Solar City Meets the Sands of the Middle East

Peace in the middle east has a new neighbor. Enter Masdar City,  a proposed green haven near the sprawling desert city of Abu Dhabi, the capital of United Arab Emirates. The eco-friendly Masdar City of 50,000 would be the world's largest green city, right in the heart of the Persian Gulf, generally known for it's oil production, not green construction.

The more than $20 billion project features  solar-powered transport on magnetic rails, innovative composting and recycling facilities, which would lend to Masdar City's claim as the world's only carbon-and-waste free city. According to designs, water and agriculture will be produced in locally controlled environments, with a desalination plant and several greenhouses a part of the the plan, in addition to air conditioning powered by wind towers , which honestly the whole plan just floors me.

All in all the proposal is extremely impressive, though some would argue the irony of a solar-powered city in the world's oil market, and a city boasting mass transit and zero vehicles to boot. One thing to keep in mind, as an article from the Toronto Star points out, sunlight is more than abundant in the Middle East. In many ways, especially in the land of oil, you could argue that sunlight is it's greatest resource.

Comments

[Dani Dunbar]

Cool blog post! I can't wait for a few years to pass to hear if this waste-free type of community can really function and exist.