Masdar City Case Study: Low-Carbon Plan, Streets and What Changed (Foster + Partners)

Masdar City is a planned district on the edge of Abu Dhabi, master-planned by Foster + Partners from 2007 as what its client called the world's first zero-carbon, zero-waste city. For a case study it teaches two things at once: how far a hot city can be cooled by its own street pattern, and what happens when a plan's targets meet a property market. The shaded streets, the wind tower and the first buildings were built; the car-free podium, most of the driverless transit and the zero-carbon goal were not.

Masdar City at a glance

Master plan: Foster + Partners, announced on 8 May 2007 (Dezeen, 2007).
Plan consultants (as Transsolar lists them): Transsolar for climate engineering, WSP Group for building services, E.T.A. for renewable energy, Systematica for transport.
Client: Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar). Masdar City is now a subsidiary of Mubadala Investment Company (Masdar City).
Location: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, about 20 miles (32 km) from the city centre (Architectural Record, 2011).
Dates: plan announced 2007; Transsolar gives the master plan as completed in 2008; first buildings (Masdar Institute) opened to students in September 2010; phase 2 plan by CBT published 2016 to 2017; no completion date now set (Associated Press, 2023).
Area: 6 km² planned (Foster + Partners, 2007) or 640 ha (Transsolar). In 2023 the city covered about 3.8 km², about a quarter of it built up (AP).
People: planned for about 50,000 residents (Transsolar); AramcoWorld adds 40,000 commuting workers, and Architectural Record gave a daytime population of 90,000. In 2023 about 15,000 people lived and worked there, a third of them residents (AP).
Type and status: mixed-use district, university, offices and homes, with a business free zone; lived in and still being built; open to visitors.

Sources are listed at the end, and figures differ between them, so each is credited. Diagrams are MOA's own schematics, not copies of the master plan. UAE law has no usable freedom of panorama for buildings, so this post uses no photographs.

The brief and who planned it

Masdar, the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, was set up around 2007 with Abu Dhabi government funding, and the city was to be its showcase (AramcoWorld). Foster + Partners' announcement, as Dezeen reproduced it, set out the targets: zero carbon, zero waste and a city that was car free inside its walls. Norman Foster called the brief one that "promises to question conventional urban wisdom". Transsolar's page adds a further target: to meet all ten One Planet Living goals defined by WWF.

The budget most often quoted is US$22 billion (MEED, October 2010). The original completion date was 2016. Foster + Partners also designed the first buildings, the Masdar Institute, with PHA as environmental design consultant according to Architectural Record.

Site and context

The site was open desert, about six square kilometres in Alan Mammoser's account in AramcoWorld (2017). Its neighbours include the airport (Scientific American). The climate is the starting point of the whole design. Transsolar describes the cityscape as designed to protect people from hot daytime winds and strong sun while letting cooler night breezes through. Mammoser writes that the planners studied old cities such as Fez, Cairo and Shibam, places with narrow, shaded streets.

To set out your own site study for a project like this, see our guide to documenting a building for a case study.

Masdar City master plan: the plan idea

The 2007 plan rests on the traditional walled city: dense, compact and built in two phases. In Foster + Partners' description, the compact street network encourages walking, and no point is more than 200 m from the nearest transport link and amenities. The first phase was to rely on a large photovoltaic power plant, which would later become the site of the second phase. The land around the city was to hold wind and solar farms, research fields and plantations (Building, 8 May 2007).

Two further moves gave the plan its form. The square city was set on a northeast to southwest axis to catch cooler desert winds, and it was raised on a platform so that people walked on top and transport ran underneath (AramcoWorld).

Schematic plan of the 2007 Masdar idea: a square city turned 45 degrees so its street grid runs northeast to southwest, shown by a red arrow. The southwest half is the phase 1 city, drawn in pink with a fine grid of narrow streets; the northeast half is a grey solar field marked as later becoming the phase 2 site. A dashed circle around a transport stop notes that no point was to be more than 200 m from the nearest transport link and amenities. Hatched land around the city is labelled for wind and solar farms, research fields and plantations, and a note says cars stop outside the walls, with personal rapid transit inside. A notes panel lists the first plan: 6 km² (Foster + Partners) or 640 ha (Transsolar), about 50,000 residents and up to 1,500 businesses, zero carbon and zero waste, the grid set northeast to southwest to catch cooler winds, the walled-city model and a US$22 billion budget — The first plan in principle: a compact walled city on a turned grid, with its own land for power around it. Diagram: MOA

For the real drawings, see the master plan renderings on Transsolar's project page, the Masdar Institute drawings on ArchDaily, and the Foster + Partners website's Masdar Development project page.

