Hello all, below is the list of who’s bringing what to our upcoming holiday party spectacular.
| Professor McClelland | Cookies |
| Neha & Janice | Munchkins |
| Donna | 2 bags of chips |
| Ann | Donuts |
| Paulina | 2 bottles of soda |
| Holden | Plates |
| Dzvinka | Napkins |
| Chris | Cups |
| Lauren | 2 bags of chips |
| Janice | Party Mix |
| Kiran | Cookies & brownies |
| Milyza | An awesome holiday music playlist |
Thanks to all who volunteered to bring something. Please don’t forget to do so! It’s gonna be great!
At first while reading this I believed that Masdar is a city too good to be true. It is a great ending to our course because it combines all of the issues we were talking about all semester and incorporates the solutions for them. Although at the end it may not be totally feasible and is very expensive to build, it is a start in changing the mindset and raising awareness for the younger generation.
Although the city ended up a failure or the plans not going through, I don’t see it as a failure. I don’t think the planners actually thought that this would be feasible for other cities to follow. However, this project was a success because it proved that this sort of planning and solutions are possible and it raised awareness so future planners can look back and use the same methods.
The world is subject to change in its consumption habits over time and we are certainly in a transitional period ourselves. For one, our general consumption habits are unsustainable, and with growing populations across the world, whatever resources we have left will be further pressed. The Masdar community is looking to be the frontrunner in the transitional trend to a more sustainable society.
What Abu Dhabi is doing is highly intelligent and deserves immense credit for its foresight. The leaders and proponents of this development are aware that in the future that pressures for resources and energy will grow so large that it may cause global instability. The nation is using the resources and surplus funds that they have now in order to fund a society for the future.
Abu Dhabi is taking many great initiatives in order to promote a sustainable society in the future. For example, the nation is using MIST to enhance education and technology for the future. Furthermore, the society is looking to maintain 100% energy and water sustainability which are goals unlike those of the United States, EU, and Asian economies.
Abu Dhabi shows how the United States could use their model to promote our well-being for the future. For example, we could establish environmental sustainability by using an allotted percentage of funds from our financial and energy sectors to spur environmentally-friendly development. The American economy is by far the largest in the world – largely due to its output and consumption habits. In order to preserve our way of life and economy, we should follow the path that Masdar set in motion.
I thought this was a very interesting project and initiative. One aspect that I enjoyed was that people from all backgrounds can benefit from the City and participate in its development. For example, graduate students would partner with businesses and participate in the construction of the city, and small business owners would be able to start up their own businesses. I wondered, though, how the country was convincing people to relocate into this city. The issue of income inequality in the city that came up was interesting. Although the city is sustainably amazing, it appeared that the same could not be said for it socially. Perhaps this issue could be tackled once the city is further developed. Another paradoxical-type issue brought up is that the funds for the city came from oil and gas export revenues, which is very ironic as these resources produce greenhouse emissions yet fund such a sustainable project. Personally, I thought this was not okay and that there should be an alternate source of funding.
The initial statistics on the success of the City were overwhelming, specifically with regards to the change in net demand for various resources and the $25 billion in fuel costs saved. I was waiting for a part that depicted the effectiveness of the city, so this part was really satisfying to read. Then, when they went into how they exactly went about creating these achievements was really awesome as well. For example, they used mirrors to focus sunlight in order to create steam. That’s just awesome and innovative, yet so simple that it makes me wonder why we wouldn’t normally use something like that in the first place. Then there were steps that were just mind-blowingly creative, like orienting the city a certain way in order to optimize sun & shade. It was really cool to see how such small details that the architects carefully thought out were able to impact the mechanisms of the city so greatly. Many social effects came about from the structure of the city as well. For example, the shaded streets would encourage further human interaction. This was another example of such a small detail that is so effective yet simple. I also thought it was impressive how not only the products were sustainable, but the processes, as well. For example, in achieving sustainable water, the city would get its water from a desalinization plant outside the city. However, transporting this water would be conducted via solar power, which goes to show that the process of achieving sustainability in this city is wholesome. Overall, I thought this was a very interesting city with numerous amazing processes and achievable goals. However, some aspects of it are questionable, and we have to wait and see how these concerns will play out as the city becomes more and more developed.
