Urban Planning and City Development - Masdar City Masterplan - Case Study Example

URBAN PLANNING AND CITY DEVELOPMENT A REVIEW OF MASDAR CITY MASTERPLAN BY COLLEGE OF ARCHTECTURE, ART AND DESING Introduction Masdar City is located in (Abu Dhabi) in United Arabs Emirates. It is one of the most developed cities in the world. Master planning is characterized by different aspects since it involves both the community and other stakeholders to research and come up with an excellent plan of a city. Advantages of planning are that: It makes work easier to gather all the report and suggestion in the area. It assists the Institutions to manage both time and money. It enhances both parties to cooperate and coordinate It helps the team to come up with a solution on how to raise funds for the master plan. It helps them to discuss the plan later after they have gathered all the information. All the stakeholders and the government can plan the master plan efficiently but sometimes it fails due to: The planner must have repeated more information about the previous Master Plan. Different setting of goals and objectives that are unauthentic. Procrastinating the plan decisions. When one of the stakeholders decides to move out. When the team doesn’t discuss it and come up with the Master Plan implementations. Planning of Masdar City Master Plan Summary Vision: In order to achieve the goals and projections of the master plan the team must plan for the present time and future thus twenty to thirty years to come i.e. the government and the stakeholders should choose specific towns in Masdar that will be reconstructed again so as to bring in the current design. Finance: When writing a master plan report, the team should discuss about finance thus making it easier for them and also for the development of Masdar City thus the government should be responsible for the legalization of all requirements that are needed by the team and also offer money for the projects. Since the master plan requires a lot of money, they will need other stakeholders to chip in for them to contribute and work as a team. For example, they can decide to add another parking lot for the visitors; the construction, art and design of the park will cost a lot of money that is why working as a team will improve Masdar city more. Selection of towns: The master plan will only focus on different towns around the city. This will make work easier so that the team can be able to concentrate more on the details of each town and their development. That being said, the project of making Masdar city to be a zero carbon country will be achieved by selecting a certain space for architectures to design and complement the area so as to create more space for the passage of drainage pipes, water purification, and electrolyte plants in order to minimize the amount of carbon waste. Another town should be selected so as to construct a wind tower in Masdar City. Findings: There were both negative and positive findings in Masdar City, the positive one is that people are very comfortable since the environment is free from carbon chemicals. The negative aspect of it is that there are a lot of high temperatures that are experienced during summer. The team should construct many shades around the city and also design cooling conditioners that will be able to fit in every building of Masdar city. They should also construct buildings that have many ventilation systems so as to reduce the level of high temperatures. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES: 1 The main objective of the plan is to develop the urban city of Masdar.The plan will focus on improving the different art and architectural design in the city. 2 To provide easy transportation networks through architectures for them to design and come up with a unique art so that government can add another road to construct passage of an electric train. 3 Another objective is, to summarize, the report of the Masdar City so as to compare and discuss with other stakeholders of the town. 4 To find out the main stakeholders who participated in the plan analysis and also money needed for the plan. 5. The main organization that is implementing the plan. POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE ASPECTS FOUND IN MASDAR CITY EDUCATION: Masdar city is also a favorite place for someone who would like to pursue Science and Technology Education since it has a well developed (University) for research. According to their religion, all universities are divided into three different (sections) thus the women section, men section, and family section. The master plan will focus on the main aspect of the institution; a qualified architecture should examine the building and find out different where it needs to be reconstructed again. Evergreen Masdar City: Masdar City has come up with a plan on how to make their environment clean for everyone around. The plan will help to set up a unique construction where it will build all the materials with no carbon dioxide being emitted. The plan will assist more in the construction till it ends(2017).Masdar city will be carbon free city where everyone will live comfortably in their space without any destruction of pollution in the air. It will help to identify the best sites where transportation of pipes such as drainage pipes and water purification will pass so as to reach people easily. In order to attain the desired goal, the government will find the best company (WSP) so as to make work easier in the construction of the drainage