Masdar City layout: streets, podium and PRT

The street and the block

Phase 1 shows the plan at street level. Architectural Record's Sona Nambiar described the Masdar Institute buildings in 2011: some are set as close as 10 feet (about 3 m) apart, and their ground floors step back under colonnades along short streets that turn and change direction. The article says this configuration, common in traditional Arab settlements, helps speed up the movement of air. Narrow gaps also let the walls shade each other and the street.

The podium

The first buildings stand on a podium about 7 m high: 25 feet in Architectural Record, seven metres in AramcoWorld. Vehicles were kept to the undercroft below it, so the upper level could be for people on foot.

Personal rapid transit

Under the podium runs the personal rapid transit (PRT): small driverless electric pods on a dedicated guideway. Foster + Partners' 2007 plan included a personalised rapid transport system for the whole city. What opened in November 2010 is phase 1A: two stations, the North Car Park and the Masdar Institute, about 1.4 km apart (Masdar, December 2016). The operator, 2getthere, gives 10 six-person vehicles and more than 2.7 million passengers in 15 years of daily service; Architectural Record counted 13 cars in 2011. After the 2010 review, MEED reported that the system would be scaled back, and it was not extended.

Two schematic street sections side by side. Left, phase 1 as first built around the Masdar Institute: two buildings stand on a podium slab raised on columns about 7 m above the desert floor (25 ft in Architectural Record, seven metres in AramcoWorld), with a red PRT pod and another vehicle in the undercroft below. The buildings are as close as 3 m (10 ft) apart, one face has a red dotted lattice screen of glass-reinforced concrete, ground floors step back under colonnades, and a tall hatched wind tower of about 45 m (150 ft) has an arrow showing air steered down. Right, after the 2010 review: two buildings stand on the ground with a car in the street between them, set 9 m (30 ft) apart in the phase 2 plan so they shade each other; notes add that streets and lanes are turned to the prevailing winds, that the podium was dropped and cars allowed, and that about 20 percent of land goes to streets against 30 to 35 percent in a typical city — Phase 1 lifted people onto a podium above the vehicles; after 2010 the city came back down to ground level with wider, still shaded streets. Diagram: MOA

Masdar City wind tower, the Institute and energy

The Masdar Institute, the first part built, is where the climate ideas were tested. Architectural Record describes a 150-foot (about 45 m) steel-framed wind tower with louvres that adjust to guide air downward and mist sprayed from the top. AramcoWorld calls it a prototype of the traditional barjeel, or wind catcher. The homes are shaded by a lattice of glass-reinforced concrete, a modern take on the mashrabiya screen, while the laboratories have an outer skin of ETFE, a plastic with high insulation value. Circulation areas are treated as "climate lobbies", kept warmer than the rooms they serve, at around 86°F (30°C).

Results are reported in different ways, so read each as its source states it:

Architectural Record: the Institute buildings were designed to use less than half the energy of buildings meeting the US standard ASHRAE 90.1-2004, and a midday survey found the mean radiant temperature 20°F lower than on a street in central Abu Dhabi.
AramcoWorld: the Institute is up to 10°C cooler in felt heat than central Abu Dhabi, and building energy demand is 40 to 50 percent below the local norm.
Transsolar: on-site measurements showed comfort improved by as much as 20°C compared with central Abu Dhabi. These are the climate engineer's own figures.
Masdar City today says its buildings use 40 percent less energy and water than similar buildings, a company claim.

On energy sources, the plan was for on-site renewables only. Architectural Record reported in 2011 that the Institute's roof panels produce 1,800 MWh a year and that solar collectors meet about 75 percent of its hot water demand, but that the city was now grid connected. By 2017, AramcoWorld reported, rooftop solar supplied about 30 percent of the buildings' energy and the rest came from Abu Dhabi's grid. Masdar City now states a goal of net zero by 2050. Some concrete used ground granulated blast-furnace slag in place of up to 80 percent of the cement (Architectural Record), a material Indian builders can also buy.

How it was built and governed

One company, now part of Mubadala, plans the city and runs the business free zone that brings its tenants (Masdar City). After the 2008 financial crisis, AramcoWorld reports, Masdar moved from building everything itself to joint ventures and third-party developers, and set a pace of about 1 million m² every five years to 2030, depending on demand. Its tenants have included the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Siemens and other firms, alongside the university.

