Plans are underway to build what is being called the "first sustainable city" in the United Arab Emirates. Masdar, which means "the source" in Arabic, will be nearly three square miles large, be walled in, house 50,000 residents and be designed from the ground up to minimize, if not eliminate, emissions and waste. Sound pretty ambitious?

It is, but the architects led by Lord Norman Foster of the United Kingdom are doing everything they can to make the city's lofty goals a reality. Masdar's utilities, such as power, water sanitation, and cooling will all rely on a series of solar collectors and wind towers. No building in the city will be taller than five stories, nor will streets be wider than 10 feet in width (pretty narrow!), but planners are trying to alleviate congestion through the use of a three-tiered transportation design. The bottom tier has a metro that runs to the nearest city, Abu Dhabi; the second tier is for pedestrian traffic only, and the third has a personal rapid transport system that will allow people to travel the city without cars, which aren't allowed.

It is estimated that tens of billions of dollars will be needed to complete the project.

Foster and Partners, via The Register, via TreeHugger