Dubai is set to suprise us all once again with a self-contained environment where people live the greenest posible life. The Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) has given its permission for the development of a free zone that will be called Food City. The project was offered by Green Concepts Landscape Architects (GCLA), a firm of landscape architects who plan to turn the city sector into a unique self-sufficient metropolis through "the marriage of landscapes and urbanism".
The firm's futuristic urban quarter will include a variety of eco-friendly planning concepts such as vertically stacked landscape surfaces, synthetic roof landscapes, renewable energy systems and aquatic farms, as well as thermal conditioning.
Dubai Food City (a "clustered" city where businesses involved in the same industry are located in one place to make trading and communication much easier) is a $200 million, five million square foot self-contained development, which will be rolled out in four phases, with phase one expected to be completed by 2012. Dubai is already host to several clustered cities including the Dubai International Finance Centre, Internet City, Media City, Knowledge Village, Healthcare City and Humanitarian City.
Presented as an “off-the-grid, self-sufficient metropolis”, Food City is designed to feature green walls, aquatic farms, artifical roof landscapes and renewable energy generation on a previously untried scale. Concentrated solar collectors, towers draped in photovoltaic modules and piezoelectric pads in all pedestrian areas will mean the city will be able to generate all the electicity it needs.
In addition, methane will be extracted from sewage percolation tanks.
To ensure Food City never lacks freshwater, atmospheric water harvesting systems and solar-powered desalination systems are planned. Hydroponic sand will be used in order to reduce water loss and, finally, grey water will be recyled.
According to Farouk Qasim, head of the DCCI Food and Beverage group, Dubai Food City will be aimed at wholesale food merchants. Speaking at a DCCI business event held on the sidelines of the Gulf Seafood Exhibition, Qasim said Food City would be a free zone development able to hold 400-500 companies, and would ideally be next to a seaport as the majority of exports go by sea. "It will make it easier if everything is under one roof, such as inspections for customs, warehousing [and so on]. It will be a one-stop shop," he explained.
Dubai’s free zones are officially “offshore” no-man’s lands — areas that fall outside the UAE’s legal code in order to attract international business.
As the UAE currently imports 90 percent of its food, Dubai Food City will aim to increase food security in the region. "It will make prices more competitive and will allow sufficient stock at any time right on your doorstep, so there will never be a shortage," Qasim said.
Robert Egan, Dubai around 2 years, 8 months ago