Innovation for All

I found the article “In Arabian Desert, a Sustainable City Rises” fascinating. It seems to combine all of the basics of the best ideas we have learned about then walls them up and cuts them off from the rest of the world. The underlying tone of the article seemed to imply that this city will only be accessible by the privileged few. I ask,” how is that social innovation?” If the UAE government wants to create a subset of their society as a whole, I don’t believe they can have a hand in choosing who should live in Masdar. This article brought to mind the microcosmic society that is CMU. It is obvious that the culture here is different from that of other universities in the makeup of the student body and their interests. It seems that Masdar will mirror CMU in that it will house only the best and brightest of academia (and their families) for the foreseeable future. How will this gauge the way this city will function once other members of society are introduced? Why not incorporate the wind towers, building angles and solar power into the existing infrastructure to combat the issues of affordable housing? Although these ideas are not new, they are not being utilized to benefit the whole of society. How will the “integrity” of a place such as Masdar be maintained? Abu Dhabi has a shortage of low income housing with housing prices at nearly 5 to 6 times the average yearly salary (http://www.albawaba.com/mena-faces-shortage-35m-affordable-homes-3927810). I don’t see a way that a city such as Masdar will have a benefit to the lower class. Masdar will create an even larger divide between the upper and lower class in Abu Dhabi.