In 2006, the Masdar City project was launched in the United Arab Emirates. Supported by $22 billion in state-funding, it aimed to be the world’s most sustainable city. Situated 6km away from Zayed International Airport, neighbouring a Formula 1 racetrack and golf course, Abu Dhabi’s eco-utopia is full of contradictions.

Bertie discusses why oil-rich Gulf states like UAE and Saudi Arabia are investing in sustainability with Gökçe Günel, Associate Professor in Anthropology at Rice University. Gökçe is the author of Spaceship in the Desert: Energy, Climate Change, and Urban Design in Abu Dhabi, published in 2019 by Duke University Press. 

Further reading: 

• Inside COP28: A Participant’s Take on Climate Diplomacy Efforts in Dubai, Gökçe Günel, Baker Institute, 2024 
• Horizons, Gökçe Günel, e-flux Architecture, 2022
• Spaceship in the Desert: Energy, Climate Change, and Urban Design in Abu Dhabi, Gökçe Günel, Duke University Press, 2019  

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