Masdar City is a global model for sustainable principles which can be incorporated into architecture and town planning to create integrated communities for students, businesses and residents, said its original masterplan designer.

Lord Norman Foster, the chairman and founder of British architectural practice Foster + Partners, was speaking to the media during his visit to Masdar City recently.

“It is fantastic to see Masdar City embarking on its next phase of growth," stated the designer of Masdar City’s original masterplan in 2007.

At Masdar City, Lord Foster met Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of State and chairman of Masdar, Dr Ahmad Belhoul, the chief executive of Masdar, Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, the chief operating officer of Masdar, Anthony Mallows, the director of Masdar City and Dr Behjat Al Yousuf, the interim provost of Masdar City.

He also toured the city, which has grown significantly since its inception and is set to grow to more than 500,000 sq m by 2019 from its current 160,000 gross floor area.

Dr Belhoul said: "When building a sustainable city in Abu Dhabi was just a bold idea, Foster + Partners was a critical partner in translating the vision into an actionable design plan."

"As we enter our next phase of growth, Masdar City continues to apply Foster + Partner’s original design principles of low-rise, high-density residences, sustainable transportation, controlled growth, and traditional Arab settlement design," he noted.

Masdar City, said the official, was an urban ecosystem, located 17 km from downtown Abu Dhabi, which offered access to knowledge, research and development, a technology cluster and a competitive investment zone.

"This low-carbon, low-waste sustainable urban development, 60 per cent of which will be residential, is pioneering a “green print” for how cities of the future can accommodate urbanisation while remaining resource efficient," he added.-TradeArabia News Service