Masdar City

Masdar City is an experimental low-carbon settlement on the desert edge of Abu Dhabi, conceived as a living laboratory for sustainable urban design. Launched in 2008 and masterplanned by the British architects Foster and Partners, it set out to test how a city might function with minimal energy and water use in one of the hottest inhabited climates on earth.

Its design turns traditional Arab planning to modern ends. Streets are kept deliberately narrow and shaded to funnel breezes, buildings are clad in perforated terracotta screens that recall regional mashrabiya, and a tall wind tower at the central square draws cooler air down to ground level, noticeably lowering temperatures and cutting the need for air-conditioning.

Clean technology is woven throughout. Rooftop and field solar arrays power much of the district, driverless electric pods once ferried people through tunnels beneath the raised streets, and research institutes, start-ups and clean-energy companies occupy the offices, giving the place the busy feel of a university campus as much as a town. Its ambitions have been scaled back over the years, but it remains a genuine working testbed.

Visitors are welcome to explore the core on foot. The compact, largely car-free centre can be walked in an hour or two, with cafés and a few shops around the shaded piazza and interpretive displays explaining the technology behind the buildings. It is easy to reach by road from the airport or downtown, fully accessible and free to enter; go in the morning to feel how the passive-cooling design keeps the streets pleasant even when the surrounding desert bakes. Free guided tours, when running, explain the passive-cooling tricks and the research going on in the surrounding institutes.