Model Ecopolis Called Masdar
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 01.21.08
Today the WWF and the city of Abu Dhabi released more details (here's our first story) of the 47,500 inhabitant eco-town called Masdar ("the source" in Arabic) that they plan to raise from the desert floor. WWF provided ten sustainable-city concepts, the UK's Foster and Partners is supplying the design, and a new Abu Dhabi corporation is contributing the cash for the walled Masdar City, which will stretch out 3.5 miles and is planned to be carbon neutral, zero waste and car free.
Like Dongtan near Shanghai, Masdar is to be created from the ground (or the sand) up. It's a little disturbing that in Dongtan's case, a bird haven is being encroached upon, and in Masdar's case a strip of fresh-water-free desert near the Abu Dhabi airport with daytime temps of up to 50C is the site. The WWF says it will independently verify Masdar's eco-performance. Electricity will come from photvoltaic panels, cooling from concentrated solar power, water from a solar-powered desalination plant, and landscaping irrigated with city gray water. Sound utopic? There are even more marvels, below the fold!
Masdar City is supposed to be a multi-level design, with light rail on one level moving people in and out of the city while pedestrians rule at ground level and personal rapid transit flits back and forth above. In addition to solar power, wind turbines will be employed, as well as waste-to-energy plants.
Masdar's buildings will only be up to five stories high, and built on narrow streets no more than 10 feet wide, with rooftops covered with solar generators and street-level "solar canopies" providing shade. A solar photovoltaic plant will be the first structure to be built at the city site. So far, the United Arab Emirates' Masdar Corporation, which is the main 'owner' of the project, hasn't publicly put a price tag on building this sustainably-oriented fortress, but Guardian correspondent John Vidal called it "tens of billions of petro-dollars" to bring the city to fruition in its inhospitable location. Masdar - the corporation - also announced a 500 MW hydrogen plant, jointly owned by British Petroleum and Rio Tinto, is in the works. Whatever it ends up looking like in reality, Masdar is nothing if not ambitious. Via ::TheRegister
P.S. Why the walls? To diminish both the heat carried in from southerly desert winds and the noise from the airplanes at the nearby Abu Dhabi International airport.
It great to see things like this happening. A couple things I would change. I hope the walls don't get put up, unless there is some reason they require them. Why the 5 story height limit? Taller structures would let the city be more compact, reducing the need for transit, and provide more shade.
Clever and ambitious
Is using these petro-dollars to build a sustainable town economic carbon capture?
Ambitious, yes. Utopic, no.
Great idea, and good job on the principles (http://www.masdaruae.com/text/news-d.aspx?_id=47) which seem comprehensive.
Only major flaw would be the desalination plant which have problematic environmental impacts: brine, destruction of saltwater marine habitat, GHG output depending on the power source. But in Arab countries, I'm not sure how else you could get enough water to feed a city. Maybe it's smarter not to built in the middle of the desert.
Great idea, and good job on the principles (http://www.masdaruae.com/text/news-d.aspx?_id=47) which seem comprehensive.
Only major flaw would be the desalination plant which have problematic environmental impacts: brine, destruction of saltwater marine habitat, GHG output depending on the power source. But in Arab countries, I'm not sure how else you could get enough water to feed a city. Maybe it's smarter not to built in the middle of the desert.
MY, I think you are on to something. Masdar Corporation said it would do a huge carbon capture project with old oil wells and natural gas 'recapture' but maybe they see Masdar City as carbon capture, too!
Unless we do something like this stateside, I may become an expatriot yet.
What I was thinking April was that they're taking a finite resource (petrol) and using the money & energy to make something that could last for years and years, sustainable even.
I don't know, to the middle east maybe if you're sat on this massive, one-off resource that everyone wants, you use it to build yourself things that will last and last and last. So when it does run out, you're pretty setup for the future!
Kind of like saying "OK we've got all this plastic around, and it won't degrade for 500 years, so let's use it to make stuff that will last for 500 years!" Perhaps a better use for oil??
to quote Jack Lin above: "Maybe it's smarter not to built in the middle of the desert."
i'd rather see more comments like this from the treehugger bunch.
