Energy Research & Social Science 62 (2020) 101368

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Energy Research & Social Science

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Perspective

Rethinking the future low-carbon city: Carbon neutrality, green design, and sustainability
tensions in the making of Masdar City ^
Steven Griffiths51’c’*, Benjamin K. Sovacoolb
a
Khalifa University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 127788, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates b Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU), University of Sussex Business School, United Kingdom c The Payne
Institute for Public Policy, Colorado School of Mines, 1500 Illinois St., Golden, CO 80401, USA

ARTICLE ABSTRAC
T
INFO
Keywords:
Masdar Urban As the global trend toward urbanization continues, new models for the design and governance of sustainable cities are
design Eco-city
being developed. The Abu Dhabi government announced in 2006 its intent to spend $22 billion to build one such city,
Future city
Sustainable city Masdar City, as a carbon-neutral, zero-waste city that would demonstrate the state-of-the-art in sustainable city design.
Urbanization As initially planned, Masdar City was a bold experiment: an incubator of clean-technologies that was to be powered
exclusively by renewable energy while exhibiting the highest levels of energy efficiency. Partly due to the 2008 global
financial crisis and partly due to lessons learned from continued assessments of the original concept, planners at
Masdar both scaled back initial ambitions for the city's carbon and waste targets and significantly altered both the
city's development approach and timeline for completion. This, however, may turn out to be the best outcome for
Masdar City if it is truly to become a model for “eco-cities” of the future. Masdar now seeks a more commercial model
that nonetheless retains a focus on sustainable urban design. This Perspective reviews the history of Masdar City from
its inception to the present day and highlights the major changes that have occurred in its city planning. In
consideration of the facts presented, Masdar City may yet emerge as a true eco-city. Regardless, it certainly constitutes
an omen with incredibly important empirical lessons for other cities around the world seeking to become more sustainable.

1. Introduction meet these challenges depends on context, which includes population,

population density and wealth [3]. Within a given context, a city's
Today more than half of the world's population lives in cities, and by sustainability and performance depend on how technologies and policies
2050 this number will increase to nearly 70% [1]. Cities will soon account are mobilized to enhance energy, water, waste, healthcare, mobility,
for 90% of global population growth as well as about 75% of global security, economic development and community engagement [4]. They
carbon dioxide emissions and 75% of energy consumption [1,2]. may also reflect the degree to which the city is able to harness innovations
Nonetheless, urbanization will continue because cities are where 80% of in the design of low-energy sociotechnical systems [5,6], and in particular
global wealth is created and they are where people find opportunities for buildings [7,8]. Adding to the challenge, we must move from “transitions
work and socialization [1]. in cities” to “transitions of cities.” [9].
Unfortunately, rural to urban migration following the industrial Planning for future cities is therefore a daunting task, resulting in a
revolution has led cities to grow rapidly and spontaneously in response to wide spectrum of proposed city archetypes that each highlights different
the evolving needs of inhabitants. This reactive, patchwork-like approach dimensions of sustainability [10]. Among these archetypes, “ecocities”
to city design has left many cities with inefficient layouts, technologies cover the broadest range of sustainability aspects including urban form,
and infrastructure that consume large amounts of energy and water, and transport, safety and security, governance and technologies that support
significant amounts of pollution [3]. Efficient and effective future city and enable a healthy environment, economics, society, culture and politics
design and technology deployment, however, may very well be the key to [10]. The eco-city, a concept first proposed in 1975 [11] and now widely
unlocking social, economic and environmental sustainability. referenced in academic literature [12], should therefore embody the key
The evolution and/or design of future cities that can sustainably elements of sustainable cities [13] and avoid the fallacy of confusing city
intelligence (e.g. a smart city) with city

* Corresponding author.

