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Construction is underway on Masdar, a city in Abu Dhabi that will be ready for occupation by 40,000 residents in 2016 and will be powered exclusively by solar, wind, and geothermal energy. Water will be produced by solar-powered desalination. Traditional Middle eastern cooling and ventilating techniques- narrow streets oriented to the prevailing wind, wind towers that push cool air down to street level, shallow pools that provide evaporative cooling, the ornamental window screens known as mashrabiya– will be incorporated. This will help offset the fact that the United Arab Emirates are one of the world’s highest per capita carbon emitters.
A good book on this important new direction in urban design is “The Renewable city : A Comprehensive Guide to an Urban Revolution,” by Peter Droege, chairman of the World Council on Renewabvle energy.