 200m from essential services, encouraging walking and cycling.
A light railway transport system will link the development with the outside. The city’s orientation captures cooling sea breezes from the north whilst its perimeter protects against the warmer desert winds. The development also follows water management principles. A solar powered desalination plant will be build and 80% of the water used will be recycled. It promises to be a model to show that energy and water conservation can be achieved while enhancing the quality of life.

The attractive aspect of this project is the understanding of local climatic needs and incorporating ideas from elsewhere in a marriage of the traditional design principles with modern technology!

Here is the video presentation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWVsi0UtmgI

it will also house a university, researching in renewable technologies http://www.mist.ac.ae/institute/index.aspx?mi=mi

and there is the exciting Abu Dhabi 2030 plan : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zG0UyTuNVpQ

All this is really exciting for the region. SOMEONE has taken the initial initiative, now others just have to follow :) I feel this is something that's worthy of being emulated :)

Your views and outlooks?