February 20, 2010
When Masdar City was first announced in 2007 by the Masdar Initiative, it claims that, when completed, it will become the world’s first zero carbon, zero waste development, while maintaining the highest quality of living. Foster + Partners and a team of environmental consultants including WSP and Transsolar have been appointed by Masdar to design the masterplan and the first stage of the project which broke ground in February 2008.
Masdar City’s Master plan is claimed to “meet and exceed” the principals of One Planet Living (OPL), a set of ten guiding principles of sustainability, proposed in a joint initiative by WWF, the global conservation organization and Bioregional Development, whereby everyone lives within their fair share of the Earth’s resources. The principles include Zero Carbon, Zero Waste, Sustainable transport, Sustainable materials, Sustainable water, and Sustainable culture and heritage.
As planned, Masdar City is expected to be home to 50,000 people and to attract an additional 60,000 daily rail commuters to be employed in its planned 1,500 businesses. The project, which occupies a 6 square kilometers site, only half of which is to be occupied by structures, is expected to cost $22bn, which will be provided using a mix of governmental and private investment funding. Construction works are expected to reach completion by 2015.
Source: www.carboun.com