E-mail addresses: [email protected] (S. Griffiths), [email protected] (B.K. Sovacool).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2019.101368
Received 30 August 2019; Received in revised form 30 October 2019; Accepted 16 November 2019
Available online 11 December 2019
2214-6296/ © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/BY-NC-ND/4.0/).
S. Griffiths and B.K. Sovacool Energy Research & Social Science 62 (2020) 101368

sustainability (e.g. a sustainable city). Indeed, the measures of success for business model was changed from project developer to master developer
an eco-city should be balanced across the three pillars of environment, and integrator. The city became focused on development through the
society and economy, which is unfortunately often not the case [14]. extensive use of outsourcing and strategic partnerships as opposed to the
In achieving such balance, the following eco-city attributes are often “self-develop and hold” concept, which was the basis for the original
considered as important [15,16]: Property Development Unit.
In parallel to its change in business model, Masdar City also moved
1. land-use priorities that create compact, diverse, green and safe mixed- away from a zero-carbon strategy (Fig. 1) to one focused on carbon
use communities around public transportation facilities; neutrality. For its buildings, Masdar City developed the Masdar Energy
2. transportation priorities that will discourage driving and promote Design Guidelines (MEDG) that drew from, and in many cases exceeded,
access by proximity; the most rigorous international standards for building performance, such
3. restoration initiatives for damaged urban environments; as the German “PassivHaus” code [24]. However, the city's building
4. affordable, safe, convenient and economically mixed housing; sustainability targets were not based on standards adopted in the rest of
5. social justice and improved opportunities for the underprivileged; Abu Dhabi.
6. support for local agriculture, urban greening and community gar- This changed, however, when Abu Dhabi's Estidama program was
dening; initiated in 2010 by the Abu Dhabi Department of Urban Planning and
7. promotion of recycling and resource conservation while reducing Municipalities (DPM) [26]. The Estidama program is similar to BREEAM
pollution and hazardous waste; (British Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) and
8. ecologically sound economic activities and discouraged hazardous or LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) in that it has a
polluting activities; certification system called Pearls, which is a framework for the
9. promotion of simple lifestyles without excessive consumption of sustainable design, construction and operation of buildings, villas, and
material goods; neighborhoods [27]. Pearls is a point-based system that ranges from 1 to 5
10. public awareness of the local environment through education and Pearls. A final Pearl rating is determined from accumulated points earned
outreach. for meeting both mandatory and optional credits that fall under seven
categories. A very small number of buildings in Abu Dhabi achieve a 5
For reasons such as these, Masdar City in Abu Dhabi, the United Pearls rating because this level of certification requires a net positive
Arab Emirates, has been frequently labeled as an eco-city in the making contribution to the environment in terms of energy, water, and improving
[17-20]. Indeed, the original vision behind the city is largely supportive of diversity and health of living systems. In Masdar City, all developed
this ambition. property must be at least 3 Pearls. This may seem like a conservative
However, the plans for Masdar City have changed multiple times standard given the city's desire for sustainability. However, in Abu Dhabi
since construction began on the city in 2008. The timeline for full de- 3 Pearls is comparable to LEED Gold and exceeds the minimum 1 Pearl
velopment of the city has been pushed out to at least 2030 and many of requirement for all new buildings in Abu Dhabi and the minimum 2 Pearl
the original sustainability targets for the city have been reduced. History rating for all government funded buildings in the emirate.
