“Designing a zero-carbon, zero-waste city is more than a challenge but, as a believer in visionary architecture, Foster likes challenges. Following in the footsteps of Buckminster Fuller, he believes in car-less cities where people get around using means of transport that others would see as the stuff of science fiction.”

That’s how Norman Foster recently described the philosophy behind Masdar, the 2.3-sq.-mi. model city being constructed in the desert about 10 miles outside Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

According to
El Economista
, the orange-tinged Spanish-language financial daily, Steve Jobs has tapped Forster + Partners to designed what the paper calls the “City of Apple” on the 150-acre parcel of commercial real estate Apple (AAPL) has accumulated across town from its Cupertino campus at Infinite Loop. (See Apple’s latest Cupertino land grab.)

Jobs is paying extraordinary attention to environmental issues as he designs the future headquarters of his company, the paper has been told. The buildings that will house engineers and the R & D department will “incorporate cutting-edge technology in materials and equipment as well as renewable energy resources,” according to El Economista. All transportation between the buildings will take place through a network of tunnels, keeping surface areas green.

We can’t wait to see the plans.

Via 9to5Mac.

[Follow Philip Elmer-DeWitt on Twitter @philiped]