1. INsight JUNE 2010
Cities of the Future
by Christian Müller, Senior Underwriter Property Construction
Can you imagine living in a city powered only by solar energy and wind, biofuels
and recycled organic matter? How about riding in a clean-fuel car that navigates
itself or taking a public transport system that runs only on hydrogen fuel cells?
Perhaps your rooftop will be covered in vegetation to provide natural insulation,
fresh air and a higher quality water cycle.
This may sound like some science fiction novel but mega trends such as popula-
tion growth, urban convergence and sustainability are forcing and challenging
urban developers to find new and innovative uses of land, sustainable materials
and efficient operating systems. This too provides a new challenge for insurers
who are used to dealing with risks of fire, wind and floods but must now become
familiar with new building materials and technologies that are part of building
these so called sustainable cities.
The first trend, population growth, plays a large role in the need to fit more and
more people into very small spaces. Half the world’s population currently lives in
urban areas; yet these urban areas make up only 2 percent of the world’s land
(source: Massachusetts Institute of Technology). In addition, the Global Report
on Human Settlements 2009 states that the number of people living in urban
areas will rise to over 70 percent by the year 2050. Most of this growth will be
taking place in developing regions; with Asia hosting 63 percent of the global
urban population or 3.3 billion people by 2050.
The Move to Green Construction
As governments look for ways to adopt green construction codes they will be
putting more pressure on the construction industry to change the way
buildings are designed, constructed and operated to incorporate green practices.
In order to evaluate and carefully examine building materials, many of which
are being used for the first-time, insurers need to work closely with knowledgeable
risk engineers familiar with new technologies. For example, the use of new
International
Cross-section of Masdar City
in Abu Dhabi

2. Cities of the Future
materials for building installation purposes could create a higher final load and
therefore require more careful examination and deeper know-how beyond building
materials that have been used for decades.
That said, cities around the globe including San Francisco in the United States,
Dübendorf in Switzerland and several cities in China are planning to build so
called sustainable developments.
Masdar City – A Vision for the Future
One such example is Masdar City near
Abu Dhabi, the world’s first carbon
neutral city, which exemplifies what is
possible to achieve today in the way
of creating a truly sustainable city. The
6 km2
sustainable development planned
for living, working and education will
reach 56% of its carbon neutrality goal
by using the Swiss Building Design Standard “Minergie” – the current Swiss
standard for using natural healthy construction materials that provide high
comfort and optimal energy efficiency – for new buildings or renovations.
The design of Masdar City is inspired by traditional Arabic architecture and
urban planning. During the day warm desert winds are cooled as they flow
through the green open spaces between the buildings providing refreshing
street ventilation. At night, cool winds enter the traditional wind towers,
a natural cooling system that directs the cool wind to the diagonal orientation
of the streets and public places.
Renewable energy will achieve the next 24% of the carbon neutral city goal.
Extensive use of photovoltaic technology will be used to provide energy during
the construction phase. A variety of panels will be installed on the roofs including
monocrystalline, polycrystalline and thin film. Using these panels allows for
concentrated solar power to be stored for overnight use with molten salt
technology, while excess heat will be diverted to an absorption chiller to
provide site cooling. Evacuated tube collectors integrated into buildings will
provide enough energy to run normal levels of electricity and hot water.
The excess of power can be returned to the national grid.
Water from underground and the sea will be treated for drinking water using
state of the art treatment technologies powered by solar energy. High quality
portable water will be stored ready to use for showers and efficient laundry
systems. Together with rain water it will be used for low-flushing toilets. The
used water will be cleaned and filtered back down underground where the
water circuit will begin again.
Masdar City under construction (left);
the planned portrait upon completion
(right)

3. The next part of Masdar City’s carbon neutrality (12%) is zero waste management,
a process which is already being used in many European countries. This includes
composting bio products that will be used to enrich plantations within the city;
recyclable materials such as glass and paper will be recycled in or close to the
city; and non-recyclable waste will be turned into zero emission waste by sending
it to energy gasification power plants, a new burning system that is able to turn
the gas created from these materials into energy.
Traditional cars and trucks are eliminated within the sustainable development.
Transportation systems based on electric and solar energy will complete the
CO2 neutral system. A light rail transit system could pick you up at the adjacent
Abu Dhabi International Airport, pass through Masdar City and journey further
to central Abu Dhabi. A personal rapid transit system provides a modern taxi
service within the city. There will be enough of these state of the art vehicles at
several stations to take you everywhere within Masdar City.
The use of newer and high quality construction materials can help reduce the risk
of a project because they can better withstand fire and damage. For the fit-out
work, a low combustible material such as Corrux can be used to protect
finished surfaces, which lowers the risk of fire – instead of using old fashioned
high combustible materials such as cardboard, polythene and polyurethane
foam. However, unlike traditional building materials that have been tried and
tested, new building materials require a learning process that only time and
experience working with these materials will tell us.
Innovative Insurance Solutions
Traditionally large construction projects require multiple policies with many
different terms and conditions and a variety of wordings to provide coverage for
each part of a construction project; this can become confusing for the client.
Today we are piloting a Comprehensive Construction Project Policy wording
that provides simpler wording for the client and all parties involved. This is a
complex task due to the potential use of new technologies involved in building
an infrastructure that includes tunnels, residential and commercial buildings,
new lighting in industrial and manufacturing power plants and transport systems.
Masdar City is an inspiration for developed countries on how to develop new
construction and economic models for building sustainable new quarters within
in a city. We are proud to be part of such an innovative and future oriented
construction project.
As the demand and interest in building more sustainable urban developments
increases, there will be a greater need for insurers to increase their flexibility,
capability and knowledge to develop attractive coverage for such projects. We
look forward to providing innovative insurance solutions for cities of the future.
Cities of the Future
Computer generated street scene
of Masdar City
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