The 3.7-square-mile city, called 'Masdar', will cut its electricity bill by harnessing wind, solar, and geothermal energy, while a total ban on cars within city walls should reduce the long-term health costs associated with smog.
The project will include commercial and manufacturing space dedicated to developing ecofriendly products, housing, a university, and the headquarters for the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, which is spearheading the initiative. Masdar has been masterplanned by Foster + Partners, with construction due to commence in January 2008.
Its design is rooted in the Arabic tradition of walled cities, but Masdar's stone-and-mud walls will be covered in photovoltaic panels capable of generating 130 megawatts. Along the site's northern edge, the walls will be more permeable to let in breezes. Electricity will also come from photovoltaic cells integrated into rooftops and a 20-megawatt wind farm. The city will get its water from a solar-powered desalination plant.
"The biggest issue of all is to make sure that the city is balanced and will create as much energy as it uses throughout the time it is being built," says Gerard Evanden, senior partner in charge of the project at Foster + Partners. "The scale of the project will have the density of Venice, so it will grow gradually. Hopefully the knowledge and the technology of efficient materials will grow too."
The location of the initiative is instructive. According to Richard Young, a research manager with SustainLane, which evaluates sustainable cities and products, "if they can construct a zero-carbon city in this climate, you can do it anywhere".
Image courtesy of the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Co.