Introduction
Masdar is a project of a modern ecological city that is being built in Abu-Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates. Several similar cities are being developed around the world at the moment. The ecological conceptual municipality of Masdar that is being erected in the UAE is one of the most popular and technological projects on Earth that will be discussed in the given paper.
Initiators of the Project
As it is mentioned in the introduction section, the city of Masdar is a project of an ecological territory that is currently being developed by the government of the United Arab Emirates. It is necessary to state that the entire project is called the “Masdar Initiative” and is offered by a British company under the name of “Foster & Partners”. The entire city is expected to be powered only by solar energy and other renewable natural sources (Ibrahim, 2016). Also, its future infrastructure will be aimed at reducing the amount of produced carbon dioxide to the possible minimum, whereas all the waste products are planned to be utilized or reused by the territory’s inhabitants.
Positive and Negative Issues
There are many considerations as to the erection of Masdar city as it will have both positive and negative outcomes and impacts on the environment. Indeed, the ecology will be beneficial for the city’s population, environment, and nature in general. The rate of people’s health and life satisfaction is expected to increase here (Ibrahim, 2016). Nevertheless, this territory will be limited to several contemporary polluting services until some other technologies are invented to replace them in such ecological conditions (Cugurullo, 2015). Also, the local real estate market is forecasted to be much more expensive than that of neighboring territories (Cugurullo, 2015).
Environmental Policy
According to the laws and rules of the innovative and technological city of Masdar, its inhabitants will be prohibited from driving cars with combustion engines in its territories. Instead, the local population will have access to electric public transport and automobiles (Ibrahim, 2016). It is also a well-known fact that Masdar will be fortified by a high enough wall to protect its future population and environment from the hot climate coming from the desert nearby (Madakam & Ramaswamy, 2016).
The population of the conceptual city will consist predominately of developers and scientists who specialize in a wide range of spheres and will work on new green projects and start-ups. It is necessary to mention that there will be no factories or other man-made sources of energy to support the city (Ibrahim, 2016). This will also reduce the noise level to the possible minimum. All local buildings are being built of eco-materials as well.
Goals and Achievements
As it is mentioned in the previous paragraph, the primary goal of the Masdar project’s initiators is to attract ambitious developers and professionals who can contribute to the process of making the entire planet’s environment cleaner and more ecological (Ibrahim, 2016). It is expected that the city will be populated by approximately 45 thousand individuals, whereas almost 60 thousand other citizens will arrive here to work daily (Ibrahim, 2016). Talking about achievements, the project has not been completed yet and is still under development due to the significant impact of the financial crisis at the end of the 2000s. The final version of the city is expected to be presented between 2020 and 2025.
Conclusion
The project of the innovative Masdar city is ambitious and promising. Perhaps, its creation will be beneficial for young specialists in different areas of science who would like to make Earth a better place to live. Also, it may give many opportunities to experienced people who would like to contribute and teach their colleagues to solve some environmental issues. Also, local citizens will benefit from various ecological solutions that will improve their health and longevity rates.
References
Cugurullo, F. (2015). Urban eco-modernisation and the policy context of new eco-city projects: Where Masdar City fails and why. Urban Studies, 53(11), 2417-2433. Web.
Ibrahim, I. (2016). Livable eco-architecture Masdar city, Arabian sustainable city. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 216(1), 46-55. Web.
Madakam, S., & Ramaswamy, R. (2016). Sustainable smart city: Masdar (UAE) (A city: Ecologically balanced). Indian Journal of Science and Technology, 9(6), 1-8. Web.