The second phase was planned again by the US firm CBT. Patrick Lynch, writing in ArchDaily (June 2017), describes a 6,700,000 sq ft plan of research buildings, homes, shops, mosques and schools that relies on passive design rather than costly technology, with streets and sikkak (lanes) turned to the prevailing winds, 70 percent native planting and a target of 40 percent less energy than conventional standards. CleanTechnica (November 2016) adds that buildings sit 9 m (30 ft) apart to shade each other and that about 20 percent of the land goes to streets, against 30 to 35 percent in a typical city.

What changed: targets against what was reported

The turning point was a ten-month review in 2010. The National's Christopher Stanton reported in October 2010 that completion moved from 2016 to between 2020 and 2025, and that falling costs of materials and renewables cut the estimate by 10 to 15 percent. MEED added that the PRT would be scaled back and that renewable power would be bought from outside the site. Masdar's chief executive, Sultan Al Jaber, told The National the vision remained intact.

Item	2007 plan	Reported later
Carbon	Zero carbon, zero waste	"Low carbon" (AramcoWorld, 2017); net zero by 2050 is the current goal (Masdar City)
Power	On-site renewables only	Grid connected, with off-site renewables (Architectural Record 2011; MEED 2010)
Cars	None inside the walls	Podium dropped, cars allowed on streets (AramcoWorld)
Transit	Citywide PRT	Two stations, about 1.4 km (Masdar, 2016)
Completion	2016	2020 to 2025 (2010 review); date later shelved (AP, 2023)
People	About 50,000 residents	About 15,000 living and working, a third residents (AP, 2023)
Cost	US$22 billion	About US$16 billion estimate (AramcoWorld, 2017)

A vertical timeline of Masdar City. May 2007: Foster + Partners plan announced, zero carbon, zero waste, car free inside the walls, 6 km², completion due by 2016. September 2010: first six Masdar Institute buildings open. October 2010: ten-month review moves completion to 2020 to 2025, scales back the PRT and plans to buy renewable power from outside the site. November 2010: PRT opens with 2 stations over about 1.4 km. November 2016: PRT carries its 2 millionth passenger and CBT's phase 2 plan is reported. 2017: aim described as low carbon, podium dropped, cars allowed, cost estimate down from 18 to 22 billion US dollars to about 16 billion. December 2023: about 15,000 people live and work there, a third residents, and the target date is shelved. A bar below shows the 6 km² first planned, the 3.8 km² the city covers today in grey, and about a quarter of that built up in red — Sixteen years of Masdar in dated sources: the targets moved, the city kept growing. Diagram: MOA

Reception and criticism

Critics have mostly questioned what kind of city Masdar is rather than how well its buildings work. In Scientific American (August 2011), David Biello reported critics calling it a walled city for rich students; the sociologist Saskia Sassen called it "more a laboratory than an option" for most of the world's cities, and Konrad Otto-Zimmermann of ICLEI said the site is in principle hostile to human settlement. James Evans, Gabriele Schliwa and Katherine Luke, in a 2016 book chapter, compare Masdar with Arcosanti in Arizona and present both as cautionary tales for cities designed around technology. Federico Cugurullo of Trinity College Dublin told the Associated Press in 2023 that it is "not a good model for future cities".

Masdar's own staff answer that it was an experiment that learnt as it went. Chris Wan, associate director for sustainability, told AramcoWorld the aim is now "something that other people can borrow from", and told AP that the only failure worth recognising is the failure to start. The search terms "Masdar City failure" and "ghost town" reflect the gap between 2007 and today; the sources above show a smaller, slower, grid-connected district that is lived in and still growing.

What designers in India can take from it

These are MOA's reading of the record, not claims made by Masdar or its designers.

Shade the street before you cool the building. The parts of Masdar that worked, and that CBT kept in phase 2, are cheap: narrow streets, buildings that shade each other, colonnades and a grid turned to the breeze. Many older towns in India's hot-dry regions have narrow, shaded lanes of their own; new layouts in hot cities can borrow the principle without the podium. Our Louvre Abu Dhabi case study shows the same idea at the scale of a single dome.
Size the walk to the stop. Masdar set 200 m to the nearest transport link. India's National Transit Oriented Development Policy (2017) uses a walking distance of 500 to 800 m around a station and asks for smaller blocks with a finer street network in that zone. A Masdar-style street grid inside that radius is one way to meet both.
Do not build transport ahead of demand. The citywide PRT was suspended to control costs (AramcoWorld) and stopped at two stations. For a greenfield township, plan the right of way for transit but phase the system with occupancy.
Publish the numbers. Masdar's critics and supporters can argue because figures exist. Rating systems in India ask for the same evidence; see our guide to IGBC, GRIHA, LEED and ECSBC. For a thesis on a new town or a climate-led campus, our B.Arch thesis topics by typology lists related briefs.

