Dubai’s supposedly doomed, with half-finished buildings littering the skyline as their wealth trickles away like sand through a timer. Before I get more poetic, Abu Dhabi looks to be faring better, if this eco-city is anything to go by.
We first saw Masdar HQ a couple of years ago, when it was aiming to be the world’s first positive energy building. Likewise, the entire eco-city of Masdar has just as lofty ambitions, where cars will be banned along with skyscapers (though obviously electric cars are welcome, . Thus, the six square kilometer city, which should house 50,000 people at some point, will rely on solar power to make their little world go ’round.
https://gizmodo.com/masdar-hq-worlds-first-positive-energy-building-365509
Architects will place buildings close enough together so they can cast shade on their neighbors and ensure normal cars won’t be driving through the streets. A form of public transport in the shape of podcars, which move by magnetic sensors, should be a fast way to zip around the city.
Really, it sounds like Masdar City is the closest thing we’ll ever have to the future. I just hope the United Arab Emirates (and Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who’s coughing up the cash for the city) doesn’t suffer much more financially, as the $15 – 30 billion it’s meant to cost could easily escalate in the projected 10 years it’ll take to create. [PhysOrg]