systems. Transport: Since it is a carbon free country, all the visitors are advised to leave their car at the desired parking places that are managed by the (Masdar City Parking Authority) then they are transported to their destination by an electric train or some of them choose to walk since there is enough space for them because of reduction of cars on the roads. There are also electric taxis that carry (8-9 passenger) at a time. The plan will also help to manage an increase of people who come and leave the town by introducing two to three electric trains for easy transportation (2009-2017) Desert Land: Since it is very close to the desert area, the government has planted many shading areas and cooling systems so as to lower the level of high temperature experienced during the day. They have also constructed buildings with high ventilation systems in case there are a lot of activities done in the building. There are many sections that are well designed with different shapes for pedestrians thus making them be at ease as the walk on the roads since the temperature is cool. One of the main objectives of the master plans is to make sure that everyone is comfortable where he or she is. The plan will focus on increasing the number of shares in the city and also provide enough cooling systems. New art and designs: There are many buildings around the world and are of different types but in Masdar they are unique in design and planning too. The construction of Masdar buildings is based on the environments (plantation, irrigation) and also (wind towers).It has won many awards due to the best construction in the world. Headquarter of Masdar has the best design internationally. It is well constructed with high voltage power of solar panels on the roof. It also has 12 wind space segments on every side to allow ventilation space from natural sunlight and wind. The team will strategize different buildings (Market place malls) that have old designs and reconstruct them again so as to make the city more attractive. Attraction Sites: The plan will concentrate on this side a lot since it brings revenue to the country. The team should come up with ideas on how they should add more tourist attraction sites in the city. For example, the team will discuss on how to construct an extensive water fountain in one of the parks and design it with a unique art that is different from other countries. The team should also focus on the oldest building(Horsn Fort) that is in Masdar City and paint it once again so that it looks attractive to the visitors. . Business enterprises: Masdar City has many malls that sell different kind of goods that are not found in other countries. This makes other people export from them. The master plan will help to create enough space for the exportation of goods by constructing another railway line that passes through different towns so as to make work easier for them. The team should also consider adding one more aero plane to carry other goods and people too. Information and technology development: Due to the introduction of solar panels, the energy consumption used is very low as compared to other countries. This will enable the team to come up with a plan on how they should construct enough space and building innovations i.e. they should set a place where people go to research different aspects by using computers since the network will be provided. This will also add more revenue to the government of Masdar city. Capital Investment Plan: The town of Masdar also has a great capital investment with other stakeholders thus helping them to bring new ideas. Currently, Masdar Capital has two stages thus the (The Masdar Clean Technology Fund) which manages the construction and payment of drainage pipes, managing carbon use and energy that is recycled every day. Another sector of Masdar master plans capital is (Masdar Clean Tech Fund) it invests in environmental region whereby the money is used to manage the global work in the city so as to allow efficient electricity and also waste management. They are both (350 billion venture) where it helps them to invest in different companies around the world. The team will discuss on how the money will be used so as to meet the goals of Masdar city development. Projections: In Masdar they have much architecture who designs the building to the desired shapes. They are all well ventilated so as to allow fresh air, and also it helps in managing the high temperatures. (Masdar University of Science and Technology) Is one of the buildings that are well constructed starting from the three stages of houses that are separated due to gender bases. The team will discuss on how to find the perfect and qualified architecture to design the buildings and parks ecologically. References Karim, E. (2010). Abu Dhabi’s Masdar Headquarters: The First Positive-Energy Building in the Middle East. Available at: http://www.carboun.com/sustainable-design/masdar-headquarters-the-first-positive-energy-building-in-the-middle-east/ Karim, E. (2010).Masdar City Masterplan Reviewed. Available at: http://www.carboun.com/sustainable-design/masdar-city-masterplan/ Lau, A. (2012). Masdar City: A model of urban environmental sustainability.Social Sciences Available at: http://www. stanford. edu/group/journal/cgi-bin/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Lau_SocSci_2012. pdf,[Accessed 22 February 2013]. Schuler, M. (2012). Masdar City Master Plan: The Design and Engineering Strategies. 100% Renewable: Energy Autonomy in Action, 243. Read More