The UAE's "Zero Carbon" City is a Huge Failure. Here's Why.

[@megaprojects9649]

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[@RWBHere]

Masdar is about as green as anyone can expect from an oil company. I.e. barely even a murky olive colour.

[@curlyspikes7114]

I worked in Abu Dhabi 12 years ago and visited Masdar several times on business. We couldn't work out where the $22bn had been spent. It was a typical grandiose UAE project of that period where international "consultancies" ripped them off and delivered very little. Oh! and the electric taxi pods were always out of order.

[@no1DdC]

Don't forget about the enormous local corruption making most of that money disappear.

[@JohnDoryPsh]

It was spent on consultants, of course.

[@ger13nunyah56]

Nice 😊

[@oldboy85]

International consultancies = western consultancies

[@hamiltoncouple01]

Right, lol

[@ssjtrunkxx]

I live opposite masdar and have a friend who lives there. Main issues: apartments are tiny for the price you pay as it was built for uni students. Now its mostly etihad cabin crew there. Driving there sucks. Traffic lights every 500m and you sit and wait for some time at each light. Poor traffic flow in general with the roads. Just no point to go there since there's better places nearby.

[@conqc20]

First question should be, why would anyone want to live there? If they cant answer that question then it was a waste of money building it.

[@JerryB507]

Like any concept, first you have to establish a need. Just because you have a great idea, doesn't mean there is a need for it. Much of the Tech they envisioned for Masdar is already being adopted elsewhere.

[@AvoidTheCadaver]

"build it and they will come"

[@RCDiaz-Balart]

To be fair where Mazdar is located is near many other “full” residential areas….the lack of public transport and telling people to walk around in Abu Dhabi is wild lol especially in summer. With the improvements in Robo Taxi, AI and bots like Optimus this city could be “re-invented” but it will take time…since it’s not smack in the middle of Abu Dhabi island or Yas Island where many people prefer to live…it’s closer to MBZ which is also quite a full district with the GEMS Academy there and many other schools but the restrictions on public transport and walking really do hurt Mazdar…it probably would’ve worked perfectly in a cooler area like northern California.

[@CUBETechie]

I think if they adjust existing buildings and areas and then build new buildings when needed. An organic growth

[@Antymatters]

Lovely views of hot sterile sand 😅

[@InfoRanker]

That looks like a lot of concrete and steel in that "zero carbon" city.

[@PsychicIsaacs]

LOL ..

[@1237barca]

I find it genuinely odd that no billionaire can actually comprehend what a low carbon community looks like. They are all such technological/progress-oriented ppl that they think low carbon must be futuristic when in reality it would be 80% past, 10% present, 10% future.

[@cherylsabol387]

😅right

[@tc4660]

Whoever told the Saudi the Line would cost 100B is the worst cost estimator in the world

[@matthewbattaglia7329]

Or that anyone would want to live there ...except the dudes that built it as a freebie

[@YDV669]

Or the best. Probably first estimated how would earned for the actual work. And succeeded.

[@tc4660]

I’ve got money it wont be completed at least in my lifetime

[@tc4660]

The ARAMCO is a big fund but can’t afford a trillion dollar “line” item.

[@Kunfucious577]

What a stupid idea that was. Imagine the distances you would have to travel to in each direction everyday to do simple everyday tasks.

[@TrinityAlex]

Ok, I've been living here for the past 3.5 years. My workplace is within Masdar city, and I live 10 minutes away from it. In my opinion, one of the main reasons why it didn't manage to be fully successful is that the government gave the development rights for residential constructions to a single company, Reportage Properties, and they did a very bad job at making pleasant living spaces. Most, if not all, residential buildings are almost matchbox style (very long corridors with doors on either side), with very small bedrooms, and quite poor quality too (water infiltration problems, causing mold, windows/doors/floors not properly aligned). There was a lot of construction going on, everything was built in a hurry, and the quality suffered. As for the UAE striving for sustainability, there is no doubt. They are currently supplying ~25% of electricity from nuclear energy, and another 25% from solar power. Less than 10 years ago, they were generating 95% of power from oil&gas, so definitely a strong improvement, not seen in many other countries. Also, I think one of the major reasons why their generated CO2 is so high is probably because they still export quite a significant amount of oil to the world. Oh, lastly, they are now offering Tesla (Model 3/model S) taxis for free within the entire city (call a number, and they pick you up/drop you off anywhere within Masdar).

[@iandakariann]

I wonder then, is the key problem of projects like these less the idea and more of the people tasked to make them not focusing on the fundamentals? If instead of contractors focused on speed and cutting corners you had designers who made functionality sound housing and city planning would this project work? Or were some of the core ideas and dreams contradictory to proper design?

[@TrinityAlex]

@@iandakariann I think it could have been much better if contractors first and foremost focused on doing a good job, but the truth is that the set target was not really feasible, similar to "The Line" in Saudi. The bottom line is that it's very difficult to make a small city that's self-sustainable and fully carbon neutral. Only if it's taken from the perspective of being Energy carbon-neutral, can the project be considered as successful (practically all the buildings have solar panels on top, in addition to the 10 MW solar park within the city). From any other perspectives, full sustainability is not achievable yet (for example, there is no mandatory differential recycling in the UAE, even if in some areas have 3 different bins for plastic/paper/trash, in the end it all goes to a landfill). But still, the project developments have not really stopped, the UAE leadership is still very ambitious, pushing it forward. Construction is still ongoing at quite a fast pace. In the last two years, they have built 7 quite tall commercial buildings, from the ground up (just search for Masdar City Square). I guess they are using the same strategy that made Dubai what it is: "build it, and they will come".

