Like any concept, first you have to establish a need. Just because you have a great idea, doesn't mean there is a need for it. Much of the Tech they envisioned for Masdar is already being adopted elsewhere.
To be fair where Mazdar is located is near many other “full” residential areas….the lack of public transport and telling people to walk around in Abu Dhabi is wild lol especially in summer. With the improvements in Robo Taxi, AI and bots like Optimus this city could be “re-invented” but it will take time…since it’s not smack in the middle of Abu Dhabi island or Yas Island where many people prefer to live…it’s closer to MBZ which is also quite a full district with the GEMS Academy there and many other schools but the restrictions on public transport and walking really do hurt Mazdar…it probably would’ve worked perfectly in a cooler area like northern California.
I worked in Abu Dhabi 12 years ago and visited Masdar several times on business. We couldn't work out where the $22bn had been spent. It was a typical grandiose UAE project of that period where international "consultancies" ripped them off and delivered very little. Oh! and the electric taxi pods were always out of order.
As much as I love these videos about failed mega project planed cities, I'd actually love to see a video about planned cities that are a success. Maybe even conclude what these projects had in common that made them a success compared to these other projects that are failures.
@@jimrichards3916 There's a few, but the cost of such endeavors usually makes them kinda rare in the first place. Songdo in South Korea is one that comes to mind -- it's still in construction, but it's already supporting a couple hundred thousand residents and seems to be thriving pretty well.
There are many, including Philadelphia, Buffalo, and Washington D.C.. St. Petersburg, Russia is one with a dark, horrible history. There's a long, storied history of planned cities. I'd like to see an investigation into why some fail and others succeed.
Its sad that to see all these different futuristic cities fail. I think that on the surface the idea of a fully green city is an ambitious and admirable goal but the scale of these projects cause them to run out of money too fast and stifling their progress with large tech expenses. I think a carbon-negative neighborhood is totally achievable with the right location and climate appropriate architecture but I don't see any of these planned cities focusing on that. If we could start out smaller with neighborhoods and financial and industrial districts going as green as possible then I think we'd (humanity as a group) be better prepared for creating working and sustainable green cities
Years ago at a Sustainability conference, I asked a Masdar rep where sustainable agriculture fit into the project. He was confused by my question and said, “We’re just a developer.” Yeah, just a developer.
Masdar has split into two. One of them is Masdar Development (real estate) the other is now a huge pretty successful investment arm in renewable energies
All these new city development needs to use Permaculture Urbanism principles. Without all the AI "smart" surveillance technology / facial recognition scanners that track everyone.
the great thing about such failiures is that you can make a very long list of what went wrong and make it better next time or create a task list of changes to move towards the original vision, in a Zen fashion that is. Certain critical technologies have improved or changed direction in the recent years and may show a better path towards the Green City of the future
This project is remarkable that any of it worked, so praise the successes, learn from the mistakes and build the next one better and closer to not just net zero but a city that reduces atmospheric carbon.
Reducing atmospheric carbon is of equivalent intelligence to reducing atmospheric oxygen. But what do I know, I was only top of my environmental science class.
You can’t outrun the technological ponzi. There is too much rigidity in these complex systems and a dangerous dependance on assumed future innovations.
It was planned to have light rail too, the physical size of the place means it’s just walkable, the pods are more like elevators in terms of scope. It’s not a city, it’s a compact neighborhood.
@@iml_mistikk2592 Adam something the racist who said a city of millions has no culture and straight lies in about every video. Dude so racist he said arabs are acting not arab enough.
@@AL-lh2ht I'm pretty sure you're just pressed. From my analysis of him, he seems quite anti-racism. Also I'm pretty sure the city you are talking about is a Gulf Arab city which is in that case absolutely right.
There are two philosophies to creating product for people. The first is to create an ideal that exists in the creator's mind, advertise how amazing it is and refuse to offer any options outside that initial ideal. The second focuses more on making sure the creation is useable for it's intended (as advertised) purpose. Offering options to make it more personal is there from the beginning and grow as production is able to ramp up. Most cities planned and built before people move in, are the first. They go with: *You will like this and will never complain!* as their way of handling all of it. These are "Form over Function", where looks matter and only looks matter.
I lived in Abu Dhabi between 2010-2014 (after which I moved to Dubai); we used to go to a sushi restaurant in Masdar "city". The self driving pods were pretty cool for the time and navigated a set route using magnets, which was basically useless in the real world where tram/rail transportation already existed for decades. Nevertheless, they were a bit of fun, but wouldn't be in any way impressive by today's self-driving cars standards. The architecture was pretty cool and, in places, dystopian and otherworldly, but that was the most I can say about that. The Institute of Science and Tech was the only notable organisation at Masdar that kept the whole place from being, pardon the pun, deserted.
Has anyone commented that the whole thing was "Greenwashing" from its very inception. Just a way to divert international criticism of the UAE's obvious carbon excess...?
Greenwashing is a dangerous term. While fake green projects are disconcerting, it still allows for engagement and the possibility of sincere effort to follow. It is possible to criticize any and all human efforts on some level, even those that appear benevolent. But, would you rather have 100% purity, or people who can get out of bed in the morning; cause you can’t have both in a system that is experiencing growth.
Dangerous? Should all follow what is good for you? How about we look at the past and see who pumped all current carbon in the atmosphere when they went through industrialization, how about we look who consumes most of the world output = true carbon enabler. Oh wait lets make paper straws for our drinks and Greenwash our carbon history 😂🤣🤣
I guess the big dairy farming countries are diverting attention too, since farms are equal to fossil when it come to green house gases (the more potent one Methane).
Dangerous? Should all follow what is good for you? How about we look at the past and see who pumped all current carbon in the atmosphere when they went through industrialization, how about we look who consumes most of the world output = true carbon enabler. Oh wait lets make paper straws for our drinks and Greenwash our carbon history 😂🤣🤣
Omg thank you for making this. News about this City just kinda disappeared. I was so fascinated by it when it was first started…as were a tonne of RUclipsrs
Simon, I have a suggestion for a video, although I am not sure if it would be a Megaproject or a Sideproject. A video covering the General Motors Sunraycer from the eighties would be interesting. In addition coverage of the World Solar Challenge would be welcome too. I was a kid in the eighties and the Sunraycer was a big deal back then.
