Introduction

Alison Lu: Introduction to characteristics of eco-districts

James Connelly: Policy, indicators and energy consumption

Cecilia Springer: Case study of Sino-Singaporean Tianjin Eco-City and residential demographic

Gavin Lohry: Urban form and the environment: how China’s eco-cities stack up

OVERVIEW OF ECO-DISTRICT CHARACTERISTICS: WHAT DOES THE “ECO-” LABEL MEAN?

Fulbright Research Scholar, Tsinghua UniversityAlison Lu

Eco-District Characteristics

Eco-districts: Eco-cities, Eco-villages, Eco-parks, Low-carbon communities

Sustainable development

1. High-Tech Development Parks

2. Abundant Housing3. Public Transportation

Systems4. Pollution Remediation

and Eco-Tourism

1. High-Tech Development Parks

Research and Development Centers Promotion of Silicon Valley-type of

atmosphere Partnerships with other countries:

Attraction of foreign investment in China

DeZhou “Solar Valley” 德州2007: 800,000 people

employed in solar panel industry (1 out of 3 working-

age)2020 projection: 1,500,000

Home to Himin Group, world’s largest solar hot water heater

manufacturer

The Micro Emission Sun-Moon Mansion

50,000 square feet of solar paneling

Hotel, research facilities, offices, exhibition areas

1. High-Tech Development Parks

Further Questions Silicon Valley comparisons Can every district have the same success? Financial support must be given as an

incentive

2. Abundant Housing

Potential for huge populations

Empty Housing: Misalignment of

interests between citizens, government, city planners, and designers

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200,000

400,000

600,000

800,000

1,000,000

1,200,000

1,400,000

1,600,000

Planned Population

ChengGong 呈贡Branch district off of KunMing

Construction began in 2003Currently: 100,000+ uninhabited

apartmentsEmpty government buildings, shopping malls, offices, etc.

New effort in 2010: Calthorpe Associates to improve sustainability

HuangBaiYu 黄柏峪William McDonough + China-US

Center for Sustainable Development

“Cradle-to-Cradle” Eco-village

Since 2006: 42 out of 400 houses built

Designs were not fit for farming lifestyle

Too expensive

.

2. Abundant Housing

Further Questions Something that only the rich can afford or

only the poor want to move into? How to incentivize people to move out of

cities? Is this even a good idea in the first place?

3. Public Transportation

Low-carbon claims Ease of mobility Outside of city centers: must consider

transportation of people and goods in and out of districts

Hard to predict success in planning stages

4. Pollution Remediation and Eco-Tourism

Ecological aspect of urban planning Remediation: Conflict between

agricultural land and land for development

Eco-Tourism

MeiXi Lake 梅溪湖Designed by Kohn

Pendersen Fox Associates, developed by Gale

International

MeiXi lake: Tourism and transportation:

boat transport linkages .“creates conditions for edge gardens and makes places

for cultural venues.”Man-made lake

.

Summary

“Eco-” can be interpreted in a thousand different ways.

Four Characteristics: thorough planning to make sure that each characteristic is developed in the way that they were intended

The “eco-“ label is something that must be earned, and not given automatically.

EVALUATING ECO-CITIES:POLICIES INDICATORS AND ENERGY CONSUMPTION

LEED AP, Fulbright Research Scholar, Tsinghua University

James Connelly

The Challenge

12th Five year Plan (by 2015): 17% Reduction GDP GHG Emissions 7% Economic Growth 53% Urbanization Rate

More than 100 million to urban residents Urban residents consume 3.5 – 4 times more

energy than rural Compete and win in the green tech race

The Solution?

Eco-Cities and Low Carbon Zones Eco-City’s generally brand new cities Low-Carbon Zones for existing cities All but 2 of China 287 municipalities have

established eco-city or low carbon goals, half have begun construction

National Green Building Action Plan (April, 2012) New construction 30% green buildings by 2020 45 Yuan for 2-Star, 80 for 3-Star (20% extra cost)

National Indicator Systems

MoHURD “Eco-Garden City Index” Revised 2005 Focused on urban form, ratio of green spaces, green

buildings, infrastructure MEP “Indices for Eco-County, Eco-City and Eco-

Province” Revised 2008 Focus on overall environmental performance: energy

intensity and emissions per unit of GDP

Local regulation draw from national models but are determined by the local governments Large degree of variation => difficult to compare

3 Factors in Energy Consumption

Sector energy consumption is determined by a city’s state of industrialization

Worldwide Sector Energy Consumption (2005)

Shandong Trans-portation College

Library

Shanghai Build-ing Technology Institute Green Engineering Re-search Center

Shanghai Expo Center

Shanghai Power Plant and Chim-ney Renovation

(City Hall)