[@Kunfucious577]

So, they wanted to build the most efficient city in the world but couldn’t build basic homes with straight angles? This was either the smartest money laundering scheme or the stupidest people on earth.

[@Kunfucious577]

@@iandakariannthis isn’t something anyone without unlimited funds would even try because they lose billions of dollars. Even if they did complete it, it would be hell to live in. It’s be like living in North Korea where rolling black outs are the norm. The technology just isn’t there yet.

[@weatherlou]

shocking…😂 but hey at least 15K inhabitants…better than anything Saudi has done

[@-alwsme]

Saudi Arabia already opened 4 in neom

[@KyleLobaton]

Saudi is always failed in there real estate project 😂😂😂

[@Volkbrecht]

You mean, like building Riyadh?

[@MrKatsushita]

Years ago at a Sustainability conference, I asked a Masdar rep where sustainable agriculture fit into the project. He was confused by my question and said, “We’re just a developer.” Yeah, just a developer.

[@AL-lh2ht]

agriculture when talking about a building. How more insane can you be?

[@Sults195]

Masdar has split into two. One of them is Masdar Development (real estate) the other is now a huge pretty successful investment arm in renewable energies

[@BuildNewTowns]

All these new city development needs to use Permaculture Urbanism principles. Without all the AI "smart" surveillance technology / facial recognition scanners that track everyone.

[@saucywench9122]

Sustainable Ag is completely wrong for that region. You can't sustain what you don't have. That location needs regenerative Ag before it can even think about being sustainable.

[@Benjamin1986980]

Look. Why would you have agriculture in Arabia? Seriously, it's immensely cheaper and lower-energy to grow it elsewhere and import it.

[@MattUK]

I live nearby, it's quite a nice place to visit and its architecture certainly does help with the heat, but yeah at the moment it is basically a campus for a few universities and aircrew for the airport. Certainly not a "Huge failure" though, more of a testbed for urban planning in the desert and maybe a victim of over-hyped expectations?

[@Welcome2TheInternet]

have you ever spoke to the admins or tried to setup a freezone company at Mazdar? they are useless.

[@Volkbrecht]

Thanks for the first hand impression. Channels like this suffer from doing only literature research.

[@mdhazeldine]

So if the pod thing didn't really get built, how do people get around? Do they still have to leave their car in a parking lot outside, and then just walk?

[@myriammoquin2684]

Agree 100%. Its not a failure but it did not meet expectations. I've lived in the UAE for 14 yrs now and generally they use a lot of hyperbolic language for most any advertising....its like their default setting. To be honest as residents we no longer fall for it. We will have a see and generally it's a lot of window dressing and not a ton of substance.

[@miketan4803]

Failure to live up to expectations = textbook definition of failure?

[@gcwyatt]

As much as I love these videos about failed mega project planed cities, I'd actually love to see a video about planned cities that are a success. Maybe even conclude what these projects had in common that made them a success compared to these other projects that are failures.

[@jimrichards3916]

There probably aren't any!

[@artemvalkyrie7451]

Maybe no videos about working new cities means that there are none, like Dubai is rich due to rich Arabs sitting in it and not being successful.

[@olencone4005]

@@jimrichards3916 There's a few, but the cost of such endeavors usually makes them kinda rare in the first place. Songdo in South Korea is one that comes to mind -- it's still in construction, but it's already supporting a couple hundred thousand residents and seems to be thriving pretty well.

[@gcwyatt]

There are many, including Philadelphia, Buffalo, and Washington D.C.. St. Petersburg, Russia is one with a dark, horrible history. There's a long, storied history of planned cities. I'd like to see an investigation into why some fail and others succeed.

[@daviddavidson1417]

@@gcwyatt That's a great idea. Simon and the team should get on it.

[@ekaterinastacey3132]

I lived in Abu Dhabi between 2010-2014 (after which I moved to Dubai); we used to go to a sushi restaurant in Masdar "city". The self driving pods were pretty cool for the time and navigated a set route using magnets, which was basically useless in the real world where tram/rail transportation already existed for decades. Nevertheless, they were a bit of fun, but wouldn't be in any way impressive by today's self-driving cars standards. The architecture was pretty cool and, in places, dystopian and otherworldly, but that is the most I can say about that. The Institute of Science and Tech was the only notable organisation at Masdar that kept the whole place from being, pardon the pun, deserted.

[@waleedgaming4910]

yes Sumo Sushi was so nice, i only went to Masdar for that. 😂

[@PermanentExile]

Yep. I was going to mention the sushi restaurant.

[@KASERQARNashaytaan]

22 billion to end up with ppl only wanting to go there to have sushi???

[@garyclark3843]

As Adam Savage says, "Failure is always an option". The key is to learn from the mistakes, and do better next time.

[@QTYZRN17]

yeah because there are laborers and minimum wage employees to be sacrificed.

[@dieterjosef]

But important not to drain your coffers while making mistakes, and not making a fool of you because other people with a little bit of knowledge know that your project won't work.

[@nicolaablett7790]

TAMAM exactly Keep learning

[@carlosmartin3353]

the great thing about such failiures is that you can make a very long list of what went wrong and make it better next time or create a task list of changes to move towards the original vision, in a Zen fashion that is. Certain critical technologies have improved or changed direction in the recent years and may show a better path towards the Green City of the future

[@michaelwerner1836]

I lived in the UAE for 5 years. Masdar was a gimmick when it was announced, and will always be.

