Utopia. A word used to describe a place where everything is perfect. And, from an environmental standpoint, Masdar City, located just outside of the United Arab Emirates’ capital city of Abu Dhabi, was billed as a futuristic, green city that was supposed to be an environmentalist’s utopia.
Ten years ago, Masdar City was the model for a green city, one that would reach net-zero standards, not just for a few of its major buildings, but for the city as a whole. But, as the Scottish poet Robert Burns wrote, "the best laid schemes of mice and men often go awry." Now, Masdar City looks more like a movie set after filming has wrapped or an abandoned Olympic venue of the past than a Jetsons-esque city of the future.
In short, as The Guardian’s Suzanne Goldenberg reports, Masdar City is closer to becoming the world’s first green ghost town than it is to becoming the world’s first net-zero city. The city's completion date was 2016, but that goal is no longer attainable (the new completion date has been pushed back to 2030). Neither is the goal of becoming a net-zero city. Even though, as it currently stands, only about 5% of the original six square kilometer building area has been developed, the city is already unable to keep up with the demand of being truly net-zero. In fact, it’s at about 50% of that.
In 2006, before the hype surrounding Masdar City plummeted back to earth, the project was heralded as a future global hub for the cleantech industry. Developers expected 50,000 permanent residents and 40,000 commuters zipping around the futuristic city via driverless electric cars from one efficient and green building to the next.
In 2016, there are only 300 permanent residents of Masdar City, all of whom are graduate students at the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology and, according to tour guides, fewer than 2,000 people work on campus.
There are around 300 firms with an official presence in Masdar City, but the buildings still, for the most part, remain empty. For example, the International Renewable Energy Agency is headquartered in a state-of-the-art six-story building that manages to use only one-third of the energy as compared to other buildings in Abu Dhabi. But the majority of this six-story structure remains vacant; only around 90 employees actually work in the building.
Other parts of the city act as a museum of half-baked ideas; a 100-station-long autonomous transport system was halted after the first two stops, due in large part to the speedy rise of the electric car. A bike sharing station is in place and ready to use, but it's 10 miles away from Abu Dhabi, which would feel like an even longer trek thanks to the complete lack of bike paths.
Masdar City's initial design called for automobiles to be banned. Instead, a public transport system using Personal Rapid Transit pods (pictured) would shuttle people around the city. The rise of the electric car made this system an unnecessary expense. Photo: Jan Seifert, Wikimedia Commons
It certainly didn’t help matters that crews broke ground on Masdar City in 2008, just as the global recession was about to kick into high gear. According to Chris Wan, the Design Manager for Masdar City, the recession made the decision of whether or not to invest in Masdar City much easier for many who were contemplating the idea. Ultimately, they decided to just play it safe and watch from the sidelines.
However, Masdar isn’t a complete failure. Sure, it will not reach its goals of being net-zero, but that doesn’t mean the city isn’t much more efficient than a typical city. Airtight insulation, high-efficiency elevators, designs that prefer natural lighting to artificial lighting, and solar water heaters on the roofs of many buildings all optimize energy use and make these buildings more efficient.
The city is still evolving and still has some lofty goals for what it can become upon completion. Until then, it can only be judged on what it currently is: a city of ideas.
Image Credit: GDS Infographics, Flickr Creative Commons
Related Stories
| Sep 3, 2013
Grand Junction, Colo., courthouse aims to be first net-zero building on National Register of Historic Places
After a two year renovation, the 95-year oldWayne S. Aspinall Federal Building and Courthouse in Grand Junction, Colo., is being evaluated for LEED Platinum status and may become the National Register of Historic Places’ first net-zero-energy building.
| Aug 27, 2013
College of the Desert in Palm Springs to produce more energy than it consumes
A 60-acre solar farm next to the College of the Desert in Palm Springs, Calif., along with a number of sustainable building features, are projected to help the campus produce more energy than it uses.
| Aug 19, 2013
Integration of solar panels in building skin seen as key net-zero element
Recent high-profile projects, including stadiums in Brazil for the upcoming World Cup and Summer Olympics and a bank headquarters in the U.K., reflect an effort by designers to adopt building-integrated photovoltaics, or BIPV.
| Aug 14, 2013
Green Building Report [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Building Design+Construction's rankings of the nation's largest green design and construction firms.
| Aug 12, 2013
New York’s first net-zero school will be a sustainability lab for city school system
An elementary school on Staten Island will be the first net-zero energy school in New York City and the Northeast. The school is designed to use half the energy of a typical New York public school. Construction will be completed in 2015.
| Aug 8, 2013
New green property index could boost REIT investment in more sustainable properties
A project by the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT), the FTSE Group, and the U.S. Green Building Council to jointly develop a Green Property Index could help REITs attract some of the growing pool of socially responsible investment money slated for green investments.
| Aug 6, 2013
Australia’s first net zero office building features distinctive pixelated façade
Australia's first carbon neutral office building, featuring a distinctive pixelated façade, recently opened in Melbourne.
| Aug 2, 2013
Design of world’s tallest wood skyscraper would be more sustainable than steel alternative
Architecture firm C. F. Møller has proposed building the tallest wooden building in the world in Stockholm, Sweden.
| Jul 26, 2013
LEED V4 includes controversial cradle-to-cradle materials provision
Cradle to Cradle certification, a strict assessment of the environmental qualities of materials used in green buildings, is a controversial provision in LEED V4.
| Jul 17, 2013
CBRE recognizes nation's best green research projects
A rating system for comparative tenant energy use and a detailed evaluation of Energy Star energy management strategies are among the green research projects to be honored by commercial real estate giant CBRE Group.
