First EcoCity in China Less than Two Years Away
By 2010, China will unveil a modern city powered by 100% renewable resources, capable of growing all of its own food using organic farming methods and recycling all of its waste.
The future city, Dongtan, is growing out of an island at the mouth of the Yangtze River Delta. The unique Ecocity being built on the island is also a creative way to protect the island’s ecologically sensitive wetland environment from China’s fast-paced development.
What will life in China’s first ecocity look like?
A glance at the website of Arup, the company engineering the project, shows all of the fixings imaginable for a modern “EcoTopia.” The company, which also designed Beijing’s “Bird’s Nest” green Olympic Stadium, is putting in place all of the following features:
- Urban design
- Sustainable energy management
- Cultural planning
- Waste management
- Economic and business planning
- Social development
- Sustainable building design
- Landscape design
- Ecology
Arup’s website puts its wishes for Dongtan succinctly enough:
“The development at Dongtan will represent the turning point in China’s frenetic urban growth, incorporating all of the economic, social and environmental principles that combine to reduce the impact on the natural environment and provide a model for future development across China and East Asia.”
Further reading:
Dongtan Ecocity | Arup
Will The Dongtan Development in China Be The World’s First Eco-City? | TreeHugger
Photo source: Ecocity World Summit 2008
Thanks for sharing this info…It’s a great idea! But I’ll believe it when I see it. I wonder how much of this is the Chinese government’s PR machine at work, or if they are really committed to developing these more environmentally responsible communities?
[...] First EcoCity in China Less Than Two Years Away by Gavin Hudson [...]