China is teaming up with Singapore in designing and developing a new Eco-City located in Tianjin, China. The 30 square kilometre Eco-city is based on a concept of 3-harmonies -- man living in harmony with man in the present and future generations; man living in harmony with economic activities; and man living in harmony with the environment.
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| (Yoneda, Y., 2011) |
What are the green features of Tianjin Eco-City?
Energy Efficiency and Use of Clean, Renewable Energy
Eco-city will make use of the latest sustainable technologies such as solar power and wind power.
Green Buildings
The city will be divided into 7 distinct sectors -- a Lifescape, an Eco-Valley, a Solarscape, an Urbanscape, a Windscape, an Earthscape and Eco-Corridors.
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| The Urbanscape will promote the compact and multilayered Eco-City, featuring stacked buildings interconnected by sky-bridges at multiple levels to make efficient use of vertical space (Yoneda, Y., 2011) |
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| The Lifescape consist of a series of soil-topped mounds surrounded by greenery that will counteract with the towering apartment buildings in other sectors (Yoneda, Y., 2011). |
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| The Earthscape is the suburb of the city, with stepped architecture that will maximize public green space (Yoneda, Y., 2011) |
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| The Windscape will transform Qingtuozi, a century-old village surrounded by a small lake, into a public sphere for citizens to relax, socialize and recreate (Yoneda, Y., 2011) |
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| Public green spaces as as the Eco-corridors that will be developed throughout the city (Yoneda, Y., 2011) |
Green Transportation
The 30 square kilometre city is built just 10 minutes away from the business parks at the Tianjin Economic-Development Area making commute trips easy with advanced light rail transit system. Green trips such as the use of public transportation, cycling and walking will be promoted within the city. The target is at lest 90% of the trips made within the city are green trips!
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| Light rail system underground throughout the Eco-City promoting public transportation (Yoneda, Y., 2011) |
Water Management
The low rainfall region of the city location may create issues. To overcome this, the Eco-city will draw a significant part of its water supply from desalinated seawater, rainwater recycling and recycled wastewater to reduce stress for water from rivers flowing through. Tap water will also be potable and up to international standards.
Waste Management
The "3Rs" -- Reduce, Reuse, Recycle -- will be promoted and adapted by residents in the Eco-city. Non-organic waste will be recycles and reused, while organic waste will be used as biomass for energy.
What's the timeframe?
The start-up phase of the project (3 sq km) is expected to be complete by 2013. The entire 30 sq km should be completed around 2020 with a projected population of 350,000 people.
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| (Yoneda, Y., 2011) |
Many countries worldwide, including New Zealand, have developed Eco-cities or Eco-suburbs in order to move towards sustainable development and sustainable living. Tianjin Eco-City is China's move towards sustainable living that allows its citizens to live in harmony with the nature as well as exercising inter-generational equity.
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