I live nearby, it's quite a nice place to visit and its architecture certainly does help with the heat, but yeah at the moment it is basically a campus for a few universities and aircrew for the airport. Certainly not a "Huge failure" though, more of a testbed for urban planning in the desert and maybe a victim of over-hyped expectations?
I'd say he probably sits an 8 hour day 5 days a week or so in a studio, and just gets handed scrips to read. He has a team for script writing, editing, producing, marketing, research, etc.
1:00 - Chapter 1 - A green light for a green city 1:35 - Mid roll ads 2:55 - Back to the video 3:50 - Chapter 2 - Parameters 8:30 - Chapter 3 - Green city , red flags 12:00 - Chapter 4 - Analysis
Yeah, cars are crucial to moving around. That's why i, in European country, don't have and need a car. Just banning cars is a bad idea, banning or limiting cars, making everything like schools or stores close by and making good public transport will be a good thing. And space that have been used by cars, can be used to build more houses so you know, more houses for lower prices.
The biggest problem with these is trying to build a city, if more of these started small, as like a medium to large town, then allowed to grow with more incentives to live there and allow it to foster communities. They would be alot more likely to grow and florish. Im not a historian, but I'd be willing to bet that most cities were built over time and grown with most of the exceptions that were built, probably being new capitols or something similar that forces habitation by making it so important
Lots of places in the UAE, especially in Dubai, are named "cities" but in reality they're just a (relatively small) area or plot of land within an Emirate that is typically developed around a commercial theme and each development should include a mix of residential and commercial buildings, e.g. Sports City, Internet City, Festival City... None of these are cities in the traditional sense; just plots of land with residential /commercial / business / hospitality amenities separated by highways within the city of Dubai.
@ekaterinastacey3132 That's fair for those. I mainly mean ones where they try to set up a new city away from an existing city with goal populations of over a few hundred thousand into the millions. Like adding a district around the outskirts of a major city and calling it a city is relatively safe, close enough to get workers and businesses from the bigger one and maybe even attract residents if they have residential areas
@rageshot4352 I get what you mean. I think traditionally, all cities form out of towns that would themselves be centred around an industry. And I agree, trying to make a city using the "build it and they will come" mentality does not work, but of these cities in the UAE none of them are too far away from any existing populated area. In any case, for many of these types of large developments in the UAE (Saudi is a whole other dreamworld) the urban planning and population projections are seemingly baseless.
That was my thought as well, but there are some cities, like Las Vegas that began a relatively short time ago, around a couple of casinos but are now home to many other industries as well. But, yes, the vast majority of cities did evolve over centuries.
The hubris and stupidity of these vanity projects dreamt by people in power because of their blood and not because of their competence, whose parents were camel herders, whose grand parents were camel herders, is endlessly amazing.
@@lobstermash Sheiks who herded camels and lived in tents. What was there before oil was discovered by the West, and the tech to use it was provided by the West, and the market to buy it was provided by the West, and the Capital to industrialise was provided by...
And your grand parents were what? Einstein and the Curies? Humans can dream; they always have. The difference in this case is they have the money to throw into their dreams, the way individuals do around the world. Not all dreams succeed, but without them, none of us would have left the cave, let alone made such massive advances in science and technology, so you can go online and try to shame people for their ancestry, obliquely suggesting yours is superior. The hubris and stupidity, indeed.
I never understood why places like the Middle East didn’t create underground cities. Then, they could create above grown green spaces. That could be walkable and energy efficient.
All of the points Simon made were valid, however the biggest reason it failed is because the government directed its development instead of letting individuals and the market decide how best to develop it. It is no surprise that the results fell short. Perhaps what is surprising is that they accomplished as much as they did while wasting as much money as they did.
I visited the city last year, it was not completed, many of the sections were put on hold for the future. The only office i saw there being built was Siemens, i guss it will be their new office in the region.
Well, one goes with the other. They know they’re oil-dependent, and they know it’s a finite resource. So they are taking measures to extend their existence past the end of said finite resource. At least they’re also trying to compensate for their obvious impact (though there are also many sources out there questioning the legitimacy of various carbon footprint mitigation strategies). It would be pretty terrible of them to run the oil machine at full blast until the last drop is siphoned out before considering their next steps.
@@Yakyak89 I think he meant "oil export" dependant. Whereas industrialized nations are dependant on oil, many technologies could be switched to other energy sources.
Hello from Los Angeles California. I lived all my life in Los Angeles California, and in the 1980's the Smog was so thick it filtered the Sun. The smog blocked the Sun so much the winter's in Los Angeles California was so cold between 36° to 55° Fahrenheit nights dropping to 33° Fahrenheit I couldn't see mountain ranges from where I live 4.5 miles away. Unless it was windy and smog cleared. Now the air is so clear you can see cracks and riges, on the rock walls. It uses to rain 🌧 none stop for 7 months, and the summers never exceeded 90° Fahrenheit. Due to Sun being filtered from smog I also didn't need shades, for my eyes. Now 🌡 are 110° Fahrenheit for excess of 1.5 months with 5 days in the roll Temps exceeding 116° and 1 day at 120° to 126° depending on fire conditions radiating heat. Air clean enough, and it will not get any cleaner with only Electric Vehicle's (EV's) Now to the reason why Environmental green agenda causes Drought Conditions. In 2010- 2013 there were Solar Mirror s installed to project solar arrays to a Tower with mirrors projected downward to under ground reservoir water sources. To generate steam, and generate Electricity. The temperatures 🌡 causes the atmosphere to close to 5,000° and every time birds fly thru become instantly baked and fall. In the 1980's the Jetstream used travel across California in to Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and so on to Florida. Due to the Mirrors the Atmospheric High Pressure. Has pushed the Jetstream away from Southern California to North to Washington, and or Canada 🇨🇦 . This cause along with getting rid of Smog cause higher temperatures and Drought Conditions. You couldn't pay me $10,000,000 per hour to sit, promote, sell, let alone buy any Electric Vehicle's (EV's). If you look up StachD Training channel, on his video titled Lithium Largest Ex plo ding EV Recycling ♻️ Center in Missouri. There were 4 Recycling ♻️ Centers in the United States. Now there are 2 Recycling ♻️ Centers, and none are in the State of California. Due to Environmental Impact, which the video shows Fire Authorities spray granulated elements of the Lithium-Ion Batteries 🔋 Packs, into creeks, rivers, and lake anfmd underground well resources. Not even boiling helps, and fish hacmve died in those water ways. Sure clean the Air while you Pollute the water. In April 2024 the 1st Recycling ♻️ Centers in Phoenix Arizona location burned down, and dousing water to keep cool prenting spread of fires 🔥 have caused Drought Conditions. I couldn't Live with myself on EV's use, as far as the Mirrors in Desert Created Drought Conditions, due to Weather Modification, whether it was Unintentional or not.
