Masdar: The Genesis of Sustainable Smart Cities in the UAE

The world is overshadowed by a looming environmental crisis. Current statistics say that by 2030, more than 60% of the world’s population, 5 billion people, will be living in cities, and in order to cope with that rapid increase in the global population, cities have no choice but to become sustainable. While the topic has been hugely debated a singular understanding is yet to be tangibly shaped. At such times, Masdar’s blueprint is one that can easily answer one question: Is sustainable infrastructure and planning possible? The answer is clearly in the affirmative.

Masdar City is the nerve centre of sustainable smart cities in in the UAE apart from being a trailblazer for research and development, to realise the UAE's dreams of innovations to realize the dream of a greener urban living. Masdar is currently home to rapidly growing clean-tech clusters, a major business free zone and residential neighborhood with restaurants, shops, and public green spaces. It helps to be strategically close to the Abu Dhabi International Airport which is barely five minutes away. Apart from this Masdar also has a strong international logistics market and the introduction of an even stronger transport system is slated to take the entire green cities discourse to the next level.

ITU defines a smart sustainable city as “an innovative city that uses information and communication technologies (ICTs) and other means to improve quality of life, the efficiency of urban operation and services, and competitiveness, while ensuring that it meets the needs of present and future generations with respect to economic, social and environmental as well as cultural aspects.” This definition is very well reflected in the smart city plans and projects of the UAE.

Currently, Masdar City offers an innovative ecosystem that includes but is not restricted to its housing, Research and Development facilities and extends to ground-breaking solar energy, energy storage, green building, and urban sustainability projects. In fact, Masdar has also come up with enabling the city to face its sweltering summers by indulging in sustainable cooler spaces. This also includes a plan for building the city on a risen platform, allowing for cooler air which will automatically reduce the need for Air-conditioning.

ng the way for advance innovation in achieving sustainable goals.

The city has its own benchmark standards that must be met. Should one read the official website, it clearly states, “Masdar City’s template for a sustainable city also showcases the effective deployment of passive design that is tailored for arid, desert regions.”

Mott Macdonald has been the architect for Masdar’s nearly whopping 4 million sqm area. Should one take a closer look at the city's layout, one can observe that some of the key features include pedestrian friendly spaces, low carbon public transportation system that cuts out emissions, continuing R and D projects that include Masdar Solar hub, Smart Home Energy Management Systems, Electrical Energy Storage Systems, Personal Rapid Transit systems, etc.

Masdar City in the United Arab Emirates is now a case study for other reasons too with deep geothermal wells drilled to extract heat to be used for district cooling systems.

Q: What does this mean for the people of Masdar?

A: With the inception of  residential spaces like the Etihad Eco-Residence, the residents of Masdar found themselves accessing liveable neighbourhoods, residential, retail, parking and green spaces are carefully placed throughout the neighbourhood to create a variety of destinations and experiences. This was possible thanks to the carefully crafted layout by CBT architects. This Eco-Residence has won the MENA Green Building of the Year award too.

The city tied up with French manufacturer, Saint-Gobain to build their energy-efficient Multi-Comfort House in Masdar City an example of the government's commitment to sustainable urban development.

According to a report by Bayut, The community is powered by a solar field consisting of 88,000 solar panels. Within the properties, lights and water taps turn on and off by motion sensors. This significantly reduces consumption and also reduces the cost of living in Masdar City. This was thanks to the efforts of people like Sami Khoreibi whose Enviromena built and operated a solar power plant in Masdar City — the first in the Middle East — and built similar plants in seven countries across the region. “It was an interesting and exciting time because we were educating the private sector, governments, utilities and the general population about the potential of renewable energy,” according to Khoreibi.

As early as this week, the big announcement from Masdar is Abu Dhabi's artificial intelligence university partnering with US technology company IBM to open a research space at its Masdar City campus for better innovation.

“The partnership will strengthen MBZUA’s capacity to make practical contributions to the country’s sustainable economic development,” said Dr Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and chairman of MBZUAI, adding that it was an important aspect of developing highly skilled talent in skills for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Q: What are the hurdles?

A: In many ways what defines and decides sustainability is Climate. Needless to say, it has a profound impact on the creation and subsequently the performance of buildings and their energy consumption especially in these arid areas. One must appreciate that the the scarcity of water apart from energy sources compels residents and urban city planners to design and build their houses strategically. This is done based on the assumption that the said building would lead to minimum energy consumption using the environment natural climatic strategies for coping with harsh conditions as vernacular architecture.

In order to apply and achieve sustainable building in hot and humid climates, efforts must be put into understanding the local climate, and integrating appropriate building technologies into the architectural and urban designs, writes Egyptian scholar Walid Fouad Omar.

Technology does not necessarily equate with efficiency and that is what most critics have to say when it comes to Masdar because more expensive the technology, higher the construction

costs apart from keeping a constant check on the maintenance and depletion of renewable resources.

The Road Ahead

Labelled initially as the world's first sustainable ghost town to transforming into a spring of sustainable hope in the Middle East, Masdar city has come a long way. It is also a lesson worth keeping in mind that, Change takes time.

Cities within and outside the UAE can replicate, alter and re-engage with this blueprint pavi