[@reasonablespeculation3893]

as are most "green" projects

[@jessicaw6930]

Like the above comment says most are and even more are just green washed

[@donfisherjr.2404]

I think the biggest problem is simply that most people don't want to live in a desert, regardless of the proposed amenities.

[@thecrow3461]

Given that the city right next to it has 4 million people i don't think that's the issue here

[@Automedon2]

Everyone in the Middle East lives in a desert

[@Welcome2TheInternet]

Plenty of people live here. You should see Al Ain if you want to see how many people want to live in actual desert.

[@gregmccauley1687]

@@thecrow3461 to some degree it is. The property near beaches or marinas is significantly more valuable. the stuff inland even a mile or two (i.e. the desert) is like 1/3rd or 1/2 as expensive because people prefer to live near the water I would be interested if it was walking distance to the beach like where I live now, but instead it's next to an airport in the desert

[@jackanderson3366]

@@thecrow3461workers not people... seeing there is no naturalisation process in arab countries you remove expats, only few millions nationals remain

[@tomholroyd7519]

Whatever happened to GROWTH you can't just BUILD a fully completed city that's ridiculous

[@nath9091]

Yes you can but it does take time. For example Milton Keynes in the UK and other new towns, Canberra in Australia and others were mostly brand new. It just takes time and needs jobs in the area and decent housing which seems to be an issue from comments in Masdar that the accommodation standards are poor.

[@olencone4005]

Going from "zero carbon" to "low carbon" is basically going from "city of the future" to "just another city."

[@Chris_Garman]

Or from fantasy to near reality.

[@johnwolf2829]

Go Green.... go broke.

[@defeatSpace]

@@johnwolf2829 how ironic 💸

[@michaeldowson6988]

@@johnwolf2829 Concrete will never be green...except by sleazy number juggling.

[@doujinflip]

@@johnwolf2829More like go tech go broke. Autonomous pods could have easily been a tried and true tram and subway network.

[@Echo4Sierra4160]

The desalination plant is not running on renewable energy... it requires orders of magnitudes more power than renewables could ever dream of providing.

[@samiraperi467]

Pods? How about light rail?

[@iml_mistikk2592]

L have a feeling you watch Adam Something

[@MrLukealbanese]

It was mentioned

[@peter65zzfdfh]

It was planned to have light rail too, the physical size of the place means it’s just walkable, the pods are more like elevators in terms of scope. It’s not a city, it’s a compact neighborhood.

[@AL-lh2ht]

@@iml_mistikk2592 Adam something the racist who said a city of millions has no culture and straight lies in about every video. Dude so racist he said arabs are acting not arab enough.

[@iml_mistikk2592]

@@AL-lh2ht I'm pretty sure you're just pressed. From my analysis of him, he seems quite anti-racism. Also I'm pretty sure the city you are talking about is a Gulf Arab city which is in that case absolutely right.

[@karimhabsi6508]

At 6:29, temperatures reaching 36C in height of summer? It gets as high as 50, 36 in summer is the lowest night temperature in summer

[@Welcome2TheInternet]

Right. It's 31 degrees now here in Sharjah and it's almost winter already.

[@ChasingDifferentAdventures]

@karimhabsi6508 Hello from Los Angeles California. I lived all my life in Los Angeles California, and in the 1980's the Smog was so thick it filtered the Sun. The smog blocked the Sun so much the winter's in Los Angeles California was so cold between 36° to 55° Fahrenheit nights dropping to 33° Fahrenheit I couldn't see mountain ranges from where I live 4.5 miles away. Unless it was windy and smog cleared. Now the air is so clear you can see cracks and riges, on the rock walls. It uses to rain 🌧 none stop for 7 months, and the summers never exceeded 90° Fahrenheit. Due to Sun being filtered from smog I also didn't need shades, for my eyes. Now 🌡 are 110° Fahrenheit for excess of 1.5 months with 5 days in the roll Temps exceeding 116° and 1 day at 120° to 126° depending on fire conditions radiating heat. Air clean enough, and it will not get any cleaner with only Electric Vehicle's (EV's) Now to the reason why Environmental green agenda causes Drought Conditions. In 2010- 2013 there were Solar Mirror s installed to project solar arrays to a Tower with mirrors projected downward to under ground reservoir water sources. To generate steam, and generate Electricity. The temperatures 🌡 causes the atmosphere to close to 5,000° and every time birds fly thru become instantly baked and fall. In the 1980's the Jetstream used travel across California in to Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and so on to Florida. Due to the Mirrors the Atmospheric High Pressure. Has pushed the Jetstream away from Southern California to North to Washington, and or Canada 🇨🇦 . This cause along with getting rid of Smog cause higher temperatures and Drought Conditions. You couldn't pay me $10,000,000 per hour to sit, promote, sell, let alone buy any Electric Vehicle's (EV's). If you look up StachD Training channel, on his video titled Lithium Largest Ex plo ding EV Recycling ♻️ Center in Missouri. There were 4 Recycling ♻️ Centers in the United States. Now there are 2 Recycling ♻️ Centers, and none are in the State of California. Due to Environmental Impact, which the video shows Fire Authorities spray granulated elements of the Lithium-Ion Batteries 🔋 Packs, into creeks, rivers, and lake anfmd underground well resources. Not even boiling helps, and fish hacmve died in those water ways. Sure clean the Air while you Pollute the water. In April 2024 the 1st Recycling ♻️ Centers in Phoenix Arizona location burned down, and dousing water to keep cool prenting spread of fires 🔥 have caused Drought Conditions. ​@truebrit3670 Look it up StasheD Training channel Missouri Recycling Center ♻️ Ex Plod ing can't spell this out. Fish died wells for water is no good anymore, and became Acidic These are facts. Mirrors in Mojave Desert Modified where Jetstream away from Southern California. The so called green agenda is to keep there pockets full or bank accounts.