I really love your work but you would really win to go a little just alittle slower. Let us intergrate the information for god sake. Real good work bud!
Decarbonization using non-intermittent alternative energy sources could work for the UAE. The direct normal irradiation in the UAE is sufficient for concentrating solar power. The UAE could also use ocean thermal energy conversion in the Arabian Gulf.
I visited that place in 2019 when I was in grad school there wasn't much to see in the city, I only remember one of the start ups that worked with AI and children for education , expo 2020 was the big talk back then and all the great projects that would need to be completed before it LOL
The history of planned cities in general suggest that many do not meet initial expectations but do work out eventually, e.g. Washington, D. C., and Brasilia. So, maybe give it some time? Come back in 30 years or so.
I feel like the direct flight path over the neighborhood should have been talked about a little more, because that is a huge impediment to wanting to live there, depending on how low the planes are at that point
@recoil53 Well, yes, obviously. The point is rather that those cities have like the highest carbon footprint per capita in the world. Which is often the case when you build cities in hostile environments like Phoenix, Arizona for example. Its just an extremely inefficient place for large numbers of people to live. Basically, if you think zero carbon emissions is a good idea, don't build in a desert. The entire UAE is effectively one giant ecological disaster
It's a real shame projects like this seem to fail. The goal is good, and the tech that comes out of these projects is good, but it seems like it always ends up being too expensive in the short term to really take off.
In a failed megaproject, the focus must not be on the client that had the idea and paid for his dream city. The focus should be instead on the consultants, architers, engineers and project managers that took the money and didn't deliver.
zero carbon? 16 years of construction and half done so 32 years to complete How many years, after completion till, will it take to get to zero carbon, Vs just expanding an existing area of the city. What is the life expectancy of the solar panels, windmills, EV pods, humidity extractors,, etcetera. Can they really air condition these buildings, power all the EVs, and recycle all the batteries? Is food supply even considered?
Does anyone other than myself smell the sweat of fear in the UAE? They know that their oil is drying up, but trying to throw out even bigger and more ridiculous projects is the quick move to disaster.
The effort to diversify away from an oil backed economy has been in the works for decades - they know what they're doing and they're well on their way to be switching to nuclear energy in the near future. The UAE had also been branding itself as pushing boundaries and being experimental for years now, which they definitely also live up to! The Spirit of Dubai poem that was a commercial released some time ago and played on Emirates Airlines is actually brilliant and this line sums it up well: "...the voice in your head answering every whispering "what if?" with a roaring "why not?"..." and that is exactly it. We may gasp at the budgets of these over-ambitious and whimsical projects, but the possibility of failure in the name of innovating something that either sticks or astounds, even if for a while, is already baked in.
We need more cool, walkable towns around the world - but not with all the Facial Recognition/ AI "smart" surveillance technology that tracks everyone everywhere.
As always a true green city just needs to look just like many of the existing ones with all you need nearby, but have a solid cheap tram/metro system and a path/bike throughout with minimal and narrow roads primarily used for buses and deliveries. Thats all. Literally just make a load of normal looking existing mixed use buildings between 5-12 floors high, cover and area of just 5 square kilometers(2 square miles) in the layout of existing old European city neighbourhoods, leave aside 25% of the area for parks, run a nice bike and path network away from roads connecting them all up and looping around the full thing, 2 basic tram loops throughout would be nice, and narrow 20mph non cut through roads going to all the buildings too, and have parking for only 3-15% of homes(most of which will be for disabled residents). Then move 60,000-100,000 people in. Thats it, fully done. Nothing crazy, nothing new or untested, no having to devellop some futuristic advanced high tech transport system like driverless pods going everywhere, nothing like any of this which just makes it even more likely to be built. Just a basic town/city where it's very easy and chill to ride or walk or take a tram anywhere and where there's few motor vehicles other than ones making deliveries to the buildings/residents. If I was one of the billionaires with $10s of billions of net worth this is simply what i'd do. Just invest like $10bn on starting to build this and by the time the $10bn is spent a chunk of the city will be done and the income from selling those homes will fund the next phase and so on until it's all done. easyyy
I think a major problem isnt the district but the rest of the city. Living there means you are always a prt + car ride from everywhere. Even the airport which is 5 minuts away, from the carpark. You cant take the prt or some actual mass stransport. So you end up with all the downsides od carcentricness without any of the advantages of having a car eaaly avlible. If they made this place a node in a network of raillines all over the city, making car free commutes easy, it would boom imidietly. These project never see the whole picture, and if they do those interdistrict connections which are vital for these projects to succeed are the first to be costcut away.
Bro, all this fancy technology... just imagine this "city" in 50 years. 80% of all the cool tech will be non functional, squeaking garbage. And also this looks like the most extreme money sink ever, if you wanted to maintain all of this to stay in pristine condition. Just... the person responsible for maintenance alone is a nightmare, because you cant just hire any Joe for a janitor job. You'd need an extensively trainer "technician-janitor". And whenever that guy quits then the new hireling would have to go through four weeks of intense training just to do their job. Like I said, the most extreme money sink ever. Wouldnt wanna be mayor for that place.
