Masdar opens its green gates for market

ABU DHABI // Visitors will get a chance to ride in Masdar City's futuristic electric "pod" cars today at its first monthly street fair and organic market.

For many, the "personal rapid transit" system of driverless electric cars that are meant to whisk residents around the city have been a notable feature of Masdar's model for green living.

Shoppers at Market the Masdar Institute and its large electronic library; a 45-metre Teflon-coated wind tower that monitors the community's use of energy; solar-powered air conditioning; and the institute's shaded campus.

Although the city opened last year and houses a few hundred residents, the Market@Masdar is the city's first explicit invitation to the larger UAE community.

The hope, according to Ahmed Baghoum, the director of City Zone in Masdar City, is to excite the community about sustainable living and showcase the project's accomplishments. The event, he added, would have "a street fair atmosphere with a focus on organics and green living".

Mazaara, a shop that sells locally grown organic food, and the Abu Dhabi Organic Farm, the nation's only internationally certified organic farm, will be present, along with other stalls that have a green component.

Children will have the opportunity to plant their own seeds and build a windmill, along with other craft projects. The market runs from 10am-5pm today