Foster designed the cleanest city on the planet for the UAE

Abu Dhabi - The cleanest city on the planet will be created in the United Arab Emirates. It will accommodate 47,500 residents, and there will be no cars, emissions, or waste. It will be a green city of the future with narrow streets providing shade for pedestrians. The model of Masdar City, which means "source" in Arabic, was presented this week at a conference on future energy in Abu Dhabi by the studio of the world-renowned British architect Norman Foster.
Construction will begin in February on a six-square-kilometer plot of land, and the first residents are expected to start moving in as early as next year, although it is anticipated that the final construction work will be completed in ten years.
According to Reuters, the project by Foster and Partners is an ideal example of self-sufficient architecture. Energy for the buildings will be generated by a solar panel power plant. Streets will be shaded to provide pedestrians with relief in the desert climate, where summer temperatures can reach up to 50 degrees Celsius. The city will be situated to make the best use of the cooling breezes from the sea. It will be bounded by a wall that will protect it from the noise of the nearby Abu Dhabi airport and from the scorching desert heat.
Motor vehicles will not be allowed in Masdar; transportation will be provided by electric trains that will run to downtown Abu Dhabi. Utilization water will be processed by a desalination plant with a capacity 80 percent higher than is typical for such installations elsewhere. All wastewater will pass through treatment facilities to be reused for irrigating plants grown for biofuel production.
Masdar will house a scientific and technical institute. Proponents of the vision hope that this facility will attract top experts from around the world. It is also expected that multinational and startup companies in the field of ecological technologies will choose it for research purposes.
Foster considers Masdar to be the most advanced ecological project to date. "This is not a trend but about survival," he told Reuters.
The UAE, like other Gulf countries, is a significant oil exporter and, per capita, one of the largest producers of greenhouse gases in the world. The government announced on Monday that it plans to invest $15 billion (268 billion crowns) in renewable and environmentally friendly energy projects. This amount includes the construction of Masdar.
Foster, whose firm has completed several well-known buildings including the reconstruction of the Berlin Reichstag and the London headquarters of Swiss Re, stated that such an environmentally intensive project is complicated in the UAE due to the local climate conditions. "Eliminating greenhouse gas emissions is more challenging in a desert than in a temperate zone. It would be much easier, for instance, in the Mediterranean or Northern Europe. However, I believe we must work in harmony with the local environment and draw from local traditional buildings," said the seventy-three-year-old architect this year.
Masdar will be a very densely populated city, setting it apart from the sprawling modern developments in the Gulf, where desert land is ample.
Foster is not worried that residents might miss cars. "Look at Venice. Do you feel restricted there because there are no cars? On the contrary. Venice is so attractive that its popularity can actually be detrimental. We are talking about using technology to achieve the maximum with minimal means," said the famous Brit.