No, you need janitors and you need technicians. These are separate functions, just like any regular buildings. The janitors don't maintain the HVAC or the lights. They just clean up. The various technicians just clean up after their own work. A planned tech-city needs to be modular though.
Planned city does not just sit there in its current state. South Korea is full of planned cities and it's constantly changing all the time. It maybe a foriegn concept for those who live in buildings that are 50 years old, but for us we know how to live in 21st century.
The globe and the palm in the middle east are also lesson on what not to do to build a life of extravagant luxury in the desert. But now they have the line or neom or what ever to throw there money at for vanity sake hahahah
It's always possible to start a project, with the intention that it fails, because its purpose is to distract and degrade support from green transitions. If these countries really wanted to develop them, it would.
To a large extent all autocracies are the same, they just do things disregarding scientific analysis expecting people will show up because something exists. Ghost cities are a orime example. But it would also have been nice to get the government's ideas and expectations on the record so others can understand.
Does it have sewers? Most (all?) cities in the UAE don’t. Their cities are a mirage, a fata morgana. Their cities are run in a completely unsustainable manner.
what this city is doing might be impressive for a newly built site, but when compared to to other already established cities it's nothing special. to many people deciding where to live is a long term decision and i don't see why people would flock to get their home in the scorching heat of arabia. it is looking like this city will be reduced to a mere corporate campus where only big corporations would want to live in.
Where does the carbon emissions from energy use rightly get credited? Shouldn’t that credit include the necessary carbon emissions of making the fuel? If I burn a gallon of gas, isn’t all of it my fault? No one would refine gasoline for a hobby.
They think they can replace 5 million barrels a day with tourist money? Dream on. The only reason they can even think of building these things is because of oil money.
I've been to masdar city. There were literally 3 people there. Very sad actually. I did appreciate the design principles but the experience was disappointing.
I remember reading about this. I thought they were 'jumping the gun.' It will be interesting to see if this turns out to be a 'look before you leap' scenario. Edit: Of course it is, If you put enough spin on it, It could be considered an expensive proof of concept. They certainly do have an expensive hobby to say the least.
This seems like a perfect place to visit in detail, in-person, whether as a tourist or on business. No crowding, excellent transportation, excellent connections, while being unique and using advanced engineering; definitely worth looking into!
Or could it be that the majority of people wouldn't want to have to park their car outside of the city and get into some little electric cart to go home or shopping among other things. The green things that are constantly talked about are mostly what governments try to push on people, not what the people want.
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Masdar is about as green as anyone can expect from an oil company. I.e. barely even a murky olive colour.
First question should be, why would anyone want to live there? If they cant answer that question then it was a waste of money building it.
Like any concept, first you have to establish a need. Just because you have a great idea, doesn't mean there is a need for it.
Much of the Tech they envisioned for Masdar is already being adopted elsewhere.
"build it and they will come"
To be fair where Mazdar is located is near many other “full” residential areas….the lack of public transport and telling people to walk around in Abu Dhabi is wild lol especially in summer. With the improvements in Robo Taxi, AI and bots like Optimus this city could be “re-invented” but it will take time…since it’s not smack in the middle of Abu Dhabi island or Yas Island where many people prefer to live…it’s closer to MBZ which is also quite a full district with the GEMS Academy there and many other schools but the restrictions on public transport and walking really do hurt Mazdar…it probably would’ve worked perfectly in a cooler area like northern California.
I think if they adjust existing buildings and areas and then build new buildings when needed. An organic growth
Lovely views of hot sterile sand 😅
I worked in Abu Dhabi 12 years ago and visited Masdar several times on business. We couldn't work out where the $22bn had been spent. It was a typical grandiose UAE project of that period where international "consultancies" ripped them off and delivered very little. Oh! and the electric taxi pods were always out of order.
Don't forget about the enormous local corruption making most of that money disappear.
It was spent on consultants, of course.
Nice 😊
International consultancies = western consultancies
Right, lol
shocking…😂 but hey at least 15K inhabitants…better than anything Saudi has done
Saudi Arabia already opened 4 in neom
As much as I love these videos about failed mega project planed cities, I'd actually love to see a video about planned cities that are a success. Maybe even conclude what these projects had in common that made them a success compared to these other projects that are failures.
There probably aren't any!
Maybe no videos about working new cities means that there are none, like Dubai is rich due to rich Arabs sitting in it and not being successful.
@@jimrichards3916 There's a few, but the cost of such endeavors usually makes them kinda rare in the first place. Songdo in South Korea is one that comes to mind -- it's still in construction, but it's already supporting a couple hundred thousand residents and seems to be thriving pretty well.
There are many, including Philadelphia, Buffalo, and Washington D.C.. St. Petersburg, Russia is one with a dark, horrible history. There's a long, storied history of planned cities. I'd like to see an investigation into why some fail and others succeed.
@@gcwyatt That's a great idea. Simon and the team should get on it.
Its sad that to see all these different futuristic cities fail. I think that on the surface the idea of a fully green city is an ambitious and admirable goal but the scale of these projects cause them to run out of money too fast and stifling their progress with large tech expenses. I think a carbon-negative neighborhood is totally achievable with the right location and climate appropriate architecture but I don't see any of these planned cities focusing on that. If we could start out smaller with neighborhoods and financial and industrial districts going as green as possible then I think we'd (humanity as a group) be better prepared for creating working and sustainable green cities
Going from "zero carbon" to "low carbon" is basically going from "city of the future" to "just another city."
Or from fantasy to near reality.
Go Green.... go broke.
@@johnwolf2829 how ironic 💸
@@johnwolf2829 Concrete will never be green...except by sleazy number juggling.
@@johnwolf2829More like go tech go broke. Autonomous pods could have easily been a tried and true tram and subway network.
Years ago at a Sustainability conference, I asked a Masdar rep where sustainable agriculture fit into the project. He was confused by my question and said, “We’re just a developer.” Yeah, just a developer.
agriculture when talking about a building. How more insane can you be?
