Senior Saudi officials were due to meet Japanese architecture firm Nikken Sekkei in late February to discuss its ‘Cool City’ concept.

Fadi Jabri, general manager of Nikken Sekkei in Dubai, declined to reveal which economic city it is holding talks with, but says it could reduce energy use by 60 per cent.

The concept will identify ways to reduce CO2 emissions by using technologies that have been successfully tested in Japan.

Jabri says that unlike Abu Dhabi’s Masdar City, the plans use existing technology rather than developing new ones.

“This is different,” he says. “Masdar is a long-term state initiative to create a venue for future technologies. We are concerned with the introduction of more practical and tested technologies.”