has many lessons to teach and, as shown in this Perspective, the unfolding Following early re-organizations, in 2014 Masdar was structured
story of Masdar City suggests that delivering a successful ecocity needs around four main business units, Masdar Capital, Masdar City, Masdar
an inspiring but realistic discourse on sustainability that takes into Clean Energy, and Masdar Special Projects, as well as an independent
consideration to the city's economic, social and political context. research university, the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology [28].
Masdar Capital was a major investor in clean-technology companies
2. The Masdar City of yesterday around the world, while Masdar Clean Energy focused on the
development of large-scale renewable energy and carbon abatement
Masdar City, which is located in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, began as a projects. Masdar Special Projects, which eventually became part of
part of the broader Masdar Initiative. Masdar, which means “the source” Masdar Clean Energy, was the provider of small and medium-sized
in Arabic, was founded in 2006 by the Abu Dhabi government to diversify renewable energy applications that address unique technology and
the UAE economy away from dependence on oil and gas and toward a deployment challenges. Masdar City was a special economic zone in-
more sustainable energy and economic system. Masdar is wholly owned tended to serve as a model for commercially viable sustainable living. The
by the Mubadala Investment Company, which itself is an Abu Dhabi Masdar Institute of Science and Technology was a graduate only
owned enterprise formed in 2017 from the merger of Mubadala university developed in cooperation with the Massachusetts Institute of
Development Company and the International Petroleum Investment Technology (MIT). Although not under the umbrella of the Masdar
Company. Mubadala Development Company, Masdar's parent company Corporation, the university was a key part of the Masdar concept. Located
prior to the 2017 merger, was formed in 2002 with the mandate to support in Masdar City, it was the anchor for intellectual activity within the City.
and facilitate the diversification of Abu Dhabi's economy [21]. Masdar The Masdar Solar Hub, launched in 2015, was intended to further the
was formed with a directive to advance sustainable energy through UAE's solar efforts via unique demonstration capabilities that were, and
education, research and development, investment and commercialization. continue to be, part of the broader research and demonstration capabilities
To achieve this mandate, Masdar was organized into four main business that Masdar City established in collaboration with Masdar Institute [29].
units as shown in Table 1. By 2018, Masdar City began addressing the eco-city agricultural
Since its inception, however, Masdar has reorganized several times to dimension via several sustainable agriculture pilots with strategic partners,
reflect an evolving understanding of how the initiative could be successful including the UAE Ministery of Food Security [30]. One of the showcase
in the rapidly changing clean energy space. The Industries Unit, for agriculture pilots was the 2 hectare Seawater and Energy Agriculture
instance, was initially charged with developing a portfolio of clean energy System (SEAS) undertaken by Masdar Institute's Sustainable Bioenergy
production assets, the flagship of which was the thin-film PV Research Consortium (SBRC) with partners Etihad Airways, The Boeing
manufacturing company Masdar PV [22]. Masdar PV closed down in Company, Safran, General Electric, ADNOC Refining and Bauer
2014, however, amidst severe competition from Chinese competitors [23] Resources [30].
and Masdar chose to then focus on just clean energy project development
and investment rather than to try to compete in hardware manufacturing.
This project development and investment unit was called Masdar Power
and stood as a distinct unit alongside Masdar Carbon until both were
brought under the umbrella of Masdar Clean Energy in 2013. Masdar
City's operating structure was reorganized in 2010 when the city's