Masdar has split into two. One of them is Masdar Development (real estate) the other is now a huge pretty successful investment arm in renewable energies
All these new city development needs to use Permaculture Urbanism principles. Without all the AI "smart" surveillance technology / facial recognition scanners that track everyone.
As Adam Savage says, "Failure is always an option". The key is to learn from the mistakes, and do better next time.
yeah because there are laborers and minimum wage employees to be sacrificed.
the great thing about such failiures is that you can make a very long list of what went wrong and make it better next time or create a task list of changes to move towards the original vision, in a Zen fashion that is. Certain critical technologies have improved or changed direction in the recent years and may show a better path towards the Green City of the future
This project is remarkable that any of it worked, so praise the successes, learn from the mistakes and build the next one better and closer to not just net zero but a city that reduces atmospheric carbon.
Reducing atmospheric carbon is of equivalent intelligence to reducing atmospheric oxygen. But what do I know, I was only top of my environmental science class.
You can’t outrun the technological ponzi.
There is too much rigidity in these complex systems and a dangerous dependance on assumed future innovations.
Pods? How about light rail?
L have a feeling you watch Adam Something
It was mentioned
It was planned to have light rail too, the physical size of the place means it’s just walkable, the pods are more like elevators in terms of scope. It’s not a city, it’s a compact neighborhood.
@@iml_mistikk2592 Adam something the racist who said a city of millions has no culture and straight lies in about every video.
Dude so racist he said arabs are acting not arab enough.
@@AL-lh2ht I'm pretty sure you're just pressed. From my analysis of him, he seems quite anti-racism. Also I'm pretty sure the city you are talking about is a Gulf Arab city which is in that case absolutely right.
There are two philosophies to creating product for people. The first is to create an ideal that exists in the creator's mind, advertise how amazing it is and refuse to offer any options outside that initial ideal. The second focuses more on making sure the creation is useable for it's intended (as advertised) purpose. Offering options to make it more personal is there from the beginning and grow as production is able to ramp up. Most cities planned and built before people move in, are the first. They go with: *You will like this and will never complain!* as their way of handling all of it. These are "Form over Function", where looks matter and only looks matter.
urbanplanadvisor AI fixes this. UAE's "Zero Carbon" City failure
I lived in Abu Dhabi between 2010-2014 (after which I moved to Dubai); we used to go to a sushi restaurant in Masdar "city". The self driving pods were pretty cool for the time and navigated a set route using magnets, which was basically useless in the real world where tram/rail transportation already existed for decades. Nevertheless, they were a bit of fun, but wouldn't be in any way impressive by today's self-driving cars standards. The architecture was pretty cool and, in places, dystopian and otherworldly, but that was the most I can say about that. The Institute of Science and Tech was the only notable organisation at Masdar that kept the whole place from being, pardon the pun, deserted.
Has anyone commented that the whole thing was "Greenwashing" from its very inception. Just a way to divert international criticism of the UAE's obvious carbon excess...?
Greenwashing is a dangerous term. While fake green projects are disconcerting, it still allows for engagement and the possibility of sincere effort to follow.
It is possible to criticize any and all human efforts on some level, even those that appear benevolent. But, would you rather have 100% purity, or people who can get out of bed in the morning; cause you can’t have both in a system that is experiencing growth.
Dangerous? Should all follow what is good for you? How about we look at the past and see who pumped all current carbon in the atmosphere when they went through industrialization, how about we look who consumes most of the world output = true carbon enabler. Oh wait lets make paper straws for our drinks and Greenwash our carbon history 😂🤣🤣
I guess the big dairy farming countries are diverting attention too, since farms are equal to fossil when it come to green house gases (the more potent one Methane).
Dangerous? Should all follow what is good for you? How about we look at the past and see who pumped all current carbon in the atmosphere when they went through industrialization, how about we look who consumes most of the world output = true carbon enabler. Oh wait lets make paper straws for our drinks and Greenwash our carbon history 😂🤣🤣
Omg thank you for making this. News about this City just kinda disappeared. I was so fascinated by it when it was first started…as were a tonne of RUclipsrs
I lived in the UAE for 5 years. Masdar was a gimmick when it was announced, and will always be.
as are most "green" projects
Ah a gulf state mega project, because just burning money is frowned upon
The majority of UAE's projects were successful
Simon, I have a suggestion for a video, although I am not sure if it would be a Megaproject or a Sideproject. A video covering the General Motors Sunraycer from the eighties would be interesting. In addition coverage of the World Solar Challenge would be welcome too. I was a kid in the eighties and the Sunraycer was a big deal back then.
I live nearby, it's quite a nice place to visit and its architecture certainly does help with the heat, but yeah at the moment it is basically a campus for a few universities and aircrew for the airport. Certainly not a "Huge failure" though, more of a testbed for urban planning in the desert and maybe a victim of over-hyped expectations?
At some point, I'd like Simon to offer up a rundown of his watch collection. I've seen a number of interesting styles and I'd like to know more.
0:53 lol scared the carp out of me, thought it was thunder! Guess my sub is doing a good job...
How does one man make so much content. He must have a clone 10 channels lol
I think in a few years each channel will start to end until there's one channel left and then we find out that Simon has always been Chatgpt.
I'm pretty sure he's just the face of the channels. He's got a good voice and presence but I think a team does the research and scripts/editing
He has writers for different channels. Simon just reads the scripts.
I'd say he probably sits an 8 hour day 5 days a week or so in a studio, and just gets handed scrips to read.
He has a team for script writing, editing, producing, marketing, research, etc.
He has a team of writers and editors. Simon does the presentation/script reading.
How is UAE cooler than my country in the summer? 36°? SERIOUSLY?
Temps here reaches 40° and above! And I'm in a place with lots of trees!
How much carbon was “used” to build what they have?
1:00 - Chapter 1 - A green light for a green city
1:35 - Mid roll ads
2:55 - Back to the video
3:50 - Chapter 2 - Parameters
8:30 - Chapter 3 - Green city , red flags
12:00 - Chapter 4 - Analysis
Yeah, cars are crucial to moving around. That's why i, in European country, don't have and need a car. Just banning cars is a bad idea, banning or limiting cars, making everything like schools or stores close by and making good public transport will be a good thing.
