Shiny, Slick and Sustainable

On the outskirts of oil-rich Abu Dhabi, construction of the world’s first zero-carbon, zero-waste, car-free city is underway. Built by the state-owned Mubadala Development Company, and supported by the World Wildlife Fund, Masdar City will make use of traditional Persian Gulf architecture to create lowenergy buildings powered by wind and solar energy, and will transport residents in travel pods running on magnetic tracks. It will host the world’s largest hydrogen power plant and a state-ofthe- art research institution affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. By its completion in 2015, it will accommodate 50,000 researchers, students, and clean tech entrepreneurs and financiers. Voted the Sustainable City of the Year at the Global Renewable Energy and Finance Forum in 2007, Masdar City is lauded as a project that is “creating a manifesto for sustainable life.” ...