When you visit Masdar City, “you will see few cars driving around the streets,” says Chris Wan, chief architect working on the project close to Abu Dhabi. “Masdar City is designed to be people-centric rather than carcentric,” he continues. “For internal circulation, we have prioritised walking, and we are also experimenting with hop-on, hopoff autonomous electric vehicles to help people get around.” Inaugurated in 2006, Masdar City provides a vision of what the world could look like if it were to wean itself off oil. Wan explains that the city is largely powered by solar energy farms, including the nearby 100MW Shams array, which, when launched in 2013, was the largest in the world. The urban space is designed to minimise energy use - narrow streets, thick walls and small windows keep out the Arabian heat. With fewer cars on the roads “it is also a safer environment for kids to play”. What is especially remarkable about Masdar City is that it is situated in the UAE, a country whose economy, like many others in the region, has long been dominated by the export of oil (oil exports now comprise around 17 per cent of GDP, down from a high of 60 per cent in 1979). The city's development, which is ongoing, shows it is possible to imagine a world that doesn't run on oil - even in a country that was historically dependent on the stuff. Imagining a world without oil appears especially urgent in 2020. This year has seen a combination of forces come together that have wreaked havoc on oil markets and thrown fuel onto debates about its future. What are the challenges facing oil producers, how significant will these issues be, and how is the industry adapting?.