Shangai Eco-Home World

Expo Best Prac-tices Area

Shenzhen Build-ing Technology

Tower

40 38 146.444444444445

164.63431129196

45.73 44.4

25.0

75.0

125.0

175.0

225.0

275.0

3-Star Building Energy Consumption

Energ

y U

sage I

nte

nsit

y (

kw

h/m

2a)

US CBECS Average 287

LEED Average 217

24% Savings

China Large Public Building Aver-age 114

3-Star Average 79.4

30% Savings

3 Good Indicators

1) Proportion of energy-efficient buildings and green buildings ≥50

3-Star Building Energy Consumption

2) Proportion of Green Trips ≥20% in big cities ≥15% in medium cities

• Transportation energy rises as urban areas develop and GDP increases

• Energy determined by vehicle use• Vehicle use related to density/urban

form• Urban form is determined before

indicators can be measuredTianjin Eco-City ~110 p/ha

3-Good Indicators

3 Good Indicators

3) Energy consumption (ton SCE per 10,000 RMB GDP) ≤0.9

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30% Cut (.65)40% Cut (.90)

50% Cut (1.42)

12th FYP Goal (.88) 2015

12 FYP GDP V Energy Intensity (planned and actual)

Energy Intensity of Chinese Provinces and Municipalities (2006)

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 201505

1015202530354045

0.60.70.80.911.11.21.31.41.5

Planned GDP Actual GDP Planned Energy IntensityActualEnergy Intensity

GDP

(200

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(Tce

/10,

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2 Poor Indicators ( 绿化率 )

1) Urban public green space per capita >12 m2

2) Forestation coverage in built-up area > 45%

Tianjin: Decreased Density &Landscape not adapted to Climate

Qingdao: Too many trees!

Conclusion

Indicators must be tailored to a city’s state of industrialization and economic structure

Indicators have both good and bad impacts Definitions must be clear and measureable More useful as evaluative and comparative

metrics than design blueprints

DIRECTING THE DEMOGRAPHIC OF THE SINO-SINGAPORE TIANJINECO-CITY (SSTEC)

Cecilia Springer Fulbright Research Scholar, Nankai University

SSTEC: Background and Basic Facts•Development type: Local eco-city program ( 项目 ) with international collaboration•Estimated construction duration: 2008-2020 •Projected population: 350,000•Projected total area: 30 km2

•Location: 40 km east of Tianjin city center

SSTEC Key Performance Indicators

Qualitative Indicators

Integrated

Regional Coordination

KPI Area KPI

Coordinated Natural Ecology

Ecological health and safety, green consumption, low carbon operation

Coordinated Regional Policies

Advance innovative policies, coordinate anti-pollution policies

Social and Cultural Coordination

Give prominence to preserving the character of local wetlands and culture through planning and design

Regional Coordinated Economy

Supplement the recycling economy

•Complex relationship between planning and operation that partially depends on residents’ behavior

•Residents’ behavior affects key performance indicators, both directly and indirectly

Understanding the Eco-City Demographic

Importance of understanding SSTEC residents Achieving indicators Building a diverse population

Housing Commercial real estate (80%) Public housing (20%)

Commercial Eco-City Housing Advertising

Media Promotional Materials Sales Centers Sales Pitches

Appeals Technology Green Lifestyle Luxury

Commercial Eco-City Housing Advertising: Sales Centers

Promotional Materials: Technology

Sales Pitches: Expanding the Green Lifestyle Concept

“ 像垃圾车，像回收车，不会进入咱们的社区，像蟑螂、老鼠什么的，都会有力地减少。这个是对生态比较帮助一些。” (“Garbage trucks, recycling trucks won’t need to enter our community, cockroaches, mice, and so on will be fully eliminated. This helps out the ecology. ”)

“ 在中国别的小区不会派追求绿化。这边的话，就必须得达到一个绿化的保证，有舒适度的”

(“Other communities in China wouldn’t emphasize this green space. Here, green space security must be achieved, it’s a level of comfort”)

Promotional Materials: Green Lifestyles

Promotional Materials: Luxury

Is the Eco-City Actually a Luxury Development?

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igh

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ousing

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10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

35000

Housing Price Comparison (RMB/m2)

Who Lives in the Eco-City Right Now?

Commercial housing: 60 families (~100 people) Retirees Eco-City workers TBNA/TEDA workers

Public housing: ~50 applicants for public housing lottery system Eco-City workers Displaced former residents

Laborers

Conclusions

Residential behavior determines the outcomes of several key indicators Implications for liveability of the