What was particularly interesting about this article about a potential new city in the United Arab Emirates is how relevant the proposal is. Just a month ago, scientists in the United States determined that if things do not change significantly, the Persian Gulf will be inhabitable by humans by 2090. Their research showed that cities such as Abu Dhabi could potentially reach temperatures of 145 fahrenheit on a consistent basis during the summer (rather than on extreme cases of heat wave) if things do not change. Clearly, while global warming will cause my coastal countries to submerge further under the ocean, landlocked desert countries will get much hotter.
That is what makes this proposal for Masdar so interesting. It shows that there is a clear understanding amongst the people who are most affected by global warming that things need to change. However, the concern might be that something like Masdar might be too ambitious and that there might be more efficient, faster ways to reduce carbon emissions in that part of the world. Furthermore, something like Masdar has very little affect on stopping negative environmental practices in the countries that actions need to actually take place in.
Looking up other potential cities that might adopt large scale environmentally green practices, you also find the city of Baoding in China. The city happens to be one of the most polluted in the country, but China is currently investing billions into the city to alleviate problems as well have the city serve as a potential template for how other cities might deal or reverse climate change. Personally, the idea of implementing green practices into an existing city seems much more appealing and efficient than creating a new city from scratch, especially in a country that does not need a new city. Given the context of Masdar potentially being in a desert and requiring an incredible amount of resources, this proposal seems more like a ridiculous publicity stunt than a realistic way to deal with climate change.
The urban heat island effect is something that has been very noticeable to me over recent years. I live in the suburbs, and I am constantly travelling back and forth between my house and the city. Every morning when I check the weather, the forecast is always warmer for the city than in my neighborhood. Because I check the weather daily, I know there is this difference in temperature in the city, but I don’t always feel it. However, specifically in the summer I found it to be significantly hotter in the city, which is consistent with the data in this paper. The paper says that in New York City, the mean heat island was 7.2°F in the summer and fall and 5.4°F in the winter and spring in 2003. These numbers are very significant, and it is concerning that not much is being done about it so it’s only going to get higher.
While I knew that the city was getting warmer than surrounding areas, I honestly never really knew what the big deal was. It obviously isn’t natural, but before reading this paper, I did not know the actually problems associated with the heat island effect. For some of the environmental problems we talk about there isn’t always a lot of evidence of the consequences. Here, there is a strong correlation between ground-level ozone and temperatures in the city. This is one of the many consequences of pollution and ozone emissions. While mentioned that I do notice the warmer temperatures in the city, I did not think that these temperatures were significant enough to cause real health problems. Like many people, I assumed it would be more of an issue in like 50 years from now. It was surprising to read that the causes real health problems, including disease and injury. It also makes sense that heat is a public stressor. I was definitely shocked to read about how heat contributes to increased mortality rates in the city, because while heat can be annoying and cause some illnesses, I did not think the temperatures in the city were high enough to cause deaths.
The good news is that there are many things that can be done to mitigate this urban heat island problem. As mentioned in the past, this is one of the many benefits of green roofs. There are so many roofs in NYC that are unused and the implementation of vegetation can help fix this problem. This is also true for cool roofs and cool pavements, which lower ozone levels and temperatures. We have the technology to fix this heating problem, but it’s up to the government and individual efforts to start putting the money and efforts into these solutions.
Learning about the strategies used in making Masdar the most sustainable city in the world was very interesting. I also thought it was extremely ironic that one of largest oil providers in the world is building the most sustainable city. Furthermore, they are using the revenue from the oil and gas production to build city that doesn’t need either. Apart from the irony, I thought this was all a great step to a better future.
One of the most important aspects of this initiative was the expansion of knowledge on the project. in many of these sustainable rebuilding throughout the world, there is a lack of education on the topic. Their use of local creativity is a step that will drive the project forward for many years past the lives of the architects and engineers working on it now. We have brought up the important of education to our relationship with the environment in the past and this is one article that has addressed it effectively.
Another part of the article that caught my attention was the pedestrian-friendly environment. Master is a zero-car zone which at first struck me as odd. Nonetheless, I thought it was oddly brilliant. They set up quick and efficient means of public transportation while strongly encouraging biking and walking. This emphasizes the sense of community as well as exercise which is necessary world wide.
Using the 3 E’s is what put this project over the edge and is something worth celebrating. It makes everything inclusive both socially and environmentally; the richest man holds just as much importance as the poorest man in a better environment.
