Masdar, a Green City in the Heart of the Desert
Sustainability and “green” business practices are an essential part of Globalization Partners International’s (GPI) company values. We strive to protect our planet, and to do what we can to ensure a healthy environment for the next generation. In fact, we teamed up with Live Earth, a part of the SOS campaign, to localize select web pages and a series of documents for their 2007 Live Earth Concert series. These broadcast concerts brought together 100 music artists and 2 billion people to raise awareness of the climate crisis. You can read about the project further with this case study, https://www.globalizationpartners.com/resources/live-earth/.
As a team member and an advocate for climate protection, I would like to highlight and praise a place that is taking unprecedented steps to create an entirely green, sustainable city, Masdar.
Abu Dhabi’s Green City
Masdar, or “the source” in Arabic, is like an oasis in the desert. This new city project in Abu Dhabi, the leading oil emirate in the United Arab Emirates, began in 2008. Masdar is located in the middle of the Persian Gulf, which presents many challenges.
One major challenge is the climate. Environmental temperatures can reach up to 55°C (131°F) in summer, north silted winds sometimes blow more than 80km per hour (50 mph) and there is a scarcity of natural resources, vegetation and water.
Conceived and designed as a “100% green city,” Masdar is intended to accommodate 50,000 people over 2.32 square miles of land.
A Social and Economic Change
This challenging project is an economic and social paradox. Although the economy is based primarily on revenues from oil and gas, its leaders know that these non-renewable resources are running out very quickly. The plan to become an expert of renewable energy technologies in a few years is a cornerstone of the key strategies of the country’s economic transition.
As Nick Brown, responsible for sustainable development of Masdar, stated “there must be a balance between these three elements: people, planet and profits. This is how the government sees the definition of the environment in the United Arab Emirates.”
The decision to build this model city is also a social paradox. As a student at the new 100% sustainable university of the green city commented, “At first I thought I was not going to survive in that city. Because in this part of the world the idea of recycling is very new, and having a green way of life is becoming more and more important due to the efforts deployed by the government to encourage citizens to take action and protect the environment.”
In a country known for its high standard lifestyle, the city of Masdar appears to be an open door for a revolution of better actions towards raising awareness of how to protect the environment.
A Truly Ecological City
It will not take long to convince any visitor of the 100% green features of this city. The evidence supporting this fact can be seen everywhere. A construction site which insists on recycling all waste, the great sustainable architecture, and the technological innovations in clean energy supply are a few examples.
These are some of the comments people made about living or working in Masdar:
“Masdar city is more like a laboratory.”
“I think it is offering technological innovations to the planet.”
“It is a completely different and new approach to the future when we will all learn to live in a city like Masdar.”
“It is a crucial first step towards sustainable development.”
Recycling and conservation are vital pieces of the strategy to keep our planet healthy. GPI utilizes near 100% paperless workflows for Electronic Document Management and Storage, Digital Content Management, and in performing services for our clients. GPI’s Office/SOHO Policies include an “environmentally preferable paper policy” combined with a paper saving and recycling program, and we are active participants and adopters of national and international eCommute & Telework initiatives. If 10% of the nation’s workforce tele-commuted one day a week, we would avoid the frustration of driving 24.4 million miles, we’d breathe air with 12,963 tons less air pollution, and we’d conserve more than 1.2 million gallons of fuel each week. (www.homeworkers.org).
Conclusion
Final completion of the city of Masdar is scheduled by the end of 2030. We should remain vigilant towards sustainable actions for the future, raising awareness, taking action and being part of that change of culture, attitude, and mentality towards a more sustainable way of life, which is the key to preserving our Earth.
GPI prides itself on providing its services and operating in an environmentally responsible and progressive manner. Since its inception, GPI has employed an array of environmentally responsible business practices as well as developed an expertise in providing our translation services to companies in the environmental products and services fields.
Additional Information on GPI’s Environmental Practices
GPI has translation teams with expertise in translating content in a multitude of environmental products and services’ fields, including:
- New & Renewable Energy Technologies
- Power Generation & Energy Efficiency
- Water & Waste Water Treatment
- Waste Management & Recycling
- Clean-Up & Soil Rehabilitation
- Air & Noise Pollution Control
Whether targeting the US Hispanic Market for sustainable home building products and needing Spanish language brochures, or wanting your website or manuals localized in Chinese in order to sell into the enormous and emerging Chinese consumer market for environmental products and services, GPI’s expertise in these important and complex fields will ensure you are successful in global markets.
GPI’s Services for Arabic Localization and Arabic SEO
Globalization Partners International (GPI) has done extensive work with Arabic localization, including massive, scalable websites in Dubai. Other projects have extended into Arabic SEO and PPC keywords for Ramadan promotions for major resorts in the Arab Gulf region.
We have posted a number of useful guides to best practices in this area. Feel free to review our blogs that are particularly relevant:
