Dongtan dreaming

Imagine: you wake up and can walk your kids to school through some of the greenest fields you will ever see. Work is just a short cycle ride away. Food is fresh and grown locally and an abundance of wildlife is forever present. You can even breathe in clean air, there are no gas-guzzling cars to dodge and recycling is a way of life. This is not just a dream, this is how people in Dongtan, China, could be living in just five years.

Yes, you read that correctly. You might not even have heard of the city but it’s only a matter of time before it becomes as well known as neighbouring Shanghai. China hopes to show off the first phase of Dongtan in 2010, when Shanghai hosts the World Expo. Planning permission for this so-called “eco-city” could be granted within a year.

The multi-billion pound venture on a grand and green scale is being spearheaded by Shanghai Industrial Investment Corporation (SIIC). If planning permission is granted the country will embark on a sustainability project that, many believe, is like no other in size or in cost.

Gary Freedman of Ecotricity, an independent electricity company that invests in clean forms of power such as wind energy, says he has heard of nothing like it. “There are microscopic examples of it in London and there are examples of sustainable initiatives in every city. Everyone talks about doing something like this, but no one actually does it.”

Taunton-on-Yangtze

One project actually “doing it” (but not on the same scale) is nearing completion at Great Bow Yard in Langport near Taunton. This project, run by South West Eco-Homes, aims to show sustainable design and construction in practice in 12 homes. Features include natural and locally sourced materials such as timber frames, energy-efficient design and water saving devices like rainwater harvesting.

The venture also aims to show planners, builders and developers this type of scheme is practical, demanded by buyers and commercially successful. Already half of the homes have been sold.

Needless to say, China’s version dwarfs this project. The cost of shaping and building Dongtan will run into multiples of billions, according to Arup who is in charge of masterplanning the project. Experts who gathered at an urban conference in Shanghai in the summer believe this venture is unprecedented. Arup director Peter Head adds: “This is the first time someone has embarked on a project of this size in the world. You have to go to the site to realise the responsibility, the scale and importance of it and its relation in global terms. The responsibility of getting this right is substantial.”

So why embark on such an ambitious plan now? For years, China has waged a ruthless campaign of economic transformation. Well known for its efficiency and speed in putting up world-class buildings, China is also an environmental disaster.

National Geographic depicts a country covered in smog and grim statistics. China has 16 of the 20 most polluted cities in the world and the unenviable accolade of being the second largest emitter of carbon dioxide, after the USA. American environmental group the Worldwatch Institute claims China is threatening to deplete the world’s resources. “China is becoming the sucking force, taking raw materials from across the planet, because it alone doesn’t have the resources it needs to sustain its growth.”

This year, however, Premier Wen Jiabao declared China could no longer develop unsustainably. Publicly, the country is on a mission. It is developing wind and solar generation and is also expected to be the largest constructor of nuclear power plants in the coming decades. What this project highlights is a country attempting to change its ways. It has to.

Manhattan transfer

Dongtan is situated at the mouth of the Yangtze river and is China’s third largest Island. The area is picture-postcard beautiful with a natural environment and vast wetlands of global importance that need to be protected. The area to be transformed is 88km2, roughly the size of Manhattan. At least 500,000 people will live there, about a third of Manhattan’s population. But that’s where the comparisons end. Dongtan will not be packed with people and skyscrapers.

Arup has to come up with not just building a city, but in doing so make sure it doesn’t create huge energy and transport demands or damage the environment.

Phase one will be built in Chongming, an area three times size of the City of London. This must be ready for 2010. Work is already under way on a new road infrastructure that will connect Dongtan to Shanghai mainland in 2009.

For Head, this project is a dream job, which involves meticulous planning. Arup clinched the deal in August after detailed talks with the client and following an international design competition three years ago.

Success will make the city a demonstration project and similar ventures will surely follow. The consequences of failure do not bear thinking about.

You have to go to the site to realise the responsibility, the scale and importance of Dongtan

Peter Head, director, ARUP

Arup must come up with a plan to meet all the project’s strict ecological objectives to get planning permission. It will also suggest land allocation for commercial, residential and other use. As well as producing a document geared at potential investors that ensures anyone joining the project understands what is being achieved and understands the principles of sustainable development.

So how do you do it? Head stresses that the new eco-city has to be a modern Chinese city. In-depth research is continuing to ensure Arup understands Chinese culture and way of life, encompassing everything from how people travel to architectural styles, so that it does not try to impose a western interpretation of how it should be.

It’s no easy task and to ensure the city meets its objectives Arup have engaged a dream team of world-class social, economic and development experts to ensure the city gets the right ingredients. Those already on board include Prof Xiangming Chen, a leading authority on social and economic development, urban designer and former special adviser on strategic planning to the environment secretary Sir Peter Hall and international sustainable cities expert and RIBA fellow Herbert Girardet.

Arup must respect core sustainable values that cover social, environment and economic issues. All need to be present in what Arup calls virtual circles that drive benefits. It sounds jargony, but it actually serves a purpose.

For example, transport, health, air quality and land use all are linked. Make a city compact and you get more vibrant and diverse environments. You also reduce car use, which cuts emission and gets people walking or on their bikes, which makes them fitter, and so on. Voilà. A never-ending circle of benefits.

So this city is being laid out to ensure public transport is just a short walk away. Separate walkways and cycle routes are also being planned as safety measures since China has one of the fastest rising road casualty rates in the world. It also needs the right mix of commercial, leisure and public facilities to ensure that this really is a place that people will want to live and work in.

One of the biggest areas being explored is energy. Talks are continuing but Arup plans to cut energy consumption through good design and efficient means of heating and cooling, including waste heat from other processes and community heating and cooling schemes.

Down on the windfarm

It will also be looking at a mixture of renewable energy resources such as wind power - there are already three wind turbines on site – micro-generation from solar and biomass options using forests and crops (see box). All these methods are all possible and successful examples, such as Bedzed in Sutton, have shown it is possible to use renewables to produce all energy.

The benefits of wind farming in particular are well documented. Over here, proposals are under way to build one of the largest ever wind farms at the Thames Estuary. With 1000Mw it will be able to power up 750,000 homes and have 270 turbines. Head says that Arup plans to make Dongtan buildings much more energy efficient, so that energy used for each household in Dongtan is as low as possible.

Arup will also try to ensure that building Dongtan doesn’t disturb the environment by paying attention to how materials are sourced and how they reach their final destination. There will also be requirements for dealing with materials on sites and spillages. The aim is to give people a good quality of life, so it’s crucial that those working on the development do not pollute it during construction, says Head.

It’s a responsibility that client and Arup take very seriously. Both sides are committed to reducing carbon emissions and plan to offset greenhouse gas emissions caused by involvement on the project, including air travel to and from site.

The project will inevitably go through countless design reviews and workshops. Teamwork is paramount as is joined up thinking with the client and consultant from the start.

Head says: “We’ve already held a successful workshop and are now creating our framework to drive the performance all the way through the project. We will use that as a framework for management of the project all the way through. That itself creates a discipline, so we can constantly go back to those objectives.”

If Arup and the Shanghai Industrial Investment Corporation get this right, the knock-on effect could be huge. Head believes it could establish a new benchmark for the world. To date, no one has had the courage to embark on a project like this. Possibly because the business case of such a project has never been tested.

Head is sure that it can work and is more excited than nervous. He adds: “The end test is that it works for people.” In 2010 the whole world will see if it works.