At an exhibition this week, I saw a fascinating presentation about Masdar City, a newly planned city in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates.

This yet to be built city is a co-operative initiative between the Government of Abu Dhabi and the Mubadala Development Company, and is designed by British architectual firm Foster + Partners. Masdar is being designed as the most energy efficient, futuristic if you will, city on the planet.

Plans are for the city to be zero-carbon, and zero waste, and cars will not be permitted in the city. (There will however be Passenger Transit Vehicles, as shown in the pi.jpgcture) Solar energy will be the primary power source. There will also be wind farms outside the city's perimetre, and plans include building the world's largest hydrogen plant in conjuction with the project.

Masdar City was initiated in 2006, and is expected to take eight years to build. Numerous sources have stated that the first phase will be habitable sometime in 2009. The city will be home to 50,000 residents once completed, and the project is supported by the World Wildlife Fund.

So if you are looking to travel off the beaten path, to go where nobody else has gone before, you might just have to visit a city that's just being built.