2
S. Griffiths and B.K. Sovacool Energy Research & Social Science 62 (2020) 101368

Table 1
Original structure of the Masdar Initiative.
Source: [22].
Masdar units Function

Carbon management Develop a portfolio of clean development mechanism projects and a carbon capture and storage network in Abu Dhabi
Industries Invest in clean energy production assets and develop a high-tech solar cluster
Masdar Institute of Science and Technology Offer graduate degrees focused on the science and engineering of advanced energy systems and sustainable technologies
Property development Build Masdar City, the world's first carbon-neutral, zero-waste city
Utilities and asset management Develop a portfolio of renewable energy operating assets and strategic investments

CONVENTIONAL CITY MASDAR

Building Energy Waste Transportation Building Energy Waste Transportation

Design Generation Design Generation

U3- §
a J,£
&T o «8
Landfill Fossil fuel Energy Renewable Recycling / Electric /

13% 7%
Efficient
-56% -24%
V#*
Waste to Energy Solar
-12% -7%
80%

-1% 4Ui
Carbon offsetting /
Carbon Sequestration

1,100,000 Tonnes CO 2 =0
co
Fig. 1. Masdar City objective in 2008 to become a zero carbon entity. Source: [25].
2

Even though Masdar was a broad initiative with many components, underneath is one such element that was eliminated in favor of a simpler
Masdar City became the iconic feature that many associated most closely and less costly approach to sustainable transportation.
with the brand. Masdar City was to become a 6 square kilometer Power, water and waste technology demonstration plans within the
development located approximately 17 kilometers from downtown Abu city were substantially downgraded due to regulatory challenges and the
Dhabi City. It was Masdar's vehicle to demonstrate a new paradigm in large scale required for meaningful demonstrations. Likewise, the state of
sustainable living through a combination of urban design and technology the regional clean-technology market, an undeveloped local research and
deployment. The originally announced plan for Masdar City (see Fig. 2) innovation ecosystem, and lack of local frameworks for attracting global
was that by 2016 it would be the world's first zero-carbon and zero-waste companies made rapid and commercially viable development of a clean-
city with all of its buildings sitting on an elevated platform where 40,000 technology cluster impossible within the timeframe initially planned for
residents and 50,000 commuters would engage daily in educational, work the city's development.
and social activities [19].
As a relatively small development with significant financial backing
from the Abu Dhabi government, it was apparent that Masdar City could 3. The Masdar City of today
be a test-bed for new technologies required to meet extremely demanding
sustainability targets. This resulted in Masdar's early focus on Today, in late 2019, the Masdar Initiative looks different than it did.
environmental sustainability via architectural design and technology. The Only Masdar Clean Energy and Masdar City (now called Sustainable Real
ultimate ambition of such focus was to capture economic benefits from Estate) remain as major business units [31]. Masdar Capital became a part
the development of new, commercially valuable intellectual property. of Mubadala's investment arm before ceasing to exist and Masdar Special
In parallel to the development of technology roadmaps aimed at Projects has been folded into Masdar Clean Energy. The Masdar Institute
achieving these ambitions, Masdar undertook assessments to identify how of Science and Technology was merged in 2017 with the Khalifa
the city could become in a short time a commercially viable clean- University of Science, Technology and Research and the Petroleum
technology hub that is home to a diverse assortment of multinational Institute to form the new Khalifa University of Science and Technology.
companies, start-ups, research institutes and NGOs. The idea was to Although the Masdar Institute is a core part of Khalifa University,
leverage the Masdar concept to create a version of Silicon Valley within functioning as a research institute focused on clean and renewable energy
the UAE. Partially due to the global financial crisis of 2008 and partially and water and environment, it is no longer a degree granting university
due to lessons learned from strategic assessments, Masdar City's de- and no longer considered a core unit of Masdar. Masdar Clean Energy's
velopment strategy was revised to have a more gradual pace and en- mandate is little changed from the original vision and the Sustainable Real
compass fewer of the most expensive and challenging elements that were Estate unit is in charge of operating Masdar City and the Masdar City
originally envisioned. The idea of having the entire city built on top of a Freezone.
podium with a personal rapid transportation network Masdar City's development strategy follows a new Master Plan (Fig.
3) and has adjusted to reflect the reality of developing a new city with
many simultaneous ambitions, some of which have taken decades

3
S. Griffiths and B.K. Sovacool Energy Research & Social Science 62 (2020) 101368

Fig. 2. The Masdar City master plan in 2008. Source: [25].

MASDAR CITY
MASTER PLAN ABU DHABI
INTERNATIONAL
ARPORT

EXISTING PROJECTS:
Siemens Middle East EXISTING AND UPCOMING PROJECTS:
HO Q MASDAR VISITOR CENTRE’
LEEO Platinum and 3 MASDAR INSTITUTE OF
Pearl Estidama V
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
certifications. MEED (PHASE 1)
Quality Award for MASDAR INSTITUTE OF
Projects 2013. SCIENCE AND ** TECHNOLOGY
[PHASE 2)"
O GEMS EDUCATION- 0 RYAN
INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL 0 EMIRATES
COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY"
Etihad Eco Residence 0 CHIC RESIDENCE'
LEED Gold and 3
Pearl Estidama rated. 0 SUN TRUST APARTMENT"
Offers 500 units, 0 ALWAHA RESIDENCE- 10 ETIHAD ECO
comprising 1- bed and RESIDENCE # LEONARDO RESIDENCES'
2-bed apartments.
12 TRISTAR RESIDENTIAL BUILDING'
H SECOND PHASE OF ETIHAD ECO RESIDENCE'
0 MASDAR HQ- 0 SIEMENS MIDDLE EAST HQ ^
INTERNATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY
AGENCY ^ (IRENA) HQ 0 MY CITY CENTRE
Masdar Institute of MASDAR'
Science and Technology
Q INCUBATOR BUILDING © TRISTAR OFFICE
Leading research in the
fields of advanced energy BUILDING© ACCELERATOR BUILDING ©
applications and HONEYWELL HO
sustainable technologies. © TRISTAR LIGHT INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX’
Awarded British Expertise
International Awards © KHA/NA DATACENTERS © MASDAR 10MW
2013. SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC PI A NT © DISTRICT
COOLING PLANT

