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Visions Of Ecopolis by Femtex(m): 7:11pm On Sep 22, 2008
ON AN island at the mouth of China's Yangzi River, plans are afoot to build the city of the future. The first residents will move in within five years. The city will be self-sufficient in energy and water and will generate almost no carbon emissions. Petrol and diesel vehicles will be banned in favour of solar-powered boats and fuel-cell-driven buses. The developers of this "eco-city", called Dongtan, hope that it will come to be seen as a model for the rest of the world: London's mayor, for one, is already inspired by it. Will it work?

The island, Chongming, is a semi-rural county on the northern boundary of Shanghai, China's most populous and crowded city, with a population of more than 9.3m in its main urban area. Shanghai's rapid economic growth in recent years has made land in the city extremely expensive. Chongming, relatively poor and undeveloped compared with the neighbouring city, has long looked ripe for development into yet another expanse of factories and commuter towns. Instead, the city's planners¡ªwith strong backing from China's political leadership¡ªhave decided to turn it into a model of what Shanghai is not. Chongming is to be an eco-friendly island. At its eastern end, on an expanse of reclaimed wetland that is today home to a scattering of farmers and fishermen, the eco-city of Dongtan will rise from the paddy fields, crab ponds and vegetable plots to become home to tens¡ªeventually hundreds¡ªof thousands of people.

Chongming likes to call itself China's third-largest island, though many would no doubt object to that description in independent-minded Taiwan (supposedly the largest island, with the offshore province of Hainan as number two). It is a strip of alluvial silt about 80km (50 miles) long and 17km wide that is home to some 650,000 people. The plan is to turn some of this farmland into forest and to make all agriculture organic. Chongming also hopes to attract low-polluting, high-tech industries. But much of its economy will be generated by "green" tourism. Chongming's forests¡ªall planted, because there is no natural woodland¡ªwill provide a holiday refuge for Shanghai's residents, who have few parks or other open spaces to enjoy. There are also plans for a theme park.

Then there is the wetland. Chongming's fringe of tidal reed-covered mudflats¡ªespecially close to Dongtan¡ªare a haven for birds, including the rare black-faced spoonbill, as they migrate between Australia and Siberia. Last year the central government put the wetland under state protection, although Yu Weidong, an ornithologist at Shanghai Normal University, dryly observes that it took two decades of lobbying to achieve this. Dongtan's planners say they will not only preserve the mudflats, but also create a wildlife park some 4km wide as a buffer along the edge of the wetland¡ª"a placenta where life is to be gestated", according to their brochure. Only one-fifth of Dongtan's 86km2 area is to be urbanised.

It sounds like just the kind of greenness so urgently needed in the rest of China. The country's cities are choked by the exhaust fumes from a burgeoning number of cars, shrouded with dust from countless building sites and soaked with rain turned acidic from coal burnt for power and heating. It is beguiling to imagine that Chongming might become a model for city planners elsewhere in China as they struggle with the fastest urban growth in the country's history. By some estimates, China's urban areas, already home to around 560m people, may well have to accommodate another 300m people by 2020.

The central government, worried about the country's growing reliance on imported fuel and anxious to dispel its image as a super-polluter in the making, has begun to talk enthusiastically about the need for "green GDP" growth. There is hardly a local government that does not talk these days about plans for an eco-village, town or even city. But what they mean by this is vague. The central government fears that issuing clearer instructions could threaten growth and social stability. Officials bicker about how to quantify green GDP. Chongming, with little manufacturing industry that might resent the cost of going green, is seen as a low-risk place to experiment.

Ken Livingstone, London's mayor, is one Chongming enthusiast. During a trip to Shanghai in April, he described the Dongtan project as "breathtaking in scale and ambition" and a potential "beacon to the world on how to achieve a low-carbon future". Mr Livingstone has plans to build a zero-carbon suburb in London, in conjunction with Arup, a British engineering firm that is helping to design Dongtan. The project, in an old industrial area in east London, would be much smaller than Dongtan. But Mr Livingstone has said his plan would show that it is "affordable and achievable to make all major new developments low-carbon."

