Guardian Unlimited
British to help China build 'eco-cities'
Frank Kane Sunday November 6, 2005 The Observer
British engineers will this week sign a multi-billion contract with the Chinese authorities to design and build a string of 'eco-cities' - self-sustaining urban centres the size of a large western capital - in the booming country.
Arup, the London-based consulting firm that has already signed up for one such project near Shanghai, will announce it has clinched a deal to extend the concept into a string of cities around China.
The eco-cities are regarded both as a prototype for urban living in over-populated and polluted environments and as a magnet for investment funds into the rapidly growing Chinese economy.
A signing ceremony is expected to take place in Downing Street this week during the state visit of the President of the People's Republic, Hu Jintao. The Shanghai Industrial Investment Company - a partly state-owned corporation quoted on the Hong Kong stock market - will sign on behalf of the Chinese.
Peter Head, the Arup director in charge of the first eco-city, at Dongtan near Shanghai, said: 'We are going to help establish a model of how a sustainable city works, but it must also be a viable financial proposition in the long term to attract international investment.'
The Dongtan development, on an island in the mouth of the Yangtze river near Shanghai, aims to build a city three-quarters the size of Manhattan by 2040. The first phase will accommodate some 50,000 people. It is on target to be open by the time of the Shanghai Expo trade fair in 2010.
Up to four more eco-cities will be built, though exact locations have not yet been revealed. Experts believe that the real challenge will be to build them in China's interior, in regions that have been polluted by heavy industry and depopulated by the movement of millions of Chinese people to the booming Pacific coast.
Head said: 'It is part of a new awareness of the environment by the Chinese government. They realise that with their growing population and economy they have to overcome the problems of environmental pollution and resource depletion.'
The eco-cities are intended to be self-sufficient in energy, water and most food products, with the aim of zero emissions of greenhouse gases in transport systems.
Head said: 'It is no gimmick. It is being led at the highest levels of the Chinese government. They are very committed to developing a new paradigm of economic development.'
One international property group, Dublin-based Treasury, has already signed up with SIIC for a €1 billion investment in the Dongtan project. Arup hopes to announce other investors and give detailed costings of the project by the end of the year.