[@georgeh6856]

Instead of trying to create a "perfect" city, it seems much more practical to make gradual improvements to every other place.

[@gtc9966]

Omg thank you for making this. News about this City just kinda disappeared. I was so fascinated by it when it was first started…as were a tonne of KZbinrs

[@erikaellis8513]

I worked in Saudi for 12 years - all these countries insist on running projects themselves with no experience and always corruption - so they all end with nothing - they used to let competent Western contractors run building projects but now they want it all locally managed - so now nothing gets done - it’s the same story over and over

[@tobymichaels8171]

Another example of Fate beating humanity over the head with the message "Grandiose solutions to imaginary crises offend the gods."

[@ForgeMasterXXL]

This project is remarkable that any of it worked, so praise the successes, learn from the mistakes and build the next one better and closer to not just net zero but a city that reduces atmospheric carbon.

[@Chris_Garman]

Reducing atmospheric carbon is of equivalent intelligence to reducing atmospheric oxygen. But what do I know, I was only top of my environmental science class.

[@pressme71nz]

You can’t outrun the technological ponzi. There is too much rigidity in these complex systems and a dangerous dependance on assumed future innovations.

[@tombh74]

​@Chris_Garman I am sure he meant removing the excess CO2 from human activity and not reducing CO2 levels to lower than pre-industrial level.

[@ignitionfrn2223]

1:00 - Chapter 1 - A green light for a green city 1:35 - Mid roll ads 2:55 - Back to the video 3:50 - Chapter 2 - Parameters 8:30 - Chapter 3 - Green city , red flags 12:00 - Chapter 4 - Analysis

[@dbensdrawinvids8390]

I feel like at this point any announcement about an ambitious Arab engineering project should come with a giant asterisk.

[@markusgorelli5278]

5:06 "using electric mini pods" Pods!! PODS!! Don't let Adam Something hear about this. 🤣🤣

[@animefan-uy3zq]

we could connect these pods and then put them on a track...

[@AL-lh2ht]

nay adam something would tell them they are acting to western and not acting arab enough while calling them a people without culture.

[@Noblesse_Sapphire]

​@@AL-lh2ht pretty sure one guy in another comment already said the context of the city you said, 5 days ago Also if you don't mind, could you give me the name of his video, specifically when he said about the racist stuff you mentioned or are you just go around saying the same thing without giving any proof like a broken record?

[@donerskine7935]

A successful working city has culture. It's not just bricks, mortar and concrete.

[@AL-lh2ht]

racist says a city of millions does not have culture

[@nathanlee6011]

All you have to say is, “We’re going green/ carbon neutral!”, and people throw money at you.

[@Mr.G.Rection]

Has anyone commented that the whole thing was "Greenwashing" from its very inception. Just a way to divert international criticism of the UAE's obvious carbon excess...?

[@JamesZaraza-wv3gt]

Greenwashing is a dangerous term. While fake green projects are disconcerting, it still allows for engagement and the possibility of sincere effort to follow. It is possible to criticize any and all human efforts on some level, even those that appear benevolent. But, would you rather have 100% purity, or people who can get out of bed in the morning; cause you can’t have both in a system that is experiencing growth.

[@nssr4031]

Dangerous? Should all follow what is good for you? How about we look at the past and see who pumped all current carbon in the atmosphere when they went through industrialization, how about we look who consumes most of the world output = true carbon enabler. Oh wait lets make paper straws for our drinks and Greenwash our carbon history 😂🤣🤣

[@nssr4031]

I guess the big dairy farming countries are diverting attention too, since farms are equal to fossil when it come to green house gases (the more potent one Methane).

[@nssr4031]

Dangerous? Should all follow what is good for you? How about we look at the past and see who pumped all current carbon in the atmosphere when they went through industrialization, how about we look who consumes most of the world output = true carbon enabler. Oh wait lets make paper straws for our drinks and Greenwash our carbon history 😂🤣🤣

[@Welcome2TheInternet]

@@JamesZaraza-wv3gt The is no sincere sustainability effort in the UAE. the last COP conference proved that.

[@Zedprice]

Planning the entire thing at once is just never a good call. Real cities are built by many hands over time.

[@dnomyarnostaw]

Yeah, which is why all of them either have had to tear down huge sections to build better or expensively shoehorn modern systems into old infrastructure.

[@Cheezitnator]

Why give awards to someone for an idea before actually doing anything? Doesn't really encourage follow-through.

[@Gujratiah]

Like Obama and the Nobel peace prize?

[@MrStone-dp1ek]

No cars, no people. This fight against the most versatile and flexible means of transportation is ridiculous.

[@cyberRowboat]

Disagree! A Public transit system is way more effective and with good planning it can also be very versatile and flexible, I suspect the reason people like cars is marketing and the perceived social status it brings. Just my opinion though. Have fun :)

[@MrStone-dp1ek]

@@cyberRowboat Then try to travel via public transport while handing three kids. Or when you have to carry a lot of luggage or material, Or when you are on a tight schedule. Or when you need to visit multiple locations on one journey. Or when it is really urgent (think police, fire dept. ambulance). Public transport alone can never be the solution and the "marketing and social status" argument is an invention from bicycle owners who deny that there are actual advantages of cars.

