World's first zero-carbon city: Masdar in pictures

A masterplan of Masdar City. It is being built by the Abu Dhabi Future Energy company, a subsidiary of Mubadala Development, with the majority of seed capital provided by the government of Abu Dhabi. Photograph: Foster+Partners

The Teflon-coated wind tower in Masdar City, which shows citizens how much energy the community is consuming Photograph: Ali Haider/EPA

Former US president George W Bush visiting the Masdar Energy Initiative exhibition with Condoleezza Rice, Abu Dhabi's crown prince and a US ambassador in 2009 Photograph: Mandel Ngan/AFP

A model of an upcoming project at Masdar shows a conference centre suspended from the ceiling Photograph: Jumanah El Heloueh/Reuters

Masdar's driverless cats are exhibited at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi, 2009 Photograph: Ali Haider/epa

The headquarters of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), to be located in Masdar City. It will be the first building in history to produce more energy than it consumes Photograph: Tgprn United Arab Emirates/AP

Hillary Clinton visits Masdar city in January Photograph: Karim Sahib/AFP

John Vidal from The Guardian and Ben Webster from The Times visit the experimental solar thermal power plant on the outskirts of Masdar city Photograph: John Vidal for the Guardian

Masdar's Institute of Science and Technology, an offshoot of MIT, now has 167 students and 43 academics working there Photograph: Nigel Young/Foster+Partners

A few hundred people will be guinea pigs in Masdar city, a Big Brother-style 'green policeman' monitoring their energy use. Photograph: ALI HAIDER/EPA

Laura Stupin, a young American engineer and one of the first inhabitants of the city, wrote on her blog: 'The buildings are beautiful here, and they look so different from anything I’ve ever seen, anywhere.' Photograph: John Vidal for the Guardian

A view of the wind tower from the inside Photograph: John Vidal for the Guardian

Phase one of the city is now complete. By 2015, Masdar is expected to house 7,000 residents and 12,000 commuters from Abu Dhabi. Photograph: ALI HAIDER/EPA

Men walk past slatted wood facades that line the interior of the Masdar institute Photograph: Nigel Young/Foster+Partners

A view of residential buildings, left, and the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology Photograph: John Vidal for the Guardian

UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon, left, arrives with Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, assistant minister of foreign affairs and CEO and managing director of Masdar City, for a press conference in January Photograph: Kamran Jebreili/AP

Two of the 10 magnetically controlled driverless vehicles that whiz people the 800 yards from the entrance of the city to the institute Photograph: Kamran Jebreili/AP