And space that have been used by cars, can be used to build more houses so you know, more houses for lower prices.
The biggest problem with these is trying to build a city, if more of these started small, as like a medium to large town, then allowed to grow with more incentives to live there and allow it to foster communities. They would be alot more likely to grow and florish. Im not a historian, but I'd be willing to bet that most cities were built over time and grown with most of the exceptions that were built, probably being new capitols or something similar that forces habitation by making it so important
Lots of places in the UAE, especially in Dubai, are named "cities" but in reality they're just a (relatively small) area or plot of land within an Emirate that is typically developed around a commercial theme and each development should include a mix of residential and commercial buildings, e.g. Sports City, Internet City, Festival City... None of these are cities in the traditional sense; just plots of land with residential /commercial / business / hospitality amenities separated by highways within the city of Dubai.
@ekaterinastacey3132 That's fair for those. I mainly mean ones where they try to set up a new city away from an existing city with goal populations of over a few hundred thousand into the millions. Like adding a district around the outskirts of a major city and calling it a city is relatively safe, close enough to get workers and businesses from the bigger one and maybe even attract residents if they have residential areas
@rageshot4352 I get what you mean. I think traditionally, all cities form out of towns that would themselves be centred around an industry. And I agree, trying to make a city using the "build it and they will come" mentality does not work, but of these cities in the UAE none of them are too far away from any existing populated area. In any case, for many of these types of large developments in the UAE (Saudi is a whole other dreamworld) the urban planning and population projections are seemingly baseless.
That was my thought as well, but there are some cities, like Las Vegas that began a relatively short time ago, around a couple of casinos but are now home to many other industries as well. But, yes, the vast majority of cities did evolve over centuries.
I've seen this content covered once or twice before, but you did an exceptional 👏 👌 job as always 👏.
The hubris and stupidity of these vanity projects dreamt by people in power because of their blood and not because of their competence, whose parents were camel herders, whose grand parents were camel herders, is endlessly amazing.
The House of Saud weren't exactly camel herders. They were sheiks before the kingdom was established.
Those camel herders have done petty well especially in dubai mr superior complex
@@lobstermash Sheiks who herded camels and lived in tents. What was there before oil was discovered by the West, and the tech to use it was provided by the West, and the market to buy it was provided by the West, and the Capital to industrialise was provided by...
And your grand parents were what? Einstein and the Curies?
Humans can dream; they always have. The difference in this case is they have the money to throw into their dreams, the way individuals do around the world. Not all dreams succeed, but without them, none of us would have left the cave, let alone made such massive advances in science and technology, so you can go online and try to shame people for their ancestry, obliquely suggesting yours is superior.
The hubris and stupidity, indeed.
Basically right except for the racism.
This sounds a whole lot like a city I designed for a science project in 7th grade
I was there in 2018 as part of the international launch of the Audi e-tron. It was still very underdeveloped then.
5:06 "using electric mini pods" Pods!! PODS!! Don't let Adam Something hear about this. 🤣🤣
I actually adore this project, the architecture is beautiful and the concept is cool.
The management and the prices could be better though.
I never understood why places like the Middle East didn’t create underground cities. Then, they could create above grown green spaces. That could be walkable and energy efficient.
All of the points Simon made were valid, however the biggest reason it failed is because the government directed its development instead of letting individuals and the market decide how best to develop it. It is no surprise that the results fell short. Perhaps what is surprising is that they accomplished as much as they did while wasting as much money as they did.
I visited the city last year, it was not completed, many of the sections were put on hold for the future. The only office i saw there being built was Siemens, i guss it will be their new office in the region.
I guess the road to a sustainable future has more bumps than expected, especially when you're building that road in the middle of oil country. 🛣🌍
Oil dependent economy making a “Zero carbon” city. The irony…
Um what? I challenge you to name any economy that is not oil dependent
Well, one goes with the other. They know they’re oil-dependent, and they know it’s a finite resource. So they are taking measures to extend their existence past the end of said finite resource. At least they’re also trying to compensate for their obvious impact (though there are also many sources out there questioning the legitimacy of various carbon footprint mitigation strategies).
It would be pretty terrible of them to run the oil machine at full blast until the last drop is siphoned out before considering their next steps.
@@Yakyak89 Ireland
@@Yakyak89 I think he meant "oil export" dependant. Whereas industrialized nations are dependant on oil, many technologies could be switched to other energy sources.
Not the greatest irony. Just means they mean to change. Most countries do. Renuable energy is just that, renuable.
Hello from Los Angeles California. I lived all my life in Los Angeles California, and in the 1980's the Smog was so thick it filtered the Sun. The smog blocked the Sun so much the winter's in Los Angeles California was so cold between 36° to 55° Fahrenheit nights dropping to 33° Fahrenheit
I couldn't see mountain ranges from where I live 4.5 miles away. Unless it was windy and smog cleared. Now the air is so clear you can see cracks and riges, on the rock walls.
It uses to rain 🌧 none stop for 7 months, and the summers never exceeded 90° Fahrenheit. Due to Sun being filtered from smog I also didn't need shades, for my eyes. Now 🌡 are 110° Fahrenheit for excess of 1.5 months with 5 days in the roll Temps exceeding 116° and 1 day at 120° to 126° depending on fire conditions radiating heat.
Air clean enough, and it will not get any cleaner with only Electric Vehicle's (EV's)
Now to the reason why Environmental green agenda causes Drought Conditions. In 2010- 2013 there were Solar Mirror s installed to project solar arrays to a Tower with mirrors projected downward to under ground reservoir water sources. To generate steam, and generate Electricity.
The temperatures 🌡 causes the atmosphere to close to 5,000° and every time birds fly thru become instantly baked and fall.
In the 1980's the Jetstream used travel across California in to Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and so on to Florida. Due to the Mirrors the Atmospheric High Pressure. Has pushed the Jetstream away from Southern California to North to Washington, and or Canada 🇨🇦 . This cause along with getting rid of Smog cause higher temperatures and Drought Conditions. You couldn't pay me $10,000,000 per hour to sit, promote, sell, let alone buy any Electric Vehicle's (EV's).