[@barryon8706]

@@cyberRowboat There are other reasons people like cars. Security. Carrying items. There are solutions to those (lots of little lockable pods for security, home delivery for goods), but they have their own inefficiencies and inconveniences. And now imagine COVID-25 hitting with public transit...

[@cyberRowboat]

@@MrStone-dp1ek thnx 4 the answer actually public transportation is very convenient when traveling with your kids because you can dedicate all your attention to safeguard your kids instead of having to drive yourself and split the attention. trains and buses can be accommodated with luggage storage and if roads are not clogged with unnecessary car trips emergency vehicles will be way more effective.

[@AAblade7]

Just drive through there last week. My companies home office is there. They’ve got 3 more apartment complexes being built right now. Most expats who work there live at Raha across the highway or Yas island.

[@nathanielrohwer4186]

Simon, I have a suggestion for a video, although I am not sure if it would be a Megaproject or a Sideproject. A video covering the General Motors Sunraycer from the eighties would be interesting. In addition coverage of the World Solar Challenge would be welcome too. I was a kid in the eighties and the Sunraycer was a big deal back then.

[@ageoflove1980]

Yeah lets build a zero carbon city in literally one of the most hostile enviroments on Earth! What could possibly go wrong?

[@recoil53]

Well there are cities in the area, so that in itself isn't a problem. And you do have solar and wind.

[@thecrow3461]

Lots of sun though

[@ageoflove1980]

@recoil53 Well, yes, obviously. The point is rather that those cities have like the highest carbon footprint per capita in the world. Which is often the case when you build cities in hostile environments like Phoenix, Arizona for example. Its just an extremely inefficient place for large numbers of people to live. Basically, if you think zero carbon emissions is a good idea, don't build in a desert. The entire UAE is effectively one giant ecological disaster

[@AL-lh2ht]

@@ageoflove1980 guys big mad they dared to invest in their own county.

[@ageoflove1980]

@@AL-lh2ht Exactly. While they could have invested in the world, like Norway for example. They own the largest souvereign wealth fund on the planet worth $1.4 trillion. Take a look at Oslo, not a single skyscraper in sight. Their entire country runs on renewable energy and their GDP per Capita is twice that of the UAE. Megalomania and arrogance, thats what it is, trowing all that money at some godforsaken desert. They could have done great things with that money but all they have to show for it is some dystopian parody of a city thats so expensive and ineffecient that its impossible to sustain when all that oil money runs out. And by then it will all be claimed by the sands like nothing ever happened. A darn shame is what I call it.

[@TalesOfWar]

I remember seeing something about this years ago before they started buliding it, and the first thing I wondered was where is the public transport? "Pods" are just glorified taxi's, nothing big scale. Nice to see the worlds super rich still don't quite get the concept of mass transit even today. Some thing never change.

[@RealityCheck6969]

Let's build cities in the desert. What can go wrong...

[@Damons-Old-Soul]

There are two philosophies to creating product for people. The first is to create an ideal that exists in the creator's mind, advertise how amazing it is and refuse to offer any options outside that initial ideal. The second focuses more on making sure the creation is useable for it's intended (as advertised) purpose. Offering options to make it more personal is there from the beginning and grow as production is able to ramp up. Most cities planned and built before people move in, are the first. They go with: *You will like this and will never complain!* as their way of handling all of it. These are "Form over Function", where looks matter and only looks matter.

[@Woody2132]

You could start another channel dedicated to Middle Eastern failed projects

[@craigpridemore7566]

As soon as I heard 'water saving sinks', I said, "OH CA USA in miniature!" The death knell of any product is a sticker saying "California emissions approved".

[@sachathibault9002]

I really love your work but you would really win to go a little just alittle slower. Let us intergrate the information for god sake. Real good work bud!

[@BKKfreak]

If you're using your phone, look at the settings icon in the top right screen. You can change the speed of the playback

[@Justan669]

Imagine building entire cities and then complain they aren't getting filled up when there are literally millions of refugees all around you... Its like dying of thirst in a boat on a lake

[@knoll9812]

They don't accept refugees.

[@TheHikeChoseMe]

sshhhh they want the 'refugees' to infiltrate the EU to take over. and they are succeeding.

[@donbilligatti3004]

Oil dependent economy making a “Zero carbon” city. The irony…

[@Yakyak89]

Um what? I challenge you to name any economy that is not oil dependent

[@HanaThyregod]

Well, one goes with the other. They know they’re oil-dependent, and they know it’s a finite resource. So they are taking measures to extend their existence past the end of said finite resource. At least they’re also trying to compensate for their obvious impact (though there are also many sources out there questioning the legitimacy of various carbon footprint mitigation strategies). It would be pretty terrible of them to run the oil machine at full blast until the last drop is siphoned out before considering their next steps.

[@vadim.ka96]

@@Yakyak89 Ireland

[@Shuizid]

@@Yakyak89 I think he meant "oil export" dependant. Whereas industrialized nations are dependant on oil, many technologies could be switched to other energy sources.

[@No1ANTAGON1ST]

Not the greatest irony. Just means they mean to change. Most countries do. Renuable energy is just that, renuable.

[@schemage2210]

You know, I really don't call 50k population a "city".... The suburb that I live in, in Australia, has 60k, and we are by no means a dense or overly populated area.

[@kidShibuya]

0:53 lol scared the carp out of me, thought it was thunder! Guess my sub is doing a good job...

