Masdar City

UAE is not only advancing in common infrastructure but also specialized  infrastructure  which are energy efficient. It stands first in the category  by taking the initiative to create a city concerned with energy management. Chicago-based Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture is designing Masdar Headquarters.  Bob Forest, a partner at S+G is in Abu Dhabi overseeing construction.

The Masdar City, located on the edge of Abu Dhabi, will house 50,000 people and 1500 businesses on completion, although no cars will be allowed. Masdar City will save equivalent of more than $2 billion in oil over the next 25 years (based on today’s energy prices). 75% reduction in installed power capacity, Masdar City will require approximately 200 MW of installed clean power versus more than 800 MW of installed capacity to power a similar city based on conventional design. It will require around 8,000 m3 per day of desalinated water while traditional cities require more than 20,000 m3 per day. Landfill area is severely diminished as Masdar City will need virtually no landfill area.

The first project as a result of the Masdar Initiative is a new 6 million square meter sustainable development that uses the traditional planning principals of a walled city, together with existing technologies, to achieve a zero carbon and zero waste community. Masterplanned by Foster + Partners, the initiative has been driven by the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, and will be a centre for the development of new ideas for energy production. Masdar responds to the urban identity of Abu Dhabi while offering a sustainable urban blueprint for the future. Due to be launched at Cityscape Abu Dhabi 2007, it is an ambitious project that will attract the highest levels of international expertise and commerce, providing a mixed-use, high-density city. The exciting programme includes a new university, the Headquarters for Abu Dhabi’s Future Energy Company, special economic zones and an Innovation Center.

Special Free Zone

According to Al Jaber  the CEO,  Masdar Special Free Zone (SFZ) will promote synergy between academic resources, research facilities, industry, the financial community, entrepreneurs and family businesses.

The zone will provide up to 1,500 companies with an attractive package of incentives, including a one-stop-shop programme of government services, transparent laws, 100 per cent foreign ownership, tax-free environment and intellectual property protection.

The zone will also offer proximity to manufacturers, suppliers and markets.

Masdar intends to leverage elsewhere the knowledge gained in developing the SFZ with a minimum carbon footprint, by building other sustainable communities. Adfec is a private joint stock company established and wholly-owned by Mubadala Development Company.

Adfec drives the Masdar Initiative, a multi-billion dollar, multi-faceted response to the need for a global focus on the development of advanced energies and sustainability-related technologies. The Masdar initiative was launched by General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces in 2006.

Masdar is designed to ensure that Abu Dhabi grows its share of the global energy market by fostering the development and commercialisation of advanced and innovative technologies in renewable, alternative and sustainable energies for a cleaner, safer environment and future.

Partnerships

Masdar has partnered with the world’s most prominent companies, educational institutions and investment firms to advance a global energy strategy and promote utilisation of sustainable resources.

Masdar is comprised of six strategically designed and focused units: Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, Masdar Research Network, Innovation and Investment, Special Projects, Carbon Management and Masdar Zone Development.

Masdar City will be built in seven phases, including educational and research institutes, laboratories and production facilities for new advanced energy products. Masdar City will require a quarter of the typical power-generating capacity, needed for a small-size community. The water needs of the city will be 60% lesser, according to the company estimates.

The company is planning to monetize all carbon emission reductions, and such an innovative financing has never been applied on the scale of entire city. The license to emit the carbon, which Masdar City will not produce, will be sold, and the money will be utilized to fund the development.

The principle of the Masdar development is a dense walled city to be constructed in an energy efficient two-stage phasing that relies on the creation of a large photovoltaic power plant, which later becomes the site for the city’s second phase, allowing for urban growth yet avoiding low density sprawl. Strategically located for Abu Dhabi’s principal transport infrastructure, Masdar will be linked to surrounding communities, as well as the centre of Abu Dhabi and the international airport, by a network of existing road and new rail and public transport routes.

Rooted in a zero carbon ambition, the city itself is car free. With a maximum distance of 200m to the nearest transport link and amenities, the compact network of streets encourages walking and is complemented by a personalized rapid transport system. The shaded walkways and narrow streets will create a pedestrian-friendly environment in the context of Abu Dhabi’s extreme climate. It also articulates the tightly planned, compact nature of traditional walled cities. With expansion carefully planned, the surrounding land will contain wind, photovoltaic farms, research fields and plantations, so that the city will be entirely self-sustaining.

Masdar City aims to WWF International’s “one planet living”guidelines (highlighted in bold):

1. ZERO CARBON: 100 per cent of energy supplied by renewable energy – Photovoltaics, concentrated solar power, wind, waste to energy and other technologies
2. ZERO WASTE: 99 per cent diversion of waste from landfill (includes waste reduction measures, re-use of waste wherever possible, recycling, composting, waste to energy)
3. SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT: Zero carbon emissions from transport within the city; implementation of measures to reduce the carbon cost of journeys to the city boundaries (through facilitating and encouraging the use of public transport, vehicle sharing, supporting low emissions vehicle initiatives)
4. SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS: Specifying high recycled materials content within building products; tracking and encouraging the reduction of embodied energy within materials and throughout the construction process; specifying the use of sustainable materials such as Forest Stewardship Council certified timber, bamboo and other products
5. SUSTAINABLE FOOD: Retail outlets to meet targets for supplying organic food and sustainable and or fair trade products
6. SUSTAINABLE WATER: Per capita water consumption to be at least 50 per cent less than the national average; all waste water to be re-used
7. HABITATS AND WILDLIFE: All valuable species to be conserved or relocated with positive mitigation targets
8. CULTURE AND HERITAGE: Architecture to integrate local values.
9. EQUITY AND FAIR TRADE: Fair wages and working conditions for all workers (including construction) as defined by international labour standards (which hopefully won’t be limited to Masdar City but also address Abu Dhabi’s appaling slave labour record)
10. HEALTH AND HAPPINESS: Facilities and events for every demographic group

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