IF you were asked which country would most likely build futuristic green cities, which one would you name? Germany? The United States? China? Think again.

Plans have been unveiled and ground construction has begun with completion date targeted at 2016 for the green city of Masdar, near Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates and the fourth largest source of oil in the world.

The green city will be built on a six-square-kilometer site adjacent to its international airport. Estimated project cost is $22 billion.

Masdar City is Abu Dhabi?s ambitious initiative to counter the frenzy of construction activities in Dubai, its neighbor in the Persian Gulf, which is struggling to recover from the collapse of its real estate market.

Entirely carbon neutral

Abu Dhabi and its government plans to build Masdar to be entirely carbon-neutral and will produce no waste. It is ironic that funding for the ambitious project will come from money it earned fueling carbon emissions all over the world.

Abu Dhabi hopes that the green city will operate both as a sustainable organism and laboratory for new green strategies that can be exported to other countries.

In a country with temperatures reaching as high as 50? Celsius (122? Fahrenheit), buildings will be designed to be cool without relying on energy from fossil fuel. This will be a challenge to the British architects Foster + Partners.

The green city of Masdar will be skyscraper-free in contrast to today?s modern cities that constantly vie for the distinction of having the tallest skyscrapers.

The city plans to build a solar thermal power plant. It will also feature a desalination plant providing freshwater using solar power as well. It will use energy from a $2 billion hydrogen power plant, which produces much fewer carbon dioxide emissions than most fossil fuels used today.

Proper orientation will play a major role in the layout of the city to avail of natural sea breezes and thus keep energy needs low and the city cool. This passive design concept has several advantages, such as using taller buildings to shade the city?s narrow walking streets. A wall enclosing the city and wind towers for buildings will help protect the citizens from the harsh conditions of the desert.

Reduced water consumption

Recycled gray water from lavatories and showers will be used to irrigate the landscape. This system will help the city reduce water consumption by about 60 percent.

Through a systematic recycling and composting program, the city intends to produce no waste.

Finally, there will be no cars in Masdar City. As we all know cars contribute to the release of carbon dioxide. They estimate that each citizen will be no farther than 200 meters from the nearest source of transportation between Masdar City and Abu Dhabi. Public transportation is through personal rapid transit pods, or PRTs which run on magnetic tracks using electric power.

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