‘Living laboratory’: New Dubai city pushes for green revolution in the desert

(Eco Business, 28 Oct 2019) Comprising low-lying villas that are home to thousands, the city aims to be a ‘net-zero’ settlement, producing all the energy it needs from renewable sources on site.

Fenced off by a wall of trees, about 20 km from the high rises towering over Dubai’s city centre, there lies a small solar-powered settlement aiming to become a green oasis in the desert.

Renowned for its glitzy skyscrapers, air-conditioning-blasting shopping malls and indoor skiing facilities, the emirate of Dubai has long been the antithesis of sustainability to environmentalists.

But the United Arab Emirates (UAE) plans to change that reputation, with a range of projects aimed at having more than 40 per cent of the country’s energy come from renewable sources and cutting consumption by the same margin by 2050.

Opened to the first residents in 2016 and to be fully completed next year, the initiative dubbed Sustainable City is a private settlement on the outskirts of Dubai designed to use as little energy and water as possible.

Comprising 500 low-lying villas that are home to nearly 3,000 people, as well as commercial spaces and a mosque, the city aims to be a “net-zero” settlement, producing all the energy it needs from renewable sources on site.

“The Sustainable City is a living laboratory for testing future technologies and solutions,” said Karim El-Jisr, head of SEE Institute, the research arm of the city’s developer, Diamond Developers.

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Eco Business, 28 Oct 2019: ‘Living laboratory’: New Dubai city pushes for green revolution in the desert