The Sustainable City-Dubai, UAE
Faris Saeed, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai-based Diamond Developers, visited UC Davis in 2010 hosted by the Middle East/South Asia Studies program founder, Suad Joseph and the Dean of Letters and Sciences, George R. Mangun. Chancellor Linda Katehi introduced Mr. Saeed to the developers of the largest planned zero-net energy community in the United States, the UC Davis West Village, which was, at the time, in blue print stage.
Inspired, and after two years of preparations, planning, and research, Mr. Saeed returned to UC Davis with architectural renderings of The Sustainable City, an eco-village in the outskirts of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Similar in size to the campus’s West Village, the Dubai Sustainable City is designed to provide housing for about 2,500 people on 120 acres while it aims to save 60 percent more energy and water than conventional structures in Dubai. He invited UCD to join him in carrying out research on sustainability, resulting in the 2014 $2.97million contract, Sustainability Research and Training Program under PI’s Suad Joseph and Bryan Jenkins (SRTP).
The Sustainable City in Dubai captures natural breezes, and has solar panels on building and carport roofs, bio-swales to conserve water, frequent bus service and extensive pedestrian and bike paths, to minimize the use of cars. Like West Village, which includes a community college and is home to several of the university's energy research centers, the Sustainable City plans to incorporate living and learning. In addition to apartments, single family homes and retail space, the Dubai Sustainable City includes P-12 schools and a sustainability training center. TSC is envisioned as a living laboratory where architectural students can learn about energy efficient design, agricultural students can use the city’s bio-domes — geodesic greenhouses — as agricultural research facilities, and social scientists can study what influences sustainable choices. The Sustainable City stables horses for recreational riding and for manure to help fuel TSC’s biogas production plant. Other features include wind tunnels, community gardens and water recycling. The first residents arrived in the summer of 2015. Learn more about the city from this presentation.
