Skills and Knowledge from the HCA
Eco-towns: Dongtan (China)
The challenge for sustainable urban growth
Keywords: Rest of World, Energy, Planning, Housing, Eco-town, Transport, Climate Change
Overview
China is home to two hundred cities with populations equaling or exceeding one million people. In comparison, the United States have nine cities with at least one million people, whilst Europe has less than forty such cities. The Chinese challenge for sustainable urban growth is significant; it is forecast that 200 million more people will move into cities over the next twenty years.
The Chinese government has recently announced plans for five eco-cities, the scale of which is quite different to anything seen in Europe. One of the planned eco-cities will house up to 500,000 people on the currently uninhabited island of Chongming, across the delta from Shanghai. Situated in the Yangtze Delta, Chongming is the largest alluvial island in the world.
Chongming wetlands and tidal flats, known as Dongtan (East Beach), have considerable ecological importance. The wetlands create a buffer for tidal surges and provide a wildlife sanctuary; they also act as a staging post for migratory birds. In recent years the increasing change in land use, land reclamation on Chongming and the growth of Shanghai has led to some conflicts with environmentalists. As a result, the delicate nature of the Dongtan wetlands and the neighbouring Ramsar site has been one of the driving factors of the city's design.
According to Qiu Baoxing, China's Vice-Minister of Construction, this may be China's last chance to get urbanisation right: “if China chooses the wrong [urbanisation] model it will [impact on] the entire world” (Normile, 2008).
Background
The Eco City masterplan
The Chinese government intends Dongtan to be a demonstration eco-city and has appointed engineering consultancy ARUP to design it. It is being developed by Shanghai Industrial Investment Corporation (SIIC) with the backing of the Mayor of Shanghai. The financing for the project is expected to be announced in 2008.
Dongtan from the Yangtze river
The island will be linked to the mainland by an 18-mile long bridge and tunnel, which is due for completion in 2009, and which will provide road and rail access between Dongtan and Shanghai.
Compared to a 'business as usual' development model, Dongtan eco-city aims to have:
• a 60% smaller ecological footprint
• a 66% reduction in energy demand
• 40% energy from bio-energy
• 100% renewable energy for in-use buildings & on-site transport
• waste to landfill down by 83%
• almost no carbon emissions
A visitors' centre located close to the energy centre will explain how cities can be sustainable in energy terms. Residents will be provided with information to encourage them to conserve energy by means such as smart metering and financial incentives.
Delivering the Concept
The first phase of Dongtan is planned to be completed by 2010 when the World Expo will held in Shanghai. Its focus will be 'Better Cities Better Life'. By then, Dongtan aims to be housing 5,000 people. Later phases of development will see the city grow to hold a population of around 80,000 by 2020 and up to 500,000 by 2050.
A key focus for the first phase of development is the Dongtan Institute for Sustainability, which will initially be based in Tongji University, Shanghai. It is hoped that the Institute will become one of the world's centres of excellence for examining the connection between the environment and economic performance. Arup has formed a partnership with emissions brokerage CantorCO2e to reduce carbon emissions on this project.
The Impact
Planning for population growth
Dongtan plans to lead other Chinese cities to confront the challenges of rapid urbanisation and population growth, recognising that food consumption, water, travel and freight, energy use and waste management are all intrinsically linked.
Connectivity
Dongtan will provide a combination of cycle-paths, pedestrian routes and varied modes of public transport, with plans to develop innovative technologies such as solar powered water taxis or hydrogen fuel-cell buses. Visitors will park their high-emission cars outside the city and use public transport within it. A rail link adjacent to the city will connect commuters to Shanghai.
Energy
The main priority is to reduce consumption. Buildings will be oriented to make best use of wind and sun and will use high levels of insulation, which will save an estimated 350,000 tons of CO2 emissions a year.
The city aims to run entirely on renewable energy, with an innovative plan to build local cogeneration plants fuelled by rice husks to generate 65 % of energy. A further 30% of the required energy will come from wind and 5% from solar sources. Electricity will also be generated within buildings using photovoltaic cells and micro wind turbines.
The area is currently a wildlife sanctuary and staging post for migratory birds
Waste
Dongtan will recover, recycle and reuse 90% of all waste, with the eventual aim of becoming a zero waste city. There will be no landfill in the city and human sewage will be processed for energy recovery, irrigation and composting.
Ecological Management
The delicate nature of the Dongtan wetlands for migrating birds and wildlife has been one of the driving factors of the city's design. In order to prevent pollutants (light, sound, emissions and water discharges) reaching the adjacent wetland areas, Arup intends to return farming land to a wetland state and thereby creating a 'buffer-zone' (minimum 3.5 kilometres wide) between the city and the mudflats.
