The Sustainable City Dubai Area Guide
Situated on the Al Qudra road, just behind Arabian Ranches 2, The Sustainable City is the first net zero energy development in Dubai. The community is composed of 500 villas, 89 apartments and a mixed use area consisting of offices, retail, healthcare facilities, a nursery and food and beverage outlets. Apart from periphery roads and car parking areas, the development is a car-free site.
In terms of education, IB continuum Fairgreen International School opens within the community for the 2018/19 school year, and incorporates sustainability and innovation at the heart of its curriculum. Very close by are the more established and highly regarded Ranches Primary School and Jebel Ali School. For pre-school Jebel Ali Village Nursery is also close by.
As a sustainable development The Sustainable City Dubai comes a long way behind the pioneering Masdar City in Abu Dhabi, but focused only on real estate as a development it has caught up fast, so much so that it was Sustainable City, not Masdar City that Leonardo DiCaprio flew into see on his brief, not very ecological flight into Dubai.
The City is very much a commercial venture, proving that capitalism can be a force for good when it comes to sustainable projects. Not only is the concept attractive to investors, but actually its economics, certainly for the likes of solar, now make commercial sense. The project has been developed by Dubai-based Diamond Developers, whose Chief Executive Officer, Faris Saeed, has stated that much of his inspiration for the development came from UC Davis West Village.
Key elements of the City include:
- 500 townhouses and courtyard villas inspired by Dubai’s old Bastakiya district
- 11 natural ‘biodome’ greenhouses, organic farm and individual garden farms for local food production
- 10 MW peak solar production
- Waste water recycling, with segregated drainage for greywater and blackwater
- Biking and shaded jogging trails
- An equestrian centre
As an area to live, feedback is largely positive. People who live there in general like it, enjoy its sense of community, its easiness to get around on foot and bike, and perhaps most importantly feed proud of what their community stands for.