Incubator Building RESEARCH. DEVELOPMENTAND PILOT

Home to many FACILITIES: © Masdar Solar Hub: Photovoltaic Test
entrepreneurial
businesses and the Centre © Masdar Solar Hub: CPV Testing Facility ©
convenient One-Stop Masdar Solar Hub: Masdar Institute Solar Platform ©
Shop which offers
several vital business Seawater Energy and Agriculture System [SEAS]
© Electric Energy Storage Solutions Hub © Masdar
City Eco-Villa Prototype

International
© Smart Home Energy Management System

Renewable Energy ISHEMS) for Masdar City Eco-Villa © Personal Rapid

Agency (I RENA | HQ Transit |PRT| System © Masdar City Construction
Awarded the 4 Ffearl Waste Management A Masdar institute for Science
Estidama certification w
and Technology Field Station
in 2014 and The Big
A Feasibility of District Cooling powered by
Project Middle East
Geothermal Energy for Masdar City
Award.

•Upcoming Projects

Fig. 3. The Masdar City master plan in 2018. Source: [33].

4
S. Griffiths and B.K. Sovacool Energy Research & Social Science 62 (2020) 101368

to realize internationally. In fact, the hope is that Masdar City's strategy

today is built on an incremental approach with less focus on buildings and
technology and more focus on the establishment of a new model for city
form, structure and mobility. This necessary course correction is one that
provides Masdar with the opportunity to avoid the fate of infamous “eco-
cities” such as Dongtan in China, which was full of visions for
sustainability that were never realized [32]. It would seem that Masdar
City is now moving toward triple bottom line sustainability, which better
aligns with the eco-city notion.
That is not to say the Masdar City of today is free of challenges.
Among the most important of these is consistency in vision and stability
in master plan while retaining sufficient modularity to adapt to the rapid
pace of technological change taking place globally. The vision for Masdar
in its early days was driven by its founding CEO, Dr. Sultan Al Jaber. Dr.
Sultan was the primal force behind making Masdar a global brand and
was at the helm of the initiative during the period of its grandest ambitions
for sustainability [20]. Although he remains Chairman of Masdar, his
greater commitment is in the development of the Abu Dhabi National Oil
Company (ADNOC) since his appointment to the role of ADNOC CEO in
2016. Now as leader of a major oil and gas company, he naturally has less
of a vested interest in the building of an eco-city.
While it is not the case that Masdar City is without direction, it is
clear that planning and operational execution are now all the more
important. On this point, the city has struggled to get on a course to attract
the 1500 major multinational corporations and start-up companies that
were originally planned to make the city a cleantech cluster [20]. Masdar,
BP and the pre-merger Masdar Institute launched The Catalyst almost five
years ago as technology start-up accelerator focusing on sustainability and
clean technology [34] but so far the Catalyst has had little success in
producing indigenous clean tech startups. There have also not been any
major companies that have located in Masdar City specifically to
undertake research and development that could help stimulate the Fig. 4. Sustainable materials in use at Masdar City. Source: Authors.
formation of a cleantech cluster. Again, these are not issues fatal to the
ultimate outcome for Masdar City but they do further reinforce the notion
that the original vision is fading further away. low-carbon modes of transportation. In 2018, Masdar City began its initial
Although Masdar City is no longer pursuing its original grand vision deployment of the Navya Autonom Shuttle, which is an autonomous,
of being zero-carbon, zero-waste and built on a nine-meter raised platform shared and electric mobility solution, as a follow up to the initial PRT
with an electric-powered rapid transport system beneath, environmental concept [38]. Masdar, in collaboration with the Abu Dhabi Department of
sustainability remains central to Masdar City's story. The city will now be Transportation, has also launched the Gulf region's first fully electric bus
“low-carbon” with the following sustainability objectives [35]: with service from Masdar City to other locations in Abu Dhabi [39]. This
public transportation initiative is complemented by an electric vehicle car-
• 15% reduction in embodied carbon of city construction materials sharing program that Masdar has launched that allows users to rent by a
(relative to comparable buildings in Abu Dhabi). Tesla vehicle by the minute on a pay-as- you-go basis [40].
• 30% reduction in the embodied carbon of construction materials used Masdar City's economic model now positions Masdar as both master
in the construction of its buildings (relative to comparable buildings in builder and real estate developer. As real estate developer, Masdar leases
Abu Dhabi). land to third parties that are required to adhere to the development, design
• 40% reduction in the energy consumption of its buildings (relative to and sustainability guidelines established by the City. As master builder,
comparable buildings in Abu Dhabi). Masdar develops buildings according to projected demand and
• 40% reduction in the use of interior water (relative to comparable subsequently owns these buildings. Masdar also builds to the demand of
buildings in Abu Dhabi). the government and private sector. Siemens’ headquarters building for the
Middle East region, which is located in Masdar City, is an example of this
Further, all Masdar City buildings are constructed with low-carbon model. The building is 3 Pearls and LEED Platinum, consuming 64% less
cement and 90% recycled aluminum in addition to other locally- sourced energy than typical office buildings in Abu Dhabi. With all modes of
and verified materials [36], some of them shown in Fig. 4. development considered, approximately 10% of the city development will
Regarding transportation, Masdar City initially planned to be car- free be in the form of offices such as Siemens' headquarters building and 62%
and leverage an iconic driverless Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) for nearly of the city development will be residential [33].
all vehicle-based movement within the city (see Fig. 5). This would have Notably and supportive of Masdar City's stated sustainability am-
made Masdar City one of only five elite cities around the world to deploy bitions, even the shopping malls opening in Masdar City, such as My City
a fully functioning PRT system, the others being Morgantown (1999), Centre, meet the Estimada 3 Pearls rating. Fig. 6 shows how the Carrefour
Rotterdam (1999), London (2011) and Suncheon Bay (2014) [37]. hypermarket at My City Centre makes its sustainability performance
This plan no longer exists, however, and rather the city is promoting visible to the public.
the use of electric vehicles and shuttles along with walking and other