[@Rene-uz3eb]

When you're already in an underpopulated/new area, individual lonely pods for transportation are probably not the best idea, instead of trains

[@UncommonSense1776]

How much carbon was “used” to build what they have?

[@willdreon9558]

All of it.

[@THEOGGUNSHOW]

I've seen this content covered once or twice before, but you did an exceptional 👏 👌 job as always 👏.

[@Bokeh-Okeh-Studios]

How does one man make so much content. He must have a clone 10 channels lol

[@DaveSlate-q9x]

I think in a few years each channel will start to end until there's one channel left and then we find out that Simon has always been Chatgpt.

[@alyasfukename3355]

I'm pretty sure he's just the face of the channels. He's got a good voice and presence but I think a team does the research and scripts/editing

[@jonathanperry8331]

He has writers for different channels. Simon just reads the scripts.

[@danielled8665]

I'd say he probably sits an 8 hour day 5 days a week or so in a studio, and just gets handed scrips to read. He has a team for script writing, editing, producing, marketing, research, etc.

[@Nathan-vt1jz]

He has a team of writers and editors. Simon does the presentation/script reading.

[@EssensOrAccidens]

People, even with an essentially infinite supply of money, expertise, and labour, cannot even plan a city. The idea that we can plan an entire economy is lunacy.

[@AL-lh2ht]

racist has no idea their "terrible planning" has been incredibly successful.

[@DaveHumphreys]

I was there in 2018 as part of the international launch of the Audi e-tron. It was still very underdeveloped then.

[@Grace-er9ep]

Its sad that to see all these different futuristic cities fail. I think that on the surface the idea of a fully green city is an ambitious and admirable goal but the scale of these projects cause them to run out of money too fast and stifling their progress with large tech expenses. I think a carbon-negative neighborhood is totally achievable with the right location and climate appropriate architecture but I don't see any of these planned cities focusing on that. If we could start out smaller with neighborhoods and financial and industrial districts going as green as possible then I think we'd (humanity as a group) be better prepared for creating working and sustainable green cities

[@kevadu]

These aren't real cities, though. They're vanity projects.

[@knoll9812]

Green cities are possible. However the city must have a purpose

[@brokoryfoods]

These prohects are Hollywood sets. Not real livable cities.

[@AL-lh2ht]

@@kevadu buddy people actually live and there and it was meant to make a profit. Oh it's a "vanity project" because an arab built it? I see.

[@alandean6930]

Not in any way looking for excusing the projects plans, but technology advances so fast ,many of this type of projects are out of date before construction starts. Having to update the plans constantly increases costs dramatically and completion dates have to be moved to suit. On top of this world events also affect the project and budget. 14:09

[@EufemiaOki]

urbanplanadvisor AI fixes this. UAE's "Zero Carbon" City failure

[@dannypeschke9312]

"Each building would be equipped with EXTRACTORS that take humidity from the air and convert it to water for use by the city" so... AIR CONDITIONERS for the buildings and they collect the condensate water.....

[@johno1544]

I would assume more like dehumidifiers. There isnt a whole lot of humidity in the desert to extract though

[@TimSmith-lq7qd]

​@johno1544 I live in uae it's average humidity is about 60% The desert does not affect humidity so much it's the higher airtemp allowing air to hold more moisture and being next to the sea so yea very humid

[@rageshot4352]

The biggest problem with these is trying to build a city, if more of these started small, as like a medium to large town, then allowed to grow with more incentives to live there and allow it to foster communities. They would be alot more likely to grow and florish. Im not a historian, but I'd be willing to bet that most cities were built over time and grown with most of the exceptions that were built, probably being new capitols or something similar that forces habitation by making it so important

[@ekaterinastacey3132]

Lots of places in the UAE, especially in Dubai, are named "cities" but in reality they're just a (relatively small) area or plot of land within an Emirate that is typically developed around a commercial theme and each development should include a mix of residential and commercial buildings, e.g. Sports City, Internet City, Festival City... None of these are cities in the traditional sense; just plots of land with residential /commercial / business / hospitality amenities separated by highways within the city of Dubai.

[@rageshot4352]

@ekaterinastacey3132 That's fair for those. I mainly mean ones where they try to set up a new city away from an existing city with goal populations of over a few hundred thousand into the millions. Like adding a district around the outskirts of a major city and calling it a city is relatively safe, close enough to get workers and businesses from the bigger one and maybe even attract residents if they have residential areas

[@ekaterinastacey3132]

@rageshot4352 I get what you mean. I think traditionally, all cities form out of towns that would themselves be centred around an industry. And I agree, trying to make a city using the "build it and they will come" mentality does not work, but of these cities in the UAE none of them are too far away from any existing populated area. In any case, for many of these types of large developments in the UAE (Saudi is a whole other dreamworld) the urban planning and population projections are seemingly baseless.

[@Automedon2]

That was my thought as well, but there are some cities, like Las Vegas that began a relatively short time ago, around a couple of casinos but are now home to many other industries as well. But, yes, the vast majority of cities did evolve over centuries.

[@Welcome2TheInternet]

It is a small town. Technically it's an economic freezone. There are some freeezones less than 1km squared

[@FrancoisEustache-ed6gd]

In a failed megaproject, the focus must not be on the client that had the idea and paid for his dream city. The focus should be instead on the consultants, architers, engineers and project managers that took the money and didn't deliver.

[@paigelore]

UAE projects remind me of my childhood when my friends and I played Dungeons and Dragons. I would spend days designing these amazing maps, towns and dungeons on grid paper. UAE is like that except they seem to forget to finish coloring in the maps and actually playing DnD with someone.