There is always talk that things need to be looked at for their economic, environmental and social impacts, I’m sure the economics have been extensively studied or this project wouldn’t be at the stage it’s in. I am a bit curious to see the numbers they generated to claim carbon neutrality, and what are the electric demands they are expecting? But lets look at the other two items in our triple bottom (top) line.
Has a full environmental impact assessment been done for the site? Believe it or not the desert has an ecosystem too and it's all part of our world. There is also a tremendous environmental impact as a result of the construction process itself, are they sourcing local, recycled, rapidly renewable materials? Is waste generated & GHG emitted during construction being accounted for? How is durability taken into account when selecting materials and methods of construction?
On the social side of things, labor on most large projects in Abu Dhabi is essentially slave labor, I don’t know if labor laws even exist in the UAE so this great development is comming at a great cost to many people.
To go along with Mr. Lin's comment: there must be under used, or socioeconomically challenged areas in Abu Dhabi or other cities in the UAE that could be redeveloped, upgraded and improved. With the tremendous amount of capitol being spent on this project surely it could be better spent on efficiency measures that could improve the entire city or even country and would result in less of an environmental impact for more than just the 47,500 people in this new city. But i guess that wouldn't get in the papers
I’m just saying that just because it is a "sustainable" development doesn't mean it's the best thing to do, we need to get the greatest benefit using the least amount of resources, i don't think building a new city accomplishes this.
e I do not agree with you at all.
Yes it is true that 15 billion could be used to shapen up a city already in UAE or could be used elsewhere but the fact is this is a totally new plan. It is a plan for a city to run completely on solar power. How amazing is that? Its also being paid for by so many people and its something that could convince many other parts of the world to follow if it works. Sure there might be a little slave labor involved but with any of these developments there is going to be underappreciated labor. It would cost way too much if labor was like 10-20 dollars an hour. I doubt the people will be paid too little to survive and keep their families going. This is a breakthrough in technology and you should be excited and happy about it! Who cares about other projects and fixing cities, I want solar! I want to see projects like this happen all over the world. We need to stop using electricity and we need to use the power that we get free, which is the sun and the wind. desalinization is a good thing because it is really the only way they can get water without digging deep deep into the earth. Most oceanic nature lives in other places so I wouldn't be worried about that. Whats to be worried about is that this is an amazing new project that could change the world!
"Sure there might be a little slave labor involved but with any of these developments there is going to be underappreciated labor. It would cost way too much if labor was like 10-20 dollars an hour."
A project that is only economically sustainable when there's a second class citizenry available to build it is not economically sustainable. Social costs are still costs, and shouldn't be ignored just because they can be.
The existing building stock in Abu Dhabi was designed to last 30 years, so a significant portion of the city's residential stock will need to be replaced within the next decade. $15B can buy a lot of revitalization, even if it's not as exciting as a shiny new solar-powered city.
It's nice to see this city recapture the deserts original roots by constructing city walls. However, if it looks to solve the carbon problem, would it not be wiser to create a city as such in an area where trees can act as carbon sinks to balance out the world's carbon emissions. Buidling a city in the middle of the most arid land does not seem plausible to me. Don't get me wrong, I agree with the concept, just not the location.
Utopia or Waltopia?
Walt Disney designed an amazing city like this, but after his death the plans for E.P.C.O.T. the city were changed into Epcot Center the theme park. What ever happened to the Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow?
Disney planned to have different levels within the covered city for foot traffic, completely separate from automobiles and trucks, which eliminates traffic deaths.
Also, there are no red lights or stop signs because the city is laid out as a circle, not a criss cross grid. See pictures at Waltopia.com. Realistically, Walt knew we would not want to give up our cars and his city takes that into account.
See the Waltopia website, there is a movie too, because there are many more similarities including the solar powered Wedway People Mover.
Check out "sustainable cities sustainable democracy" on the interent. And for a reality check go to:
http://theendpoint.blogspot.com/
Hi,
Anybody there who can help me give direct contact of the Project Manager of the Ecolopolis. We are organizing a conference in the Philippines in October of this year with "Going Green" as one of the underlying themes. We are very interested to invite the brain/planner behind the Ecolopolis so he can talk about the Concept and Vision of the Ecolopolis.
Please email me at cit@dotpcvc.gov.ph.
Thank you.
Jerome