It is intended that the city be entirely self-sufficient for its food. Dongtan will use organic farming methods to grow food on farmland within the city boundaries.
Design
Canals, lakes and marinas will permeate the city, providing a variety of recreation and transport opportunities. Buildings will be no more than eight stories high and residents will be no more than seven minutes walk from a local centre or school. To avoid it becoming a 'dormitory town' for people who work in Shanghai, plans have been made to provide plentiful employment opportunities within Dongtan itself.
Good Practice
The New Skills Needed
Arup's team working on the Dongtan project in China is 100-strong and master planning has been ongoing for three years, with construction due to start in early 2009.
Plans for the East Village and East Lake
Skills in demand include:
• building technologies for low energy buildings
• transport technologies
• waste technologies
• water management technologies
• team-building and its multi-disciplinary optimisation
• development of renewable energy technologies
The scale of Chinese cities makes it important to achieve rapid innovation in waste, transport, energy planning and delivery. The eco-city commitment marks an important first step, however the growth of older cities will pose a challenge. As people aspire to larger houses and to own and drive around in cars, energy and CO2 consumption will increase elsewhere and could cancel out the savings made in the eco-cities.
“At Dongtan … they will not only generate all their own power from sun,wind, water, bio fuels and recycled waste - they are also planning double-decker organic farms. In this way, land lost to agriculture through building will be replaced with what they call, rather disappointingly, "plant factories". Super-intensive agriculture plus organic techniques - now there's a challenge. Meanwhile, public transport will be of the zero-emission hydrogen-powered variety while even the air miles clocked up by the design team before it is built are being carbon-offset.: All those flights will result in a new hydro-electric power plant, one hopes of the variety that does not destroy too much wildlife.
Dongtan - which will be well under way by the time the next big WorldExpo takes place in Shanghai in 2010, and which will grow to hold apopulation of half a million by 2050 - will be a high-density city, butone that is resolutely low-rise. Buildings will bristle withvegetation. Wind turbines and solar panels will be everywhere. And thearea is wet, which helps. Dongtan, with all its waterways, will be amodern Venice, the prototype for a further three such new cities in China.”
Peter Head, director, Arup
Reference
Dongtan official website
Arup case study
Arup news item - signing the memorandum of understanding on renewable energy
Arup news - signing the accord to develop more sustainable cities
Arup overview
Cantor CO2e <
Hugh Pearman article
Copyright
The Artist's Impressions of Dongtan shown in this case study are the copyright of Arup
Comment on this case study
Comments (5)
5. I understood from the vice minister that the design team and some local clients ignored that the region was natrual reserve and nothing would be allowed on it. It's nothing to do with the political system, but people just ignore the fundamental policies. This has been used a bad example of new developments by the Ministry.
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J.H - 13 Dec 09, 1:27pm
4. I have three major concerns with the plan and whether it is good practice. Firstly how sustainable the location of Dongtan is given the ecological importance of the wetlands and tidal flats.
Secondly, the extent the plans have been subject to proper consultation and community engagement, particularly given the Chinese political system.
And thirdly, are these ambitious plans going to be implemented.
A recent report (April 2009) stated “Today, almost nothing has been built. Some residents have been moved off the island, many of them becoming cab drivers in bustling Shanghai. Although the project was widely publicized internationally, most locals knew little about it. The political leaders who championed the project were ousted in a corruption scandal, and their successors have allowed construction permits to lapse.” (http://e360.yale.edu/conten t/feature.msp?id=2138)
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Stephen Hewitt - 10 Nov 09, 6:13pm
3. On the same note: will we ever hear about the mistakes such a project will make?
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Rob Longstone - 17 Sep 09, 3:34pm
2. to respond to V Goodstatd- they have to put these people somewhere, so surely better to buid a new eco city that cram them on to exisiting cities? Also your worry about biodiversity is answered by : 'The delicate nature of the Dongtan wetlands for migrating birds and wildlife has been one of the driving factors of the city's design. In order to prevent pollutants (light, sound, emissions and water discharges) reaching the adjacent wetland areas, Arup intends to return farming land to a wetland state and thereby creating a 'buffer-zone' (minimum 3.5 kilometres wide) between the city and the mudflats.'
also I would have some concerns maybe about taking for granted any annoucements from the Chinese Government...
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Agy - 17 Sep 09, 3:26pm
1. I am surprised that this is put a best practice case study since there are such serious questions over the building of this new city and its impacts. Why has it been included in view of these issues re impact on bioiversity, river systems, transport etc?
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V Goodstadt - 21 Mar 09, 8:35am