[@vladsnape6408]

'Green' and 'Zero Carbon' are added to project names to facilitate grift, the terms have nothing to do with being environmentally altruistic.

[@robertbrandywine]

Did he say the average summer temperature was 30.6 C (which is pretty mild)? Was he averaging the hot days with the cold desert nights? Temperatures in the summer are usually over 40 C, I think.

[@mackysplace]

If I had a pound for every failed Gulf State megaproject, I'd nearly have enough money to fund my own failed gulf state megaproject.

[@pierrex3226]

The hubris and stupidity of these vanity projects dreamt by people in power because of their blood and not because of their competence, whose parents were camel herders, whose grand parents were camel herders, is endlessly amazing.

[@lobstermash]

The House of Saud weren't exactly camel herders. They were sheiks before the kingdom was established.

[@southernrealist5789]

Those camel herders have done petty well especially in dubai mr superior complex

[@ryanstephen120]

@@lobstermash Sheiks who herded camels and lived in tents. What was there before oil was discovered by the West, and the tech to use it was provided by the West, and the market to buy it was provided by the West, and the Capital to industrialise was provided by...

[@TechnicallyBeige]

And your grand parents were what? Einstein and the Curies? Humans can dream; they always have. The difference in this case is they have the money to throw into their dreams, the way individuals do around the world. Not all dreams succeed, but without them, none of us would have left the cave, let alone made such massive advances in science and technology, so you can go online and try to shame people for their ancestry, obliquely suggesting yours is superior. The hubris and stupidity, indeed.

[@BokoMoko65]

Basically right except for the racism.

[@aalhashmi90]

I visited the city last year, it was not completed, many of the sections were put on hold for the future. The only office i saw there being built was Siemens, i guss it will be their new office in the region.

[@CainXVII]

This sounds a whole lot like a city I designed for a science project in 7th grade

[@pcar928fan]

Simon I like your Saturn MoonSwatch! I have one of those as well. Great video as usual. Very interesting!

[@FRT2]

I visited that place in 2019 when I was in grad school there wasn't much to see in the city, I only remember one of the start ups that worked with AI and children for education , expo 2020 was the big talk back then and all the great projects that would need to be completed before it LOL

[@alexogle8950]

15:22 "...both of which brought building projects to a sudden standstill for several years." Well, I wish someone had told that to the construction firms where I live. Building work was interrupted for a few weeks and then kicked into an even higher gear as investors prepared for coming out the other side.

[@negativeplayer4446]

How is UAE cooler than my country in the summer? 36°? SERIOUSLY? Temps here reaches 40° and above! And I'm in a place with lots of trees!

[@Welcome2TheInternet]

52 degrees here in Sharjah

[@AL-lh2ht]

It gets freezing at night.

[@magic-eric7328]

Decarbonization using non-intermittent alternative energy sources could work for the UAE. The direct normal irradiation in the UAE is sufficient for concentrating solar power. The UAE could also use ocean thermal energy conversion in the Arabian Gulf.

[@AL-lh2ht]

UAE have some of the largest solar farms on earth

[@magic-eric7328]

@@AL-lh2ht What does that have to do with my comment?

[@nkumar1]

Made a green city, nobody lives there, so literally a zero carbon city. Task successfully failed.

[@mahina1963]

Does anyone other than myself smell the sweat of fear in the UAE? They know that their oil is drying up, but trying to throw out even bigger and more ridiculous projects is the quick move to disaster.

[@ekaterinastacey3132]

The effort to diversify away from an oil backed economy has been in the works for decades - they know what they're doing and they're well on their way to be switching to nuclear energy in the near future. The UAE had also been branding itself as pushing boundaries and being experimental for years now, which they definitely also live up to! The Spirit of Dubai poem that was a commercial released some time ago and played on Emirates Airlines is actually brilliant and this line sums it up well: "...the voice in your head answering every whispering "what if?" with a roaring "why not?"..." and that is exactly it. We may gasp at the budgets of these over-ambitious and whimsical projects, but the possibility of failure in the name of innovating something that either sticks or astounds, even if for a while, is already baked in.

[@km356khalifa7]

The uae dosent have fear of losing oil because they know they will lose it and they also know when they will lose there oil the big projects are away to move away from oil and that’s working wonders for them

[@jameshackett9992]

One thing people over look is that in the ME the sky is brown from all the sand in atmosphere only the coast had clear blue skis or when it rains not often, but they to hire loads of people with squigues to clean the solar panels covered in sand or been a braided by the sand strips paints off cars unless you spray coat a protective film

[@getnohappy]

Ah a gulf state mega project, because just burning money is frowned upon

[@AL-lh2ht]

The majority of UAE's projects were successful

[@Welcome2TheInternet]

@@AL-lh2ht Except the drainage project. Kind of a big one that.

[@AL-lh2ht]

@@Welcome2TheInternet They did not have a real drainage system beforehand. they basically never get rain. they are building massive one now.

[@goffe2282]

Tech bros who go for pods rather than busses, trams, or subways..... ffs.

[@barryon8706]

Security, for one. The new York City subways 2.5% of New York City's violent crimes happen on their subway.

[@hermes667]

The UAE announced a lot of mega projects, but we have seen little done. It is the typical attitude in this part of the world.

[@AL-lh2ht]

dude you have done zero research if you have no idea the mega projects they have finished.

[@nousernamesarevalid]

I never understood why places like the Middle East didn’t create underground cities. Then, they could create above grown green spaces. That could be walkable and energy efficient.