If you look up StachD Training channel, on his video titled Lithium Largest Ex plo ding EV Recycling ♻️ Center in Missouri. There were 4 Recycling ♻️ Centers in the United States. Now there are 2 Recycling ♻️ Centers, and none are in the State of California. Due to Environmental Impact, which the video shows Fire Authorities spray granulated elements of the Lithium-Ion Batteries 🔋 Packs, into creeks, rivers, and lake anfmd underground well resources. Not even boiling helps, and fish hacmve died in those water ways. Sure clean the Air while you Pollute the water. In April 2024 the 1st Recycling ♻️ Centers in Phoenix Arizona location burned down, and dousing water to keep cool prenting spread of fires 🔥 have caused Drought Conditions.
I couldn't Live with myself on EV's use, as far as the Mirrors in Desert Created Drought Conditions, due to Weather Modification, whether it was Unintentional or not.
I really love your work but you would really win to go a little just alittle slower. Let us intergrate the information for god sake. Real good work bud!
Decarbonization using non-intermittent alternative energy sources could work for the UAE. The direct normal irradiation in the UAE is sufficient for concentrating solar power. The UAE could also use ocean thermal energy conversion in the Arabian Gulf.
I visited that place in 2019 when I was in grad school there wasn't much to see in the city, I only remember one of the start ups that worked with AI and children for education , expo 2020 was the big talk back then and all the great projects that would need to be completed before it LOL
Whoever told the Saudi the Line would cost 100B is the worst cost estimator in the world
I think the biggest problem is simply that most people don't want to live in a desert, regardless of the proposed amenities.
Given that the city right next to it has 4 million people i don't think that's the issue here
Everyone in the Middle East lives in a desert
The 2008 global financial crisis significantly impacted funding and development timelines, delaying construction and scaling back initial ambitions.
The history of planned cities in general suggest that many do not meet initial expectations but do work out eventually, e.g. Washington, D. C., and Brasilia. So, maybe give it some time? Come back in 30 years or so.
I feel like the direct flight path over the neighborhood should have been talked about a little more, because that is a huge impediment to wanting to live there, depending on how low the planes are at that point
The UAE announced a lot of mega projects, but we have seen little done. It is the typical attitude in this part of the world.
The temperature in Abu Dhabi in the summer is 46 degrees Celsius not 36.
Yeah lets build a zero carbon city in literally one of the most hostile enviroments on Earth! What could possibly go wrong?
Well there are cities in the area, so that in itself isn't a problem. And you do have solar and wind.
Lots of sun though
@recoil53 Well, yes, obviously. The point is rather that those cities have like the highest carbon footprint per capita in the world. Which is often the case when you build cities in hostile environments like Phoenix, Arizona for example. Its just an extremely inefficient place for large numbers of people to live. Basically, if you think zero carbon emissions is a good idea, don't build in a desert. The entire UAE is effectively one giant ecological disaster
Why give awards to someone for an idea before actually doing anything? Doesn't really encourage follow-through.
It's a real shame projects like this seem to fail. The goal is good, and the tech that comes out of these projects is good, but it seems like it always ends up being too expensive in the short term to really take off.
In a failed megaproject, the focus must not be on the client that had the idea and paid for his dream city. The focus should be instead on the consultants, architers, engineers and project managers that took the money and didn't deliver.
They could have just spent the 22 billion on solar panels which would have made the whole country completely solar powered during the days.
At 6:29, temperatures reaching 36C in height of summer? It gets as high as 50, 36 in summer is the lowest night temperature in summer
After walking around a desert city, can I go into a pub and get a nice, cool beer? There: I fixed your stupid 'city'.
'Green' and 'Zero Carbon' are added to project names to facilitate grift, the terms have nothing to do with being environmentally altruistic.
Planning the entire thing at once is just never a good call. Real cities are built by many hands over time.
zero carbon? 16 years of construction and half done so 32 years to complete
How many years, after completion till, will it take to get to zero carbon, Vs just expanding an existing area of the city.
What is the life expectancy of the solar panels, windmills, EV pods, humidity extractors,, etcetera.
Can they really air condition these buildings, power all the EVs, and recycle all the batteries? Is food supply even considered?
Does anyone other than myself smell the sweat of fear in the UAE? They know that their oil is drying up, but trying to throw out even bigger and more ridiculous projects is the quick move to disaster.
The effort to diversify away from an oil backed economy has been in the works for decades - they know what they're doing and they're well on their way to be switching to nuclear energy in the near future. The UAE had also been branding itself as pushing boundaries and being experimental for years now, which they definitely also live up to! The Spirit of Dubai poem that was a commercial released some time ago and played on Emirates Airlines is actually brilliant and this line sums it up well: "...the voice in your head answering every whispering "what if?" with a roaring "why not?"..." and that is exactly it. We may gasp at the budgets of these over-ambitious and whimsical projects, but the possibility of failure in the name of innovating something that either sticks or astounds, even if for a while, is already baked in.
I would like to think once it becomes more viable as an actual suburb, they might be able to renew their ambitions to net-zero...
Overall goal of the project, like so many, is to relieve an Arab state of a large sum of money.
I just realized, the open door bugs me enough not to watch more than 60 sec. I can’t be the only one…
We need more cool, walkable towns around the world - but not with all the Facial Recognition/ AI "smart" surveillance technology that tracks everyone everywhere.
