Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Human settlement
Masdar City is an urban community in Abu Dhabi near the airport, built by Masdar, part of the state-owned Mubadala Investment Company, with most seed capital from the Abu Dhabi government. Launched in 2006 as a roughly 22-billion-dollar project to build the world's most sustainable eco-city powered by clean energy, it has fallen well behind its original schedule; by 2023 around 15,000 people lived and worked there, 5,000 of them residents, on a fraction of the planned area. It is a living laboratory of sustainable ideas: narrow, shaded streets in the manner of old Arab towns, a modern wind tower channelling cool breezes into the squares, buildings screened from the sun by latticed, mashrabiya-style façades, and wide solar arrays. It hosts the headquarters of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), designed to use about 45 per cent less energy and 50 per cent less water than typical offices, and Siemens' award-winning regional headquarters. One of its more unusual experiments is small driverless electric pod cars, a rare form of public transport, and it is also home to the Masdar Institute, now part of Khalifa University.
It is open to visitors, and the best way to explore is to walk its shaded streets and squares, ideally in the morning or late afternoon. Allow one to two hours. It is close to Abu Dhabi airport, so it fits on the way to or from a flight. Ask about operating times for the driverless pods before you go.
Hours and prices change — check before you go. Source: en.wikipedia.org
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AttractionAbu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
