ABSTRACT
Abu Dhabi’s Masdar Initiative was launched in April 2008, a broadbased, multi-billion dollar investment strategy in renewable energy and ‘clean technology’ (https://www.masdaruae.com). As part of the initiative, the ‘Masdar City’ development is to be constructed 17km south east of Abu Dhabi’s urban core, linked into the adjacent airport and other surrounding communities. It is planned as a new and independent urban center for a day-and night-time population of about 50,000, set within a larger precinct that is home to some 470,000 people. The development 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 in keeping with the scale that has become the hallmark of regional projects, before the global financial crisis of the late 2000s struck, and signs of overbuilding came to emerge in the wider region. While the socio-economic and cultural dimensions - and risks - of attempting a new town-within-the-city are by definition an open question, the Masdar Initiative’s initial renewable city building ambitions were extraordinary, promising to go far beyond public relations.
