IELTS Research Reports

Anthony Green and Roger Hawkeyheat gets to them, they will never be more than 500 feet from a public transportation network that putstraditional buses and subways to shame. Small electric vehicles, guided in part by magnets embeddedin the road, will act as driverless taxicabs serving 83 stations situated throughout the roughly2.5-square-mile city. Meanwhile, two electric rail systems will connect Madsar to the outside, carbonpollutingworld.The Madsar project was announced in 2006, and development is already in full swing; much of thefinancing is coming from the emirate of Abu Dhabi, which committed $15 billion. Developers have seta goal of sustaining 55,000 residents and visitors by 2013, with the first section of the city scheduled toopen next year.Future City LondonAn old industrial site gets a green makeoverA In 2006 London produced eight percent of the United Kingdom’s 560.6 million tonsof carbon emissions, 70 percent of it from residential sources. In response, the city hasdeveloped an ambitious long-term plan known as the Mayor’s Energy Strategy, whichcalls for, among other things, the establishment of one zero-carbon community in each ofthe city’s 32 boroughs by 2010.B A prototype is planned for a three-acre area on the Royal Albert Dock. Called GallionsPark, it will be a sustainable community with at least 200 residential units. What makesthis site important for other cities attempting to shrink their carbon footprint is thatthe dock area is land that was previously used by industry. Many upcoming eco-citiesare being built on virgin land; success at Gallions Park would open other abandonedindustrial sites to similar development possibilities.C While the Gallions Park development includes several earth-friendly features, such ascommunity greenhouses, a key element of the zero-carbon strategy will be a combinedheat and power (CHP) plant to generate electricity and provide hot water. The CHP plantwill use biomass, such as wood, for fuel. The community’s buildings will also createrenewable energy through roof-mounted wind turbines and solar technology that convertslight into electricity.D A budget has not yet been released by the developer, but the planning application forGallions Park was filed in July, and construction is expected to begin by early 2009.Future City DongtanChina watches over every drop of waterE On a small, thinly populated island about 14 miles off the coast of Shanghai, a city isrising that could spell salvation for the 1 billion people expected to live in China’s urbanareas by 2045. Like several other planned cities, Dongtan will showcase an array ofeco-friendly technologies such as wind power and zero-emission vehicles, but its mostimportant innovation may be that it is designed to consume 43 percent less water thana conventional city. If Dongtan succeeds, many of its technologies will be employed inother cities in China.F Access to water has become a critical issue for much of the world. The United Nationsestimates that by 2025, 1.8 billion people will live in regions where drinking water is346 www.ielts.org