Masdar was established by the UAE government in 2006 and is a division of Mubadala Development Company. The Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030, a plan that encourages new revenue streams for the Emirate and develops its knowledge-based economic sectors, serves as its compass.

The managers abandoned the company's intentions to finish Masdar City by 2016, which was expected to be the "first zero-carbon city." Masdar City's greenhouse gas emissions are currently nowhere near zero, even at a small portion of its projected footprint, according to a 2016 article from The Guardian. [The city's initial master plan projected 50,000 residents; in reality, there were just 1,300 there in 2020. The new completion date for the city was predicted to be 2030, according to City Lab.