Visiting Masdar City

Masdar City is a working district with homes, offices and a university rather than a museum. Its official website links to a visitor centre page and directions; it did not load when we checked on 11 November 2026, so check it before you go. The PRT links the North Car Park to the Institute area (Masdar). We do not print opening hours or prices because we could not confirm them on the official site.

Planning a project that has to work with heat and shade from the first sketch? Find an architect on MOA.

FAQ

Who designed Masdar City?

Foster + Partners drew the 2007 master plan and the first buildings, the Masdar Institute, with Transsolar, WSP, E.T.A. and Systematica on the plan team. The phase 2 plan is by CBT. The client is Masdar, now part of Mubadala.

When was Masdar City built?

The plan was announced in May 2007 and the first buildings opened to students in September 2010. Building continues, and the Associated Press reported in 2023 that no completion date is now set.

What is the population of Masdar City?

It was planned for about 50,000 residents. In December 2023 the Associated Press estimated that about 15,000 people lived and worked there, a third of them residents.

Is Masdar City a failure?

It missed its headline targets: zero carbon, a car-free city on a podium, a citywide PRT and a 2016 finish. Its shaded streets, wind tower and low-energy buildings were built and measured, and it is still growing. Critics such as Federico Cugurullo call it a poor model; Masdar calls it a work in progress.

What are Masdar City's energy sources?

Rooftop solar panels and a solar field, with the rest from Abu Dhabi's grid. AramcoWorld reported in 2017 that rooftop solar met about 30 percent of the buildings' energy.

Sources

Dezeen: Zero-carbon city by Foster + Partners, 8 May 2007 (Foster + Partners' announcement; accessed 11 Nov 2026)
Vikki Miller, Building: Foster unveils green utopia in the desert, 8 May 2007 (accessed 11 Nov 2026)
Transsolar: Masterplan Masdar City, Abu Dhabi (accessed 11 Nov 2026)
ArchDaily: Masdar Institute / Foster + Partners, 23 November 2010 (architect, completion year, drawings; accessed 11 Nov 2026)
Sona Nambiar, Architectural Record: Masdar Institute, 16 May 2011 (accessed 11 Nov 2026)
Alan Mammoser, AramcoWorld: Chasing Zero, July/August 2017 (accessed 11 Nov 2026)
MEED: Masdar City delayed until 2025, 11 October 2010 (accessed 11 Nov 2026)
Christopher Stanton, The National: Masdar City completion pushed back, but total cost falls, 10 October 2010 (accessed 11 Nov 2026)
Masdar: Masdar City's PRT system celebrates milestone with 2 millionth passenger, 4 December 2016 (accessed 11 Nov 2026)
2getthere: Masdar City PRT (accessed 11 Nov 2026)
Patrick Lynch, ArchDaily: CBT unveils community-oriented phase 2 masterplan for Masdar City, 15 June 2017 (accessed 11 Nov 2026)
Aisha Abdelhamid, CleanTechnica: Masdar City's Phase 2 Master Plan Moves Forward, 24 November 2016 (accessed 11 Nov 2026)
Jamey Keaten, Associated Press (via News4Jax): On sidelines of COP28, Emirati 'green city' falls short of ambitions, but still delivers lessons, 8 December 2023 (accessed 11 Nov 2026)
David Biello, Scientific American: Can a Sustainable City Rise in the Middle Eastern Desert?, 19 August 2011 (accessed 11 Nov 2026)
James Evans, Gabriele Schliwa and Katherine Luke, in The Experimental City (Routledge, 2016), pp. 218 to 235: The glorious failure of the experimental city: cautionary tales from Arcosanti and Masdar City (abstract; accessed 11 Nov 2026)
Masdar City: official website (ownership, current claims; accessed 11 Nov 2026)
Government of India: National Transit Oriented Development Policy, 2017 (copy hosted by NCRTC; sections 2.2 and 7.6.2; accessed 11 Nov 2026)
Wikimedia Commons: Copyright rules by territory: United Arab Emirates (accessed 11 Nov 2026)