Architects Foster + Partners have announced the Masdar Initiative - a giant urban development in Abu Dhabi which they describe as the world’s first “zero carbon, zero waste” city.
The six million square metre development is based on the planning principles of an ancient walled city.
Below is the press release from the architects:
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Foster + Partners to create the world’s first zero carbon, zero waste city in Abu Dhabi
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 and launched today at Cityscape Abu Dhabi, 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. 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.
Norman Foster said: “The environmental ambitions of the Masdar Initiative – zero carbon and waste free – are a world first. They have provided us with a challenging design brief that promises to question conventional urban wisdom at a fundamental level. Masdar promises to set new benchmarks for the sustainable city of the future.”
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 cities 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 personalised 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.
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Posted by Marcus Fairs
Where is the nature? Can there be nature in our cities of the future? The whole thing looks like a giant computer chip. I like the idea of density, but it shouldn’t be confined by the preconception of what technology should look like (hard edges and metal). It’s not very warm and inviting and it doesn’t make me want to live there.
May 8th, 2007 at 5:10 pmwhen will this city be completed? did they give a deadline?
May 8th, 2007 at 8:28 pmWilliam McDonough’s model of town planning incorporates a lot of nature which benefits the inhabitants, the structures and the ecological process. Why is nature not a consideration here? A concrete jungle is still a concrete jungle.
May 9th, 2007 at 2:35 amWould a truly traditional walled city be more sustainable than Foster’s proposal?
May 9th, 2007 at 5:45 amHave you read it?? it`s a walled city? with a giant energy company inside? and an absolutelly controlled transportation sistem (its not were you wanna go but were the sistem will let you go…??) thats freaky! yet in Foster we trust (and the millions of dolars for the arabic extreme make over)
May 9th, 2007 at 5:48 am…and where are the poor people? oh, I forgot…poor people will not exist in the future…like nature, of course
May 9th, 2007 at 6:37 amAnd how much carbon will be used building the six million square metre city? Can we stop with all the bullshit about building sustainable buildings and cities! Building huge concrete things in the desert where millions of people are going to live is not somethig I would call sus…….. I can’t even say it.
May 9th, 2007 at 7:46 amThis city replicates my mental image of Yevgeny Zamyatin’s dystopia novel “We”. I thought we learned from Modernist Architecture disasters in America that closed spaces are terrible for living conditions, regardless of how sleek the architecture looks. Not one tree, tsk tsk- terrible.
May 9th, 2007 at 1:56 pmAgreeing with many comments above:
May 9th, 2007 at 3:03 pmDoes anyone stop to think what goes into making a “zero pollution” city? As far as I know steel like that doesn’t occur naturally. This is just more radical chic “environmentally friendly” BS!!! Self reliance is the first step towards anything worth a damn. When will people learn how to garden, build their own houses and quit relying on mass production to tell us what is good… This is just disappointing.
It seems that architecture and city planning will be progressive and advanced. Too bad that in this vision of the future, a woman can still be bound by the hijab.
May 9th, 2007 at 7:41 pmPity there is absolutely no engineering input into this scheme. While it does reflect the vernacular architecture of closed courtyards (Andrea, they work very well culturally out here), the idea of relying on PV and wind in this climate shows the guy doesn’t understand the site parameters.
And Riomx, don’t try to impose your (western?) cultural views on this part of the world.
May 10th, 2007 at 6:11 amMy God, it’s easy to crap on a couple of VisArc renderings!!! Maybe all of you have gotten into the bones of this thing to tear it apart, but I applaud the ambitons of this town plan. It will be much easier to judge it’s merits once it’s futher designed and/or built.
May 10th, 2007 at 8:51 pmAs one who has been intimately involved in similar, but smaller, town planning projects I know that even getting a client who would dare attempt something so ambitious is itself worth a hearty applaud.
The whole thing seems to be PR story rather than a real plan. In this region you have to exceed everything in order to get attention… I don’t know, I just feel bad about everything related to Foster. I can only accept it as science fiction - quite cheap though. Imitating lots of old films of the eighties/nineties…
May 11th, 2007 at 10:37 pmEven if it goes well after being builded, even if it contributes to wrong as “sustainable”, we have to agree on that we ARE facing a change of paradigm.. let`s keep criticing but parallel to this, let`s adapt ourselves to this change in human way to build and think of space.
May 12th, 2007 at 12:25 ammore important than the technological aspects of this plan, the urban and spatial qualities are highly questionable…
May 15th, 2007 at 9:21 pmThis is infact no doubt the future and should be adapted as a benchmark principal for all future projects.
May 16th, 2007 at 6:25 amWe have been in Business of Solar powered systems and believe us saving and using our energy wisely would make us live our lives wisely.
The project is scheduled to be completed by end of 2009.
May 18th, 2007 at 7:23 pmWall Around City = Growth Management = Antithetical to UAE Development Ethos = Believe It When I See It
June 10th, 2007 at 5:37 amIn brief follow-up to Roni van der Veen’s comments. Where does Visarc enter into this, I am quite sure that we did not produce these renderings…
July 10th, 2007 at 3:39 pmwhere will the energy come from to build this development?????
July 22nd, 2007 at 12:20 pmI applaud the idea of a planned “walled” city in a hostile environment. Nothing turns my stomach more than driving thru a country-side that has been decimated to build 5,000 sqft McMansions.
August 10th, 2007 at 11:53 amHundreds of years ago the arabs would have build these vernacular citiies in a time honoured way, why do they now need a British Architect, good earner Norman!
October 9th, 2007 at 11:35 amWhat are the external walls for? protection? isolation? growth control? an extremely-gated community? I find them a bit weird…
October 25th, 2007 at 1:32 pmThe people in UAE want to fight (with other) the global warming in a way or another.
November 22nd, 2007 at 3:59 pmThe project (in their eyes) would help to reduce the CO2 emissions.
If someone has a good and useful ideas, I strongly advice him to speak up, there are a lot of listening ears in UAE.
Nobody can live in any part of the UAE without airconditioning system, I thinck Foster should visit UAE in summer and he’ll never ever decide to do such a fake project!!!
February 9th, 2008 at 6:07 pm