Abu Dhabi’s Masdar City promises many things: to be the world’s first carbon neutral city, a green-tech version of Silicon Valley, and a sustainable model for future urbanization. Can the desert utopia live up to the hype?
 | Picture Gallery (click on the image to start)See the first models and sketches of Masdar ecocity |
In 2008 man became an urban animal. For the first time over half the world’s population lived in cities, some 3.3 billion people. Their numbers will rise to 5 billion by 2030, predicts the United Nations, placing colossal burdens on the environment. Today’s cities are energy hungry, thirsty, and produce most of the world’s waste and greenhouse gases.
Could a new model of urban growth emerge from the sands of the Arabian Desert? In 2008, builders broke ground on the “world’s first carbon neutral city”, Masdar City in the Gulf emirate of Abu Dhabi. According to the Abu Dhabi government, Masdar City will produce zero carbon dioxide emissions, no waste, and run on renewable energy: a modern city with a per capita energy usage nine times less than the United States. Planers think of it as a hub for green technology development: Masdar means “the source” in Arabic.
Good intentions, but will Masdar be more than a mirage? The financial power of oil rich Gulf States is one argument in favor. Masdar is also backed from academic heavy weights like the Massachusetts Institute for Technology (MIT) and the Tokyo Institute of Research and Technology.
Pedestrian paradise
Masdar, however, won’t be for those dreaming of a low-tech future. The city, intended to support 40,000 residents and 50,000 commuters, will be car free, but not necessarily crowded with bikes and pedestrians. A Personal Rapid Transit system, small pods on rails, will offer a sort of mobility that could best be compared to riding your private metro car. Goods will be transported in a similar way. Commuters will get to Masdar via Abu Dhabi’s planned Light Rail Transit (LRT) system or, old-fashioned, by car.
Building a green city in a desert seems especially daunting. Masdar planers, however, want to use the region’s location to the cities advantage. Tools from traditional Arabian architecture like city walls can help keep hot desert winds out. Narrow, canopied streets provide shade and funnel cooling breezes.
Add some water features and native vegetation and temperatures could be down to a constant 20 degrees Celsius, reducing the need of energy for heating or cooling. Masdar buildings are projected to use only 20 percent of the energy of conventional structures exceeding even current best-in-class standards for energy efficiency.
 | Picture Gallery (click on the image to start)The world's ten biggest cities: centers of pollution or models of efficiency? |
Solar power, an abundant source of energy in the Arabian Desert, is meant to produce most electricity. About 100 megawatts of PV power, half of the city’s needs, will come from photovoltaic solar panels. A similar-sized city with a conventional design would require 800 megawatts of installed capacity, say Masdar’s planners.
Other energy sources include geothermal, wind turbines, and organic waste incinerators. One fifth of the energy supply has not been finalized on the optimistic assumption that better forms of renewable generation will emerge by 2016.
What happens to a solar-powered city at night? Masdar will have to import gas-fired power from the national grid to keep the lights on, until better electricity storage emerges. Planers want to offset this fossil fuel use by exporting surplus solar energy generated during the day back to the grid.
Water will be the city's scarcest resource. Freshwater will be sourced from a desalination plant powered by solar panels. Dew-catchers and rainwater harvesting will top up the supply. Water for irrigation of crops and gardening, about 60 percent of the city’s water needs, has to be sourced from recycled waste water. All in all, only two percent of the waste Masdar generates should go into landfill.
Greenwashing the desert?
Unsurprisingly, there are many unanswered questions. Where will Masdar’s food come from? Will surplus solar power really offset the electricity Masdar imports at night? Is it truly sustainable to plant more people in a desert climate?
Critics say the only way to ensure that Masdar is truly carbon neutral is not to build it. The 15 billion dollar initial investment, they say, would be better spent greening Abu Dhabi, which has one of the worst carbon footprints worldwide. Still carbon-intensive projects abound, Abu Dhabi is building the world’s largest aluminum smelter, a Formula One racetrack, and an indoor ski slope.
At worst, Masdar will be a dazzling distraction from the politically awkward business of retrofitting existing infrastructure, business, and lifestyles. At best, the city will be a crucible for green urban design and technologies, says urban developer Richard Plunz, Director of the Urban Design Lab, Earth Institute.
“Ecocities like this are study models rather than places designed to replace the existing urban infrastructure,” says Plunz.” They are laboratories.”
And with the credit crunch taking a grip elsewhere, the Gulf is one of the few places where funds are still available for futuristic research. A new utopia might just be the thing needed in a world faced with bad news about economic decline and climate change—even if it’s built on sand.
editor: James Tulloch
publishing date: March 25, 2009
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