Essay 1

Masdar City

Early History

            Masdar City is one of the most important projects being built in Abu Dhabi, which is being groomed to be the new tech city of the region. As a sustainable community, Masdar City tops green urban development design to combine technology and the environment. By 2020 or 2025, this planned city will be fully realized as a successful and innovative community though there are several companies and institutions already situated in the city, including the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology.

            In April 2008, Masdar Initiative was launched with the goal of broadening investments in renewable energy and clean technology. The development of Masdar City is "pushing the sustainable business park concept to a higher level of technological aspiration, theming it with local climate response, efficiency and renewable energy virtues with the scale that has become the hallmark of regional projects" (Droege, 2012,). Masdar City is constructed 17 km Southeast of Abu Dhabi's metropolis; and it is also strategically adjacent to an airport and other communities. The city is designed to host an urban population of 50, 000, situated within a larger community of more than 470, 000 people (Oxford Business Group, 2010,). The goal of the Government of Abu Dhabi and the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, the prime builders and financiers of the project, is to diversify the economy of the emirate, innovate new renewable technologies, keep sustainable human development, and expand the emirate's global energy market. 

Development

            The Mubadala Development Company heads the construction of Masdar City, which was initially planned in 2006. But it was not until 2008 that the construction of the planned city began, with occupancy in October of 2010. There are two city squares that formed the core of Masdar's urban section; the larger square is 225 hectares and the small city square is 52 hectares (Brebbia, & Beriatos, 2011,). The core of the city is considered to cover 6 square kilometers, which will become the home of communities and around 1, 500 businesses.

            Initially, $22 billion is the projected cost of Masdar City and engineers commit to finish the project in eight years. However, with the financial crisis of 2008 that crippled the real estate industry, Masdar City was also affected and the completion of the project was postponed between 2020 to 2025. Right now, constructions are made to finish Phase 1 of the city.

            The city's transportation was planned to be only through personal rapid transit and public mass transit system, which will serve more than 60, 000 industrial and tech workers. However, the plan of banning vehicles and automobiles in the city was replaced with the intent of limiting the number of vehicles in the city. The public transit provides transportation within the city and access to other parts of the city of Abu Dhabi (Spilsbury, 2012,). But the city can still be accessed by walking. 

Modern Development

            With the current appreciation of the economy, the city's project cost is pegged at $19.8 billion (Oxford Business Group, 2010,). The concept of Masdar City is anchored on the principle of One Planet Living, which aims to establish a sustainable development (Oxford Business Group, 2010,). In the same manner, the Clean Tech Fund that is being initiated by Masdar City, in accordance to its objectives, with the support from Siemens Venture Capital, Credit Suisse, and Consensus Business Group.

            As recognition of Masdar City's core objectives and mission, the Translantic 21 Association gave the planned city the World Clean Energy Award. Other awards given include Sustainable Region/City of the Year by Euromoney and Enrst & Young 2008 Renewable Energy Awards. Masdar's seat in International Renewable Energy Agency provides a promising future for the planned city. In the end, Masdar City will become the apex of a sustainable city built globally.

Words count: 636

Bibliography

Brebbia, C.A & Beriatos, E. (2011). Sustainable Development and Planning V. WIT Press.http://books.google.com.ph/books?id=HllZW4ZSheUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=One+Hundred+Per+Cent+Renewable.&hl=en&sa=X&ei=BJCQUZ_pK4-YiAfgs4GADw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=One%20Hundred%20Per%20Cent%20Renewable.&f=false 

Fischer, J. (2012, January 19). Ezproxy Login. Ezproxy Login. Retrieved April 25, 2013, from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.hct.ac.ae/docview/916664392/13DA76D5BFF3258EC7B/1?accountid=1215 

Masdar City - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (2013, May 1). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved May 15, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masdar_City 

Oxford Business Group. (2010). The Report: Abu Dhabi 2010. Oxford Business Group. http://books.google.com.ph/books?id=MTSa0bMfNsEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Report:+Abu+Dhabi+2010&hl=en&sa=X&ei=MJCQUca5CuKBiQeu-YG4Cw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=The%20Report%3A%20Abu%20Dhabi%202010&f=false

Spilsbury, R. (2012). Towns and Cities. Raintree. http://books.google.com.ph/books?id=axDU1IqJN88C&pg=PA62&dq=Towns+and+Cities.+Raintree.&hl=en&sa=X&ei=TZCQUaOBFs24iAejhYCYAg&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Towns%20and%20Cities.%20Raintree.&f=false 

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