Happy New Year from Masdar City: A Glimpse of Sustainable Living

Wishing you all a happy, healthy, and successful 2024 in a world that, hopefully, will be more peaceful than what we saw in 2023. From a global perspective, in 2024 sustainability will rightfully be at the forefront. And what could be better to post than a picture of what claims to be the most sustainable city in the world?
 
While in Abu Dhabi with the 2023 UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai in mind, I felt compelled to visit Masdar City. Given the controversies surrounding a country heavily reliant on oil organizing a climate change conference, I was eager to experience firsthand what this city, promoted as a model for a sustainable future by oil-producing nations, was all about. Masdar City is positioned as a pioneering sustainable urban community, at the forefront of redefining how people live, work, learn, and play. It promotes itself as a world-class business and technology hub, hosting a thriving ecosystem of global organizations collaborating to shape a greener tomorrow. I must confess, I visited the city on a unique morning—the last day of the year, which happened to be a Sunday. I don’t know if it's the reason, but the city felt strangely deserted, with only security personnel and maintenance workers in sight. It was like a ghost town. While I was genuinely impressed by the innovation and the city's sustainability efforts, I couldn't help but be reminded, especially by the abundance of security cameras, of George Orwell's '1984' as I walked its streets. In the end, as I left after a couple of hours, I had mixed feelings. I admired the technology and innovation, but the emptiness of the city and the omnipresent security personnel and cameras left me feeling uneasy. I'm all for sustainability, but let's make it a bit less sterile... – Masdar City, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.