At the time of its conception, it was lauded as a paragon of sustainability. Abu Dhabi’s Masdar City would be the world’s first zero carbon emission, zero waste and zero car metropolis.
Yet by many yardsticks, those ambitions now look ridiculously lofty.
So far, less than 5 per cent of the planned 6 km² centre has been built while only 300 residents, fewer than 2,000 workers and a paltry 300 businesses are occupying this desert town. Most disappointing of all, perhaps, is that Masdar’s grand aim of being the first net zero energy connurbation will probably never be achieved.
Now expected to be completed in 2030—24 years after its inception— Masdar could easily be viewed as a grand folly.
Yet that would be a mistake.
Its goals, clever architecture and urban sustainability technology continue to serve as both a template and inspiration for metropolises battling to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
The city’s Shams 1, for example, is a cutting-edge 2.5 km² 100 megawatt solar power plant displacing 175,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year. The city’s 45 metre high wind tower, meanwhile, is a modern take on traditional Arab technology, in which cool breezes from higher up are funnelled down to pedestrian level, displacing and pushing hot air up and away from the lower levels of surrounding buildings.
Skeleton of a city
According to experts in sustainable urban planning, cities should be seen as living organisms. It is only when they’re viewed through this lens that ecological thinking can become truly embedded in their design and construction.
“The city has a skeletal structure which is the architecture, a vascular structure which is the streets and bridges, a digestive system which is the restaurants, grocery stores, and so on,” explains Richard Register, a pioneer in urban design. “A really healthy city even has a sharp edge like a skin, where the people who are inside pop out and there’s nature right there.”
Masdar is in many ways a good example of this approach . Its skeletal structure is based on a low rise (not exceeding five stories), high density philosophy, lowering energy use from transportation, heating and cooling, all while creating a vibrant urban environment by incorporating industry and culture together in the heart of the community.
Water, water everywhere
There are more radical versions of the skeletal concept.
For Koen Olthius, a Dutch architect and founder of Waterstudio.nl, the city of the future will not necessarily be land-based – it might also float on water.
“With water we have an extra ingredient to our recipe for the city which can change all the possibilities—half on land, half on water; the land will continue to provide the spirit of the city, while water will give flexibility, safety and space.”
Master plans for complete neighbourhoods floating on water are in the pipeline, and although dreams of plug-and-play Olympic facilities, touring floating parks and seasonal buoyant amenities abound, Olthius’s simplest and smallest idea— shipping containers attached to floating foundations—is perhaps his most valuable.
The first of these so-called Floating City Apps has already been built and will soon be deployed in Bangladesh. In these innovative spaces slum dwellers could access education, healthcare, sanitation, cooking facilities, garbage collection or even tools to help rebuild their homes.
Smart highways
When it comes to its vasculature, Masdar uses traditional Arab design with shaded paths and narrow streets, combined with the presence of street-level ‘solar canopies’, creating a pleasant space for walking in the hot desert climate.
Drawing inspiration from this, Dutch artist and designer Daan Roosegaarde wants to re-imagine cities’ vascular systems with futuristic technology, focusing on making street and road lighting more sustainable. Although his efforts to use bio-luminescent trees and light-emitting water to replace street lamps are still in the early stages of development, the first stretch of Roosegaarde’s Smart Highway has already been installed in the Netherlands.
The road has glowing lines that charge during the day and glow for eight hours at night, and snowflakes painted on the road light up in treacherous cold conditions. “Smart Highway makes roads that are more sustainable and interactive by using light, energy and road signs that automatically adapt to the traffic environment and people,” he says.
Master plans for complete neighbourhoods floating on water are in the pipeline.
Farm to fork… fast
Sustainable urban living also extends to the way in which cities produce and consume food.
As Masdar shows, “it’s actually possible to see the city as a machine for enriching natural biodiversity, soil fertility and a lot of other very good things,” Register says.
One company that’s helping cities develop sustainable agricultural systems is Infarm, a pioneer in vertical farming.
Already selling leafy greens in a Berlin Metro store, Infarm’s hydroponics system “removes the need to have food shipped in from thousands of miles away, ensuring access to fresh, premium produce at affordable prices, 365 days a year,” explains co-founder Osnat Michaeli. “Growing locally and by demand eliminates waste and requires 99 per cent less energy for transportation and refrigeration,” Michaeli explains.
“Growing hydroponically we use 90 per cent less water, 70 per cent less fertiliser and zero pesticides compared to traditional soil-based agriculture, and growing vertically, in a controlled environment, allows us to maximise space and farm year-round.”
