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Very few carbon-based lifeforms are inhabiting the United Arab Emirates' revolutionary yet unrealized zero-carbon city:
Years from now passing travellers may marvel at the grandeur and the folly of the futuristic landscape on the edges of Abu Dhabi: the barely occupied office block, the deserted streets, the vast tracts of undeveloped land and – most of all – the abandoned dream of a zero-carbon city. Masdar City, when it was first conceived a decade ago, was intended to revolutionise thinking about cities and the built environment.
Now the world's first planned sustainable city – the marquee project of the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) plan to diversify the economy from fossil fuels - could well be the world's first green ghost town. As of this year - when Masdar was originally scheduled for completion - managers have given up on the original goal of building the world's first planned zero-carbon city.
Masdar City is nowhere close to zeroing out its greenhouse gas emissions now, even at a fraction of its planned footprint. And it will not reach that goal even if the development ever gets fully built, the authorities admitted. "We are not going to try to shoehorn renewable energy into the city just to justify a definition created within a boundary," said Chris Wan, the design manager for Masdar City. "As of today, it's not a net zero future," he said. "It's about 50%."
When Masdar City began, in 2006, the project was touted as a model for a green mixed-use urban landscape: a global hub for the cleantech industry, with 50,000 residents and 40,000 commuters. Foster + Partners designed a car-free city scape, with Jetson-style driverless electric cars shuttling passengers between buildings incorporating built-in shades and kitted out with smart technologies to resist the scorching desert heat, and keep cooling costs down. Mubadala, Abu Dhabi's state-owned investment company, pledged financial support to the estimated $22bn experiment in urban design.
Ten years on, however, only a fraction of the town has been built - less than 5% of the original six square km "greenprint", as Wan called it. The completion date has been pushed back to 2030. [...] The pioneering autonomous transport system - which was originally supposed to stretch to 100 stations - was scrapped after the first two stops. There is a bike-sharing station – though it's a good 10 miles away from Abu Dhabi, and there are no bike paths. [...] [Chris Wan] maintained it was important to look at Masdar City within the context of the other renewable energy holdings of the parent company. Among Mubadala's other holdings, Masdar Clean Energy is developing the Shams solar farm.
Some more background on Masdar City (مدينة مصدر).
(Score: 2) by VLM on Tuesday February 16 2016, @08:59PM
scorching desert heat
There is a bike-sharing station – though it's a good 10 miles away from Abu Dhabi, and there are no bike path
We have the same greenwashing in the frozen north where its -5 last week and snowing yesterday, but luckily we have a greenwashed bike share station nearby for my 20 mile commute. And being an urban area there is only housing for people under $25K/yr or over $250K/yr and not a single residence in between, so the locals have no use for it either, their chauffeur can pick up the bike for them or they can steal the bike and sell it for crack money. As near as I can tell the bike share only stays in business due to government grants. Nice racket if you can get into it.
It is rewarding to see humanity is the same on the other side of the planet.
I do wonder about the logic of greenwashing in the desert. Best first choice to green up would be to move away.
(Score: 2) by SanityCheck on Tuesday February 16 2016, @09:28PM
Good $deity man, my sides nearly split open at the spot on comment. The bikes should come with a complimentary 100%-fair-trade-organic-wool scarf, so that you can look pretentious as fuck as you peddle the $8-a-day rental to brunch on Sunday mid-morning.
About the time when these bikes came to my hood, I knew it was time to move out of the urban landscape. There was no looking back as the rents got so out of hands only way to afford a multi-bedroom was by sharing it 2 people per bedroom with strangers or by qualifying for Section 8 housing subsidy.
If I see any of these citi-bikes (Yes, named after citibank) in my suburban subsection, I will hit the accelerator, bank sharply to the right, and hold on to my seat as I proceed to roll my Crossover SUV like an asphalt roller over whoever is riding it.
(Do your worst, I don't even care about Karma)
(Score: 2) by VLM on Tuesday February 16 2016, @10:04PM
$8-a-day rental
Try $3/30 mins aka $6/hr.
A taxi is $3 plus $3/mile, so its actually not that ridiculous if the weather is decent.
At least they rate limit the credit cards so only four bikes can be stolen per stolen credit card.
Also this isn't hacker news where the mob mentality is bicycle riders deserve all the social signalling they can get. Nobody's likely to care here.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 16 2016, @10:23PM
I paid $85 for a year of bike share and have ridden over 250 miles in 4-5 months.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 16 2016, @10:31PM
Who the hell pays that? It is easier to just buy your own bike and a bike lock. $6 dollars an hour my butt.
If you plan on commuting on your bike you should budget about 500 dollars. Bikes from wally world/target/box store are usually crap. Go to a bike shop pick out one of last years models and then buy a decent lock. The bike shop I got mine from has lifetime adjustments, and they are reasonable if you actually have to get something replaced like a chain or sprocket.
(Score: 2) by Nuke on Wednesday February 17 2016, @10:34AM
For some years I did cycle road racing, and have raced against guys you might have seen in the Tour de France. For training and commuting, I bought a second hand bike for 20 UK pounds (~$15?), the sort of bike originally sold to teenagers as a "racer", with a frame "made of old gas pipes" as we would say. I replaced some of the bearings, tossed the gear-changer, fitted my own pedals and saddle (points of contact you see) and must have done 50,000 miles on it since, with further maintenance of course.
Almost all of that distance was done with a fixed gear [single gear and no freewheel] even though I live in a hilly area. But I'd bet the farm that I would leave you on your $500 (or more) 20-gear (or more) bike sucking dust.
What matter with a bike more than anything else are: (1) Riding position, (2) Saddle, and above all (3) The nut that holds the handlebars.
(Score: 1) by mechanicjay on Tuesday February 16 2016, @09:49PM
being an urban area there is only housing for people under $25K/yr or over $250K/yr and not a single residence in between,
You know, this is something I've kinda of grumbled about, which you just articulated in very succinct manner. Thank You.
My VMS box beat up your Windows box.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Tuesday February 16 2016, @09:50PM
If you don't think it's possible to ride a bike to work in -5 with snow, well, you've clearly never been to Denver.
(And yes, we likely agree that those are crazy people.)
(Score: 4, Insightful) by frojack on Tuesday February 16 2016, @10:08PM
Did it fo 15 years straight when I lived in Alaska. Studded tires and all.
Rain is much more miserable than snow and ice. Much much more.
Riding in deep powder snow is fun, and you just about can't get hurt.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.