Despite its claim to promote sustainable urban development practices, the world’s largest, disposable Expo invites irony and criticism. The first ever world fair took place in 1851 at Prince Albert’s behest. That fair was initiated to display participating nations’ industrial prowess. The tradition continues with ever-increasing largesse, culminating in this year’s World Expo that officially […]
A real estate scandal in Jerusalem reveals Israel’s government’s dangerous stance on the privatization of land development, and use of open spaces, Yosef argues. As the Israeli press reveals one new real estate scandal after another including but not limited to the Holyland complex in Jerusalem, the ease with which “developers” were able to purchase […]
Is Masdar City a beacon for Middle Eastern development? It may take another 10 years to find out. We have been skeptical of Masdar City and Foster+Partners, the architects responsible for the emergent eco-city’s design, but BBC reporter Tom Reap’s recent article paints a compelling portrait of this dubious venture. Although projected building costs are […]
Is it really sensible to squish one million people into this self-sustaining city/building? Like many of Dubai’s projects The World, which will exacerbate shoreline erosion and habitat loss, and Burj Dabai, reputedly the world’s tallest building, are flashy and expensive. They are also divorced from the United Arab Emirates’ environmental hazards such as scant freshwater […]
Habitat ’67 was a model for sustainable village living, in the city. Based on the model city Haifa, does it translate to the Middle East today? We recently profiled Moshe Safdie’s LEED certified Peace Building as a call to bring more sustainable building to the Middle East. In it, we briefly mentioned Habitat, Safdie’s debut […]
The Dubai municipality seeks to increase the emirate’s green areas by 4% by the end of next year, including new public parks and additional landscaping, ArabianBusiness.com reported today. According to municipality officials, there is currently the equivalent of 13.18 square meters of green space per capita in Dubai. The aim is to nearly double this figure and […]
In a press conference this week, the CEO of Energy City Qatar (ECQ), Hesham al-Emadi, expressed confidence that the $2.6 billion project will be completed by 2012, despite some delays last year due to the economic downturn and rising cost of raw materials, the Qatari Tribune reported. ECQ is touted as the Middle East’s first […]
Karen ponders the possibilities of a new social idea to help the homeless and the environment. Walking down the street this morning, watching a homeless man rummage through the trash for recyclable bottles and cans, I had a dream. A dream of an organization that helps the homeless while helping the environment. A dream of […]
Sewage on the streets of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, left more than 120 dead and questions about the country’s green credibility very much open to debate. Photo: Reuters. We’ve covered the recent Hajj 2009 to Mecca in Saudi Arabia and the Saudi Abrabian government’s desire to make future Hajj pilgrimages more environmentally friendly. All these efforts may […]
An ancient mosaic recently uncovered in the mixed city of Lod: Stigmatized as a crime infested, religiously divided city, residents of Lod have launched a grass-roots effort to change the face of the ancient city at the heart of Israel. Mention Lod to anyone in Israel and more often than not it conjures up images […]
Jennifer C. Daniels is a visionary and artist in Florida who poses a good question for the world today — can farms and cities intersect in this modern world? Much of what she discusses applies to life in the Middle East as well. “The increase of population – a strong argument for urban living – […]
An art collective in Tel Aviv has built a new library in a park for migrant workers, making the city more sustainable. Green architects and urban planning experts will like this new community project in Tel Aviv. It’s got green written all over it because this new library (set up in a park where refugees […]
Green Prophet had reported on Rawabi (for Hills), the first “planned” city for Palestinians back in 2007; We are not sure if the Israeli or American urban-style mortgage model is the one to follow for a sustainable community (as Daniella asks in her article about Palestinian malls). Now Felice Friedson editor of The Media Line, […]
Proposed vertical farms like this one in Dubai may be the only way for supplying food to Middle East countries. Dickson D. Despommier is a professor of public health at Columbia University in New York, and if he gets his way, the future will be full of “vertical farms’ (a farm on every floor) in […]
The 2010 World Future Energy Summit (WFES) is less than three months away; and plans are already underway to ensure that this conference will be even more successful than WFES 2009, which drew more than 18,200 visitors from 84 countries. Hosted by Abu Dhabi’s Masdar Future Energy Company, the main themes of the 2010 Summit […]