You can find the rest of the article from the source below

Source:http://english.cri.cn/2946/2006/09/25/199@143278.htm


This is a definitely a good idea to combat global warming, but is this possible?

Will it work?
Re: Visions Of Ecopolis by Femtex(m): 7:16pm On Sep 22, 2008
The sites below shed more light on what the city will become and how they will accomplish that goal

http://www.arcspace.com/exhibitions/dac/dac.html
http://ecocity./ecocityprojects/
Re: Visions Of Ecopolis by blackspade(m): 10:23pm On Sep 22, 2008
China is indeed amazing. The moves they're pulling in this day in age, is what's going to allow China to become the world's wealthiest nation, having almost twice the wealth of the USA. Good for China, European rule over the world economy is soon coming to an end.
Re: Visions Of Ecopolis by Nobody: 10:27am On Sep 23, 2008
This is a definitely a good idea to combat global warming, but is this possible?

Will it work?

Ehhe. . . . nigerian status quo mentality on the move.

I mean, what's the big deal there, have you seen other projects they undertook?
Have you seen the wonderful man-made structures going on in Dubai and how many years it takes them to round up the projects?

Well, your doubt is not surprising as i can still remember how it took a certain south eastern governor 8 years to build a couple of low cost residential building. Worst part of the whole nightmare was that most people saw the micro-mini project as gigantic and a bold move.

@poster

Thanks anyway for reminding nigerians that mediocrity is not an option if they are serous about the shouts of development.
Re: Visions Of Ecopolis by tpia: 2:34pm On Sep 23, 2008
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Re: Visions Of Ecopolis by Nobody: 4:54pm On Sep 23, 2008
So you want me dead this blind patriotic nigerian? Im not surprised though since the plot is coming from you. cool
But if am dead as you wish, who will then remind "all is well" nigerians that they have been sleeping? Who will try waking them up?
Of course, you are not going to do this job since you are busy managing Alhaji's share of the oil money in new zealand. grin
Re: Visions Of Ecopolis by tpia: 5:04pm On Sep 23, 2008
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Re: Visions Of Ecopolis by Nobody: 5:07pm On Sep 23, 2008
Which one is nigerian milk? Or are you talking about chinese imported milk thats all over nigeria?
Re: Visions Of Ecopolis by tpia: 5:09pm On Sep 23, 2008
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Re: Visions Of Ecopolis by Nobody: 5:24pm On Sep 23, 2008
tpia:

you tell me nah.


arent you the one always insisting Nigeria bad anywhere else good.

So why are you scared of Chinese milk?

Are you really sure of what you are saying?
I never said everywhere else is good in everything, i only try to concentrate more on nigeria because her own is worst and unfortunately it happens to be my country. Just trying to wake you guys up. tongue

Was it not this same china that a health boss had his head chopped off for corruption. Can that happen in your ever corrupt nigeria?
I mean if you knew the penalties the chinese milk companies are facing now, you wont be making much noise about the issue. If it was in nigeria, the moment "ghana must go" gets into the trunk of the car; case closed. grin
Re: Visions Of Ecopolis by tpia: 6:32pm On Sep 23, 2008
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Re: Visions Of Ecopolis by Nobody: 7:37pm On Sep 23, 2008
tpia:

of course.

Its very civilized to behead someone for corruption, no doubt. As long as it isnt Nigeria doing the beheading, that makes it ok.

No need to argue this matter- drink Chinese milk. Its good for your health.

Nigeria doesnt have to be your country either. You don't live there, so why your constant headache.

My mistake, the guy was executed but i dont know the means. Even if he was beheaded, its in their law and the government made sure the law took precedence over any VIP unlike nigeria.

This your chinese milk sef. Are you aware that most of the medicine nigerians consume are produced here not to talk of their milk that is every where around the world?

You dont live in nigeria either, so why do you constantly drink panadol for my own headache?

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