Abu Dhabi wants to show the world that green residential communities can be builtlike the one they are close to finishing in the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), called Masdar City. Constructions with natural wind tunnels, and a university of Artificial Intelligenceare erected in its green spaces.
With a population still of about 15 thousand people, since 2008, They have been building the foundations of what is now a great community, in which businesses, schools, a university and soon a large park are already open, Salah Ziat, Deputy Director of Sustainability of Masdar City, assures journalists, during a visit to the community.
When entering the residential areas you can still see how new buildings coexist with some under construction, however, they have something in common: materials to reduce energy consumption.
Net zero buildings
Abu Dhabi was once a fishing village, but today has become a global and business destinationwhere a large business network has been built that mixes modern and traditional architecture, with an extensive desert on one side and the Persian Gulf on the other.
In fact, Masdar City was built in a vast desert area, where buildings were founded in a way that created natural wind tunnels, as well as concave roofs that always They provide shade to lower extreme temperatures which this gulf city can reach.
But who has moved to this city? Living there may be one of the challenges that the community has faced. Instead, Salah Ziat indicates that this has not been the case at all.
“We have several residential buildings throughout the city, and there is a wide range of prices and they are affordable for different categories of society“, he points out. In addition, he says that he does not find the fact that they are moving to this community a challenge, since he sees it as “a lovely place to live” in a life that is “slow”, facing the frenetic world that exists a few kilometers away.
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“At the moment, We are working on the design of phase 5, and to include several residential buildings and other commercially viable sustainable buildings,” he says.
They even built an ecological mosque, which they recently inaugurated, called Estidama.
It is a 500 square meter domed structure, located in Masdar Park, which meets the strictest international sustainability standards, and has capacity for 335 faithful in each of the five daily prayers.
The headquarters of the International Renewable Agencies Agency (Irena) are expected to move to Masdar City.
Free zone for business and AI paradise
Another attractive element of Masdar City is its free zone and la Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), considered the first university in the world dedicated exclusively to AI, and in which they provide “full scholarships” to their students who manage to access their programsaccording to Ziat.
AI is a science in which the Emirates is betting a lotespecially for sustainability, given that the country – a large crude oil producer – is seeking to diversify its economy as soon as possible, to achieve net zero by 2045.
On the other hand, Karim Deen, senior manager of business development at Masdar City, tells the media that there is a “free zone”, which considers “the future that will shape” the community.
They want to form an “ecosystem” centered on six industrial groups: artificial intelligence, life sciences, mobility, space technology, energy and agricultural technology.
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The benefits they get, both 0% corporate and personal income taxes, 0% import tariffs and 100% foreign ownership permission, have caused them to settle more than 1,200 companies, “without efforts” to attract them, Deen points out.
“We have made a lot of progress in each of the ecosystems“If we look at the life sciences, we have identified each of the verticals, and we are filling the gaps when necessary,” he concludes.
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