As per a report published Tuesday in a UAE national daily, the Masdar City, which was earlier supposed to be completed in 2016, would be completed at least four years later. The Masdar City is seen as the Abu Dhabi's ambitious plan to build a zero-emission, zero-waste, car-free city in the desert.

A Masdar spokesman told the newspaper, "Once phase one is completed in 2013, the remaining six phases will be developed over the next decade. The city is expected to have a critical mass of residents and businesses by 2020."

The newspaper reported that the first phase will be completed by the original 2013 deadline.

At Masdar City's groundbreaking in Jan 2008, 2016 was recommended as the final completion date by the officials; however the newspaper reported that it had been pushed back by at least four years; following the comments of the spokesman.

He told the newspaper, "Masdar is not a typical real estate development and is not bound by similar pressures of fixed completion dates. For Masdar, success will not be measured on the speed with which the city is constructed, but the standards it sets in addressing today's energy and sustainability challenges."

Almost two years ago, when the Masdar was exposed, it was billed as a city whose cooling would be given via concentrated solar power and electricity would be produced by photovoltaic panels.

A powered desalination plant will make the water reach to the six-square-kilometre city. Grey water will help in the landscaping within the city and irrigation of crops outside the city and treated waste water produced by the city's water treatment plant.