Dubai Kicks out Cars, Uses Waste Water for Lawns to Build Sustainable City

Twenty kilometers away from the towers of Dubai’s city Skyline lies the future “net-zero” Sustainable City – producing energy from renewable sources in a settlement comprised of 500 solar-powered villas for nearly 3,000 people, commercial spaces and a mosque.

The United Arab Emirates plans to change its reputation of lack of sustainability – due to factors such as excessive air-conditioning – pledging that by 2030 all new buildings will produce no more emissions than they can absorb, and all existing buildings will meet the same goal by 2050.

The Sustainable City initiative, the first in the city to become fully operational, is designed to use as little energy – and water – as possible, with cars banned from most of the area and wastewater recycled to dampen green areas.

“The Sustainable City is a living laboratory for testing future technologies and solutions,” says Karim El-Jisr, head of SEE Institute, the research arm of the city’s developer, Diamond Developers.