You could start another channel dedicated to Middle Eastern failed projects
As always a true green city just needs to look just like many of the existing ones with all you need nearby, but have a solid cheap tram/metro system and a path/bike throughout with minimal and narrow roads primarily used for buses and deliveries. Thats all. Literally just make a load of normal looking existing mixed use buildings between 5-12 floors high, cover and area of just 5 square kilometers(2 square miles) in the layout of existing old European city neighbourhoods, leave aside 25% of the area for parks, run a nice bike and path network away from roads connecting them all up and looping around the full thing, 2 basic tram loops throughout would be nice, and narrow 20mph non cut through roads going to all the buildings too, and have parking for only 3-15% of homes(most of which will be for disabled residents). Then move 60,000-100,000 people in. Thats it, fully done. Nothing crazy, nothing new or untested, no having to devellop some futuristic advanced high tech transport system like driverless pods going everywhere, nothing like any of this which just makes it even more likely to be built. Just a basic town/city where it's very easy and chill to ride or walk or take a tram anywhere and where there's few motor vehicles other than ones making deliveries to the buildings/residents. If I was one of the billionaires with $10s of billions of net worth this is simply what i'd do. Just invest like $10bn on starting to build this and by the time the $10bn is spent a chunk of the city will be done and the income from selling those homes will fund the next phase and so on until it's all done. easyyy
It says it all as to how green it'd actually be,' just a 10 minute drive ',cars and green don't go together!
Just a 10 minute drive... which you can't since cars are not allowed lol. More like a 2 hour walk.
I think a major problem isnt the district but the rest of the city.
Living there means you are always a prt + car ride from everywhere. Even the airport which is 5 minuts away, from the carpark. You cant take the prt or some actual mass stransport. So you end up with all the downsides od carcentricness without any of the advantages of having a car eaaly avlible.
If they made this place a node in a network of raillines all over the city, making car free commutes easy, it would boom imidietly. These project never see the whole picture, and if they do those interdistrict connections which are vital for these projects to succeed are the first to be costcut away.
Bro, all this fancy technology... just imagine this "city" in 50 years. 80% of all the cool tech will be non functional, squeaking garbage. And also this looks like the most extreme money sink ever, if you wanted to maintain all of this to stay in pristine condition. Just... the person responsible for maintenance alone is a nightmare, because you cant just hire any Joe for a janitor job. You'd need an extensively trainer "technician-janitor". And whenever that guy quits then the new hireling would have to go through four weeks of intense training just to do their job. Like I said, the most extreme money sink ever. Wouldnt wanna be mayor for that place.
No, you need janitors and you need technicians. These are separate functions, just like any regular buildings. The janitors don't maintain the HVAC or the lights. They just clean up. The various technicians just clean up after their own work.
A planned tech-city needs to be modular though.
Planned city does not just sit there in its current state. South Korea is full of planned cities and it's constantly changing all the time. It maybe a foriegn concept for those who live in buildings that are 50 years old, but for us we know how to live in 21st century.
The globe and the palm in the middle east are also lesson on what not to do to build a life of extravagant luxury in the desert. But now they have the line or neom or what ever to throw there money at for vanity sake hahahah
It's always possible to start a project, with the intention that it fails, because its purpose is to distract and degrade support from green transitions. If these countries really wanted to develop them, it would.
Let's build cities in the desert. What can go wrong...
Excellent video 👍 Thank you 💜
If you want a "Zero Carbon" City, you need to look more at an Arcology Concept, rather than a traditional city layout.
To a large extent all autocracies are the same, they just do things disregarding scientific analysis expecting people will show up because something exists.
Ghost cities are a orime example. But it would also have been nice to get the government's ideas and expectations on the record so others can understand.
Does it have sewers?
Most (all?) cities in the UAE don’t.
Their cities are a mirage, a fata morgana.
Their cities are run in a completely unsustainable manner.
what this city is doing might be impressive for a newly built site, but when compared to to other already established cities it's nothing special. to many people deciding where to live is a long term decision and i don't see why people would flock to get their home in the scorching heat of arabia. it is looking like this city will be reduced to a mere corporate campus where only big corporations would want to live in.
It's a boom time for CGI rendering, dont burst the bubble of the fake futuristic city boom.
Aiming for the stars, a failure may land one on a mountain peak.
Hopefully lessons learned will facilitate 50% CO2 reduction in other, larger cities.
22 BILLION for 50k residents?!?!?!
Give ME that kind of money and i will.do it for HALF THAT!!!
Where does the carbon emissions from energy use rightly get credited? Shouldn’t that credit include the necessary carbon emissions of making the fuel?
If I burn a gallon of gas, isn’t all of it my fault? No one would refine gasoline for a hobby.
A Gulf State with a failed mega project. My. How unusual.
Tech bros who go for pods rather than busses, trams, or subways..... ffs.
Metallica:Nothing Else Matters(Piano cover).Gamazda
Perhaps it would have been more successful if they named it SoooBarRoo or ToYoda.
They think they can replace 5 million barrels a day with tourist money? Dream on. The only reason they can even think of building these things is because of oil money.
Nope
Sure, let the oil barons decide what's clean, and let's forget natural ways to cut carbon, and especially let's not mention minimalism.
From the title alone: Wow. Shocker.
When i was a kid in the 80s i had a dream with the little personal transport pods that you just had to tell them where to go. I'm a prophet!
I've been to masdar city. There were literally 3 people there. Very sad actually. I did appreciate the design principles but the experience was disappointing.
At least they have well established l studio sets for dystopian civilization films
I remember reading about this. I thought they were 'jumping the gun.' It will be interesting to see if this turns out to be a 'look before you leap' scenario.
Edit: Of course it is, If you put enough spin on it, It could be considered an expensive proof of concept. They certainly do have an expensive hobby to say the least.
Green is a noble quest designed to hide corruption.
This seems like a perfect place to visit in detail, in-person, whether as a tourist or on business. No crowding, excellent transportation, excellent connections, while being unique and using advanced engineering; definitely worth looking into!
The city doesn’t seem to be very attractive. It looks like a very haphazard collection of strange looking buildings.
What if it was successful in failing, in that it sold the narrative of dependency on oil
Or could it be that the majority of people wouldn't want to have to park their car outside of the city and get into some little electric cart to go home or shopping among other things. The green things that are constantly talked about are mostly what governments try to push on people, not what the people want.
Its not a megaproject, its mega bling bling project. Gulf monarchies are very much into that stuff despite how wasteful they are.
It is peak despicable for people to spend so much money on such boondoggles rather than do anything meaningful.