Desert Rose City

Sustainable Desert Rose City . . .

Time out Dubai and all the online and paper mass media reported yesterday that Dubai was about to launch the development of what is labelled a Desert Rose City; an eco-city spread like a field of giant pansies of 5 purple edged white petals.  From the provided pictures, it looks as if each pansy shades some sort of a housing cluster.

This development is in accordance with the Emirate's green building policy and in line with its urban approach to a sustainable growth.  The integrated new town springing out of the desert, will offer plots, villas together with all social, health, shopping and leisure facilities, etc.   Mosques, academia services, gardens and technical and support amenities are also proposed, all running on renewable energy.

Auto-recycling of waste is omnipresent which together with all roofs mounted solar panels, generating clean 200 megawatts electrical power, will make this new agglomeration a smart city that is fully sustainable.  Officials were heard mentioning that "75% of the city would be dedicated to housing.”  Before adding that “The first phase is expected to welcome 160,000 inhabitants in an area of more than 14,000 ha."

The proposed city will dispose of its own public transport and communications systems.   Recycling water planned to supply more than 40,000 cubic metres of potable water.

The construction of the city will make extensive usage of Green Building materials and latest assembly techniques as per the current worldwide trends.

In effect, the whole City project follows the universal green building movement of today.  Using the innovative technologies that are being developed these days will most probably put this city at the avant-garde  of the movement and possibly will enable it to keep pace with the increasing shift towards sustainability.

It is all about integration of biodegradable and renewable materials in the construction of buildings as a paramount priority in this development.  Natural paints, recycled steel, insulated concrete block-working, natural woods sidings will shape and finish all buildings.

All buildings are zero-energy with wind micro-turbines, bio-fuels and minimal H.V.A.C. hardware.

Use of water conservation systems to efficiently manage water consumption, rainwater recycling, greywater reutilisation, smart landscaping and on-site sewage treatment will be detailed in the production documentation.  Moreover, low-emitting windows glazing with thermal framing for low heat gain will be specified.

Such buildings types as generally used for the Flower City will certainly not come cheap but their running costs as tempered by the thorough low energy use in lighting, cooling costs of buildings and maintenance generally would aggregate to a reasonable overall budget.  Most importantly, it is the Desert Rose City's impact on the environment that is   expected to be minimal.