Masdar City is environmentalists’ utopia. Except everything is not perfect. One looming critique is that city’s funding comes from oil and gas exports revenue that are responsible for fueling greenhouse gas emissions across the world. They are ironically building a city supported by other environmental hazards. This reminded me of our class discussion the other day on whether it is reasonable to fund decomposable bags research with money earned from plastic fines.
I appreciate that the project attempts to control and incorporate so many environmental features at once. However, at the same time, the fact that an entirely new city has to be constructed does not make it a feasible role model, as it is an unattainable feat for most cities. It would almost be better if they were to incorporate adjustments that other places around the world could emulate. The article admits that even a whole new city will only have a marginal affect on the damage. This concept is also defeating, because it minimizes the impact each person can have.
One thing I really appreciated that Masdar Institute of Science and Technology (MIST) is one of the focal points of this project. Building is not enough; education and innovation must be part of the process. In this way Masdar can be a leading player in sustainability. The city itself will provide 800 full time students with hands on learning, by participating in the Masdar City’s construction.
Jut today, an interview was published with the Dr Belhoul, the CEO of Masdar. He explained that that those before him, including his grandmother, lived sustainable lifestyles, however, as the place became wealthy from oil they no longer emphasized sustainable living. This is a similar reality in places all over the world. The more resources we have, the more we abuse them and get caught up in luxury. With all its downfalls, let’s appreciate that sustainability is still on the public agenda…
Only over the past few years have I felt the effects of rising temperatures in New York City. Praying for snow before Christmas so that it actually feels like Christmas has become a norm. If you think back to when we were in middle school, you’d realize that we never had to hope for snow. Once December came around, there were already little flurries falling from the sky and it would start feeling like Christmas. However, in the recent years, snow (or cold temperature in general) in New York City doesn’t come around until the end of December. Let’s take a look at this year, for example. In NYC the December weather has been around mid to high 50s. In December! However, in other suburban states in the middle of the country, it has already snowed. There has to be a valid explanation for this. I think that Urban Heat Island effect would be a good reasoning behind why in the city we’re experiencing higher weathers than expected but suburban cities are not. What’s really interesting is that we have all of this data to prove that the UHI effect is causing these changes in temperature and we have other data that shows how effects of the urban heat island can be reduced but there’s not much that’s being done to help it. Green roofs and cool roofs can be installed on 11% of the buildings in NYC since they’re flat. Even though they are costly to install, I feel that the sooner they are installed, the better of an impact they’ll have on the environment. Over a certain period of time, they will actually be worth the money spent unlike some other useless things the city spends money on.
One thing I found really interesting was reading about how high temperatures have accounted for deaths in the city. Heat stress caused around 300 deaths in an average summer in New York City. That’s a lot of people dying. In the past, I’ve heard people dying in India due to the heat since the weather sometimes reaches around 110 Fahrenheit on an average day in the summer. However, I’ve never heard of someone dying in NYC due to an increase in temperature. The main root of this problem is a lack of education. If more people were educated on urban heat island effect and the impact it has on our health, the city, etc. I’m pretty sure that people would try to get green roofs and cool roofs implemented someway. If those in power really cared about the environment, they could incentivize building owners to create green roofs on the roof of their apartment buildings. We’ve looked at a lot of problems that our city is undergoing and I feel that since all of us are more aware and more educated on these problems, we might be able to make a difference if we tried hard enough.
After reading this article about Masdar, I have a few concerns. One of these is that I don’t believe that this can be a model city for the rest of the world. This is because they are starting from scratch rather than just altering an already created city like New York City. I believe that Masdar would serve better as a testing city for different types of programs to test and see what will work and what wont. I believe that that trials that are successful should be implemented into other cities but the ones that don’t should be ignored.
Another issue I have is that I don’t see how a city like this would be popular among regular people. It is a remote city that is away from the rest of the world. Most people dont want to have to take a train or other transit to be a part of normal life. In addition to this, it is hard for humans, creatures of habit, to change the way they live all of a sudden. After learning that there are not many people living there anymore I am not surprised.
While I think that this idea is great for testing different forms of self sustainability, I dont believe that we can mass produce these types of cities because there are so many costs associated with creating a city like this, as well as all land as basically build on already and there is zero possibility of completely changing a city like New York without destroying it and rebuilding. I think that this would be a good idea if something catastrophic would to happen but not right now.