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S. Griffiths and B.K. Sovacool Energy Research & Social Science 62 (2020) 101368

Fig. 5. Masdar City objectives in 2008 for transportation. Source: [25].

4. The Masdar City of tomorrow?

Although Masdar City is obviously still a work in progress—in 2019,

only about 10% of the city was complete or built (see Fig. 7) — Masdar
projects that approximately 35% of the city's master plan will be completed
between 2020 and 2025 [36]. Although the city currently has few residents,
the plan remains to have up to 50,000 people living in the city and up to
40,000 people working and studying there daily. In order to support this
goal, Masdar City's master plan is now aimed at creating social dynamics
via a structure predicated on distinct neighborhoods linked by a network of
sustainable mobility solutions.
This approach to city design comes from Masdar's recognition that city
building blocks are neighborhoods and not large districts or downtown
cores the size of Masdar City itself. Masdar City neighborhoods are
residential as well as working neighborhoods, mixed-use neighborhoods,
and R&D neighborhoods. Mobility between these neighborhoods and
beyond the city is to be achieved via sustainable transportation modes that
include pedestrian corridors, a group rapid transit corridor, and a light rail
transit corridor. Further, the city continues to be designed for an optimum
microclimate provided by passive design and natural cooling. This makes
walking through city courtyards, urban squares and parks an option for
sustainable mobility almost all year round.
In fact, the hope is that Masdar City has the opportunity to become a
new model for urban mobility through integrated transportation, commerce
and social interaction with the elimination of carbon emissions, traffic and
urban heat islands. Although some may argue that Masdar City is too small
for its evolving concept of interconnected neighborhoods to create a
paradigm shift in urban design, the concept reflects Masdar City's emphasis
on replicable design and now social sustainability as well.
The evolution of Masdar City has clearly followed a tortuous and
oftentimes seemingly undirected path. There are many reasons for this,
Fig. 6. Carrefour at My City Centre in Masdar City. Source: Authors.
including its initially unprecedented ambitions for environmental sus-
tainability, its development under Mubadala Investment Company,

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S. Griffiths and B.K. Sovacool Energy Research & Social Science 62 (2020) 101368

Fig. 7. Ongoing construction at Masdar City in February 2019. Source: Authors.

