China Seeks to Build "World’s First Sustainable City"

 

This is a rough plan showing the first phase of development for Dongtan. Dongtan is on the east end of Chongming Island, the largest alluvial sand-island of any river mouth in China. Dongtan is the biggest wetlands at the mouth of the Changjiang River and its land, water and air are exceptionally clean and unpolluted.

The Shanghai Industrial Investment Corp. (SIIC) has appointed the London-based engineering consulting firm Arup to plan the "world’s first sustainable city" at Dongtan in Shanghai, China.

The challenge is a city with lower energy consumption and "close to being carbon neutral as possible within economic constraints." The first phase is planned to be completed by 2010 when Shanghai hosts the World Expo, including developments with urban and ecological parks. One priority is capturing and purifying water in the landscape to support a city. Community waste management recycling will generate clean energy from organic waste. Combined heat and power systems will provide the technology to source clean and reliable energy.

Dongtan is about three-quarters the size of Manhattan. A road infrastructure is to connect Dongtan to the Shanghai mainland is under construction.

For more info, visit arup.com