[@AL-lh2ht]

because it would be incredibly dumb for many reasons.

[@peanutboxes4076]

They have ruins of ancient underground cities in Turkey (two actually, one is 18 stories deep!), and old tunnel systems are being discovered everywhere these days. I would think that it’s not possible in the desert because you can’t dig tunnels in sand. They’d need rocky and earthy environments.

[@nousernamesarevalid]

@ I know, but I don’t know of any modern ones. The heat in many middle eastern countries is something that needs to be escaped from. Yet, the new trend is to build higher. And they’re not building higher like Shibam in a way that insulates them from the heat. I just imagine all the money they’re spending on new cities, they should be so much more innovative.

[@timberwolfe1645]

22 BILLION for 50k residents?!?!?! Give ME that kind of money and i will.do it for HALF THAT!!!

[@latenighter1965]

You stated about their carbon output is so much, yet when you stated that over those years it "stayed the same" is actually a HUGE reduction in carbon. If you have 200 million people and produce *** in carbon for them, that would mean doubling the population would double the carbon output, yet you stated its the same. Thats a huge reduction, supplying more people with the same amount of waste and carbon is better for the world in the end.

[@leahsdreams]

I would like to think once it becomes more viable as an actual suburb, they might be able to renew their ambitions to net-zero...

[@EarthScienceTV]

I guess the road to a sustainable future has more bumps than expected, especially when you're building that road in the middle of oil country. 🛣🌍

[@Derotrox]

Bro, all this fancy technology... just imagine this "city" in 50 years. 80% of all the cool tech will be non functional, squeaking garbage. And also this looks like the most extreme money sink ever, if you wanted to maintain all of this to stay in pristine condition. Just... the person responsible for maintenance alone is a nightmare, because you cant just hire any Joe for a janitor job. You'd need an extensively trainer "technician-janitor". And whenever that guy quits then the new hireling would have to go through four weeks of intense training just to do their job. Like I said, the most extreme money sink ever. Wouldnt wanna be mayor for that place.

[@recoil53]

No, you need janitors and you need technicians. These are separate functions, just like any regular buildings. The janitors don't maintain the HVAC or the lights. They just clean up. The various technicians just clean up after their own work. A planned tech-city needs to be modular though.

[@endjfcar]

Planned city does not just sit there in its current state. South Korea is full of planned cities and it's constantly changing all the time. It maybe a foriegn concept for those who live in buildings that are 50 years old, but for us we know how to live in 21st century.

[@krtcampbell9007]

The globe and the palm in the middle east are also lesson on what not to do to build a life of extravagant luxury in the desert. But now they have the line or neom or what ever to throw there money at for vanity sake hahahah

[@beebtv]

IF you're building a city in a desert region that's extremely hot, perhaps the transportation system could be constructed underground. Airports have had people mover walkways for decades. If you want folks to travel without vehicles, this idea would at least have provided a cooler shaded way to do so.

[@M----S]

This guy talks non stop without any filtering

[@sparking023]

Gotta love how while most people create simulations and concepts of lower emission planning, these countries have enough money to throw around and see if it works IRL.

[@halitosis75]

I hope AD achieves completion soon. What a wonderful initiative ❤

[@13thravenpurple94]

Excellent video 👍 Thank you 💜

[@freedbyhisgrace9075]

Seemingly, "zero carbon" would negate humans or any other life form from living there, since all life forms are carbon based.

[@iambicpentakill971]

I feel like the direct flight path over the neighborhood should have been talked about a little more, because that is a huge impediment to wanting to live there, depending on how low the planes are at that point

[@timeliebe]

It sounds like Walt Disney's original idea for EPCOT, right down to keeping the cars off the main levels and walking or using public transit to get residents everywhere.

[@stefaniaponitz5738]

Such a shame that all these projects aren't living up to their expectations.

[@AL-lh2ht]

most of their projects are successful.

[@stoneymcneal2458]

If you construct an urban center that manages to reflect heat through innovative design structures, where will all of that heat end up?

[@lonnarheaj]

Does anybody who is obsessed with the futile attempt to control global weather know what plants must have to survive? Hint: CO2. Reminder: plants give us OXYGEN in the process. Conserving water in a vast desert is a bit of a "duh," but it looks like this project pretty much failed on all counts.

[@Seeker_of_sense]

CO2 is good, not bad. It promotes greening of deserts, reduces drying out of the soil and increases agricultural output. We're more likely to have too little CO2 than too much.

[@profwaldone]

I think a major problem isnt the district but the rest of the city. Living there means you are always a prt + car ride from everywhere. Even the airport which is 5 minuts away, from the carpark. You cant take the prt or some actual mass stransport. So you end up with all the downsides od carcentricness without any of the advantages of having a car eaaly avlible. If they made this place a node in a network of raillines all over the city, making car free commutes easy, it would boom imidietly. These project never see the whole picture, and if they do those interdistrict connections which are vital for these projects to succeed are the first to be costcut away.

[@Bio33-lg2bh]

Instead of wasting 150 billion dollars on building the line, Saudi Arabia should have pledged to reforest as much of the country as possible. Food forest could reduce desertification, increase the water table that Saudi farmers are rapidly depleting, and ensure that Saudi Arabia has enough food to feed their people. That would have been much more valuable than a futuristic city.

[@NoMadKid]

I actually adore this project, the architecture is beautiful and the concept is cool. The management and the prices could be better though.

[@abioduna5040]

The temperature in Abu Dhabi in the summer is 46 degrees Celsius not 36.