On the outskirts of Dubai, traditionally known for its oil, lies a small municipality working on the society of the future. With Dubai Sustainable City, the city is proving that there is more than towering skyscrapers and petrol-guzzling cars.
Suppose you could build a sustainable community from scratch? What would it look like? Those involved in Dubai Sustainable City can quickly tell that there is much more to it than rooftop solar panels and separate household waste delivery. Building the new city is based on three pillars - similar to the familiar People Planet Profit: a 'social' pillar, which focuses on health and happiness through sports, education, safety and culture, an 'environmental' pillar with a focus on food, waste, water, energy and mobility, and an 'economic' pillar, which also makes a green way of life financially viable.
Social sustainability is just one of those pillars, but it is perhaps most visible from the ground. The 500 villas and 89 flats in Dubai Sustainable City are arranged in a grid pattern enclosed by 'buffer zone'. This consists of cycling, walking and running paths made of recycled rubber tyres and 10-metre-high trees that purify the air like a green corridor.
Within it are collective solar-powered car parks with electric fast chargers. The 'inner city' is formed by alleys where there is no car traffic and can only be travelled on foot or via communal electric buggies. The buggies are equipped with GPS tracking and can be used by residents via personalised ID cards. A series of large greenhouses meander through the centre of Dubai Sustainable City like a spine. Herein you will find 30 different varieties of herbs and vegetables; not insignificant in a country that relies on imports for 80 per cent of its food. Dubai Sustainable City residents can use the greenhouse herbs and vegetables through a voucher system.
These villas are built of thick precast concrete and fitted with solar panels on the roof. The positioning of the houses is such that solar heating - and thus the need for cooling - is minimised. Accordingly, the windows face north; openings on the north-east side provide passive cooling. Combined with high-efficiency equipment, this creates homes that consume about a third of the energy of an average house in that region. The 500 villas are divided into five clusters with an outdoor play area in the centre. Dubai Sustainable City's combined solar panels provide some 6 MWp, meeting about 40-50 per cent of the total energy needs. In the not too distant future, the city aims to generate as much power as it consumes.