which has an economic rather than environmental mandate, the socio-

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S. Griffiths and B.K. Sovacool Energy Research & Social Science 62 (2020) 101368

political context of the UAE and the impact of oil market volatility on continued to push Masdar City toward realizing economic returns over
Abu Dhabi's investment priorities. Although the underlying reason for environmental ones. While this does not fully contradict the aims of an
Abu Dhabi's initial establishment of the Masdar Initiative and investment eco-city, it has led to criticism that Masdar City is only as sustainable as
in Masdar City has been posited as a ploy by the UAE for political the economic and political system that it serves [17]. Although the
legitimization [41], the country has not been shy about its use of soft concept of ecological modernization can be very positive for climate and
power to influence international opinion [42,43]. Further, the initiative society [44], it has been used in a rather derogatory manner with regard
and city undeniably created an opportunity for the country to take initial to Masdar City. Cugurullo suggests that the city's urban eco-
steps in transitioning from what has been coined as “petro-ur- banism” modernization has hindered progress on environmental matters and
[41] to sustainable development. social justice [17], largely due to the broader UAE socio-political en-
Unfortunately, key components of the Masdar Initiative that were vironment in which the city operates. While it is true that the socio-
fundamental to the Masdar City concept, such as the Masdar Institute of political context of the UAE and broader region brings challenges to
Science and Technology and Masdar's venture capital fund, are now sustainable development [45,46], Masdar City has impacted positively
either gone or have a different focus than was articulated in Masdar's national policy on sustainability as much as national policy may have
original vision. Further, the economic mandate of Mubadala has negatively impacted the city.
For instance, even as early as 2010, it was clear that Masdar City

8
S. Griffiths and B.K. Sovacool Energy Research & Social Science 62 (2020) 101368

Fig. 8. A 10 Megawatt(MW) solar photovoltaic power plant at Masdar City. Source: Authors.
and its surrounding initiative were influencing awareness of sustainability 5. Conclusion
regionally and globally [22] and since that time, environmental
sustainability initiatives in Abu Dhabi have progressed significantly. Before In spite of the apparent progress Masdar City is making on the
the establishment of Masdar, Abu Dhabi heavily subsidized energy and economic and environmental front, the city continues to deflect criticism
water, had no sustainable rating system for buildings and had a power about deviation from of its the original vision and lack of progress relative
system almost 100% reliant on fossil-based energy resources [47]. Fast to the original plan. The original plan for Masdar City to be constructed
forward a decade later, and Abu Dhabi has become a regional leader in through investment of $22 billion and completion over the course of 8 years
energy subsidy reform, renewable energy deployment and sustainable has become more like investment of $10 billion and completion over the
buildings [47,48]. Masdar spearheaded the UAE's first renewable energy course of 20 to 25 years, according to city planners. Further, the city's
policy in 2009 and it established precedence for large- scale renewable social dimension, or lack thereof, has been a point of criticism [54], all the
energy projects in the GCC through development of the Shams 1 more so given that the city is currently years behind schedule and only 10%
Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plant, which is a 100 MW facility that completed. Sustainability, it seems, is incredibly difficult to implement at
started operation in Abu Dhabi in 2013 [49]. As a testament to Masdar's the sheer scale of a city, even one being built from the ground up in a
influence on sustainability in the UAE, the UAE government officially regime known for effective governance and planning. However, this can
highlights Masdar City and the broader Masdar Initiative as one of the change if the planned residential build out produces positive social
pillars of the country's response to climate change [50]. dynamics. The opening of the 2,500 square meter Masdar Park has created
Going forward, Masdar City can still achieve many of the attributes of a potential new community destination that should help with this effort
an “eco-city” and develop its own, distinct low-carbon trajectory that [55]. According to Masdar officials recently interviewed, the park has
compliments those of other cities with ambitious plans for carbon reduction become a very popular evening destination for Emiratis, which is important
[51]. Economic sustainability is clearly fundamental to the city's current to establishing a greater connection between the city and local society.
plans and the most recent city master plan is aligned with key dimensions In conclusion and in reflection, the hope for Masdar City to become an
of environmental sustainability, particularly for a small, high income, exemplary eco-city is not yet lost. Masdar City, if it does work as currently
innovator city archetype [52]. Although the city itself will not build out any planned, would underlie the importance of integrating city planning,
major new renewable energy sources, the 10 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) passive design, energy supply, transport, water, and recycling efforts so that
plant and 1 MW of rooftop PV in the city (See Fig. 8) compliment a the entire community is low-carbon. However, challenges and barriers
substantial build out of solar PV in Abu Dhabi [53] that will feed clean remain for the city in its path ahead. It may be, however, that the true
energy to the city. legacy of the city will not be evolving into a model eco-city

9
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