Desert City Dream
Designs are on the drawing boards for multiple sustainable cities, especially in desert regions. The United Arab Emirates has plans for three of them, with the goal of completing them within a decade. Meanwhile, a billionaire and a world-renowned architect are teaming up to build an “all-green, all-smart city” somewhere in the U.S. Southwest over coming decades — possibly in Arizona. The efforts will face many challenges, says Zhihua Wang, a Fulton Schools associate professor and expert in urban environmental sustainability. In desert regions, securing adequate water resources will be the biggest hurdle, he says. But even if such ventures don’t come to full fruition, Wangs says much can be learned from them.