Jean-Pierre Langellier and Brice Pedroletti
Imagine it is 2010. The place is Dongtan, the world's first purpose-built eco-city. It stands in the middle of the marshes at the eastern tip of Chongming, China's third-largest island, at the mouth of the Yangtse river.
None of the buildings is more than eight storeys high. Turf and vegetation cover the roofs, a natural form of insulation that also recycles waste water. The town has six times more space for pedestrians than Copenhagen, one of Europe's airiest capitals. Pollution-free buses, powered by fuel cells, run between neighbourhoods. An intranet service forecasts travel times and connects people who want to share a car. Traditional motorbikes are forbidden, replaced by electric scooters or bicycles. The roads are laid out so that walking or cycling to work is quicker than driving.
(This artist's rendering shows what Dongtan Eco City will look like in the future. In planning stages, first phase to be completed in 2010 Developed by the Shanghai Industrial investment Corp., Dongtan Eco City, roughly the size of Manhattan, will be the world's first fully sustainable cosmopolis when completed in 2040. Like Manhattan, it's situated on an island -- the third-largest in China. Located on the Yangtze River, Dongtan is within close proximity of the bustle of Shanghai. Photo: Beijing Evening News/File)
Up to 80% of solid waste is recycled. Organic waste is burned in an incinerator, catering for part of the town's electricity requirements. Other burners consume rice husks, which produce a lot of heat and are plentiful in China. On the outskirts giant windmills, driven by the sea breeze, produce electricity too. Each building is fitted with photovoltaic panels and its own, smaller windmill.
Dongtan stands on the shores of a canal, in the middle of a designated nature reserve with outstanding biodiversity, and is one of the main attractions for visitors to the international Expo in Shanghai. The journey to the metropolis, via a huge bridge and tunnel complex, takes only 45 minutes.
Returning to the present day, the Dongtan project is an attempt to solve an increasingly pressing problem. China has so far given priority to the quantity of construction, but now it must focus on quality. This means a radical change in town planning strategy and a switch to sustainable development, even though the country is in the grip of one of the most spectacular migratory movements in the history of mankind. Between now and 2020 China needs to build 400 new towns - nearly 30 a year - to accommodate more than 300 million people from the countryside. Hence the decision to build a model city on Chongming Island.
The contract for the project was awarded to the Shanghai Industrial Investment Corporation (SIIC) seven years ago. It appointed Arup, a British-based engineering consultancy, to design Dongtan. Arup, which has been working in China for the past 20 years, contributed to the construction of amenities for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. To demonstrate the political significance of the Dongtan scheme, the contract was signed in November at 10 Downing Street in the presence of the British prime minister, Tony Blair, and the visiting Chinese president, Hu Jintao. The Chinese authorities have commissioned two other eco-cities.
It is part of a plan to develop thousands of square kilometres of the mouth of the Yangtse, which includes building a deep-sea harbour for Shanghai 30km out in the East China Sea. This is the biggest single development anywhere in the world.
At present about half a million people live in the district of Chongming, travelling to the outskirts of Shanghai on speedboats and ferries. They occupy two small towns and a myriad of little villages, as yet spared by the building frenzy of neighbouring districts. A motorway, which is often deserted, already crosses the island. Dongtan, which will be built nearby, will have a population of 50,000 to 80,000 by 2010, rising to 500,000 by 2040.
"In 20 years," says Ma Chengliang, the manager of SIIC Dongtan, "the Chinese economy has grown so fas