SOLAR PANELS AND DESIGNING WINS

While some energy needed for running the city is drawn from the national grid, a large portion is generated by a solar plant adjacent to the city and solar panels located on rooftops.

The effort offsets more than 15,000 tonnes of carbon emissions per year, equivalent to taking more than 3,000 cars off the road.

Masdar City’s design, which takes inspiration from traditional Arab architecture, includes low-rise buildings, narrow streets made for walking, and strategically placed shaded areas to save energy and invite more natural light.

The city is oriented in a northeast-southwest direction so it minimises solar gain and enables the use of cool winds generated during the night, keeping the area 10 degrees Celsius cooler than parts of Abu Dhabi.

"The interesting thing about this air movement to keep the place cool is that it does not add costs to the design of the city. It is simply the location and adjustment and planning of elements that has to be there in the first place,” said associate director of sustainability and corporate social responsibility at Masdar City, Mr Chris Wan.

Masdar City's eco-friendly buildings -- constructed with low-carbon cement, recycled aluminium, and other sustainable materials -- are designed to reduce energy and water consumption by at least 40 per cent compared to traditional urban areas.

Residents and visitors can walk or hop on the autonomous, electric-powered public transportation system which operates using magnets. More than 2 million people have travelled on the vehicles in about 10 years, said Masdar City communications manager Amy Robertson.

MEGA SUSTAINABLE CITY PROJECTS

Masdar City is primarily focusing on offices and research and development, including acting as an incubator for the development of clean technologies and low-carbon buildings in the region.

Pointing out that Masdar City has a university dedicated to artificial intelligence and a technology innovation institute, the city’s director of growth Steve Severance said: “We want to be the place where the technologies that are going to help us to get to net zero, are developed."

Masdar City is one of a number of such mega sustainable city projects sprouting up in the Middle East, including NEOM in Saudi Arabia, Lusail City in Qatar and the Red Sea Project in Egypt.

The Abu Dhabi government alone has chipped in US$15 billion for Masdar City. Qatar spent about US$45 billion on the construction of Lusail, and Saudi authorities launched NEOM in 2017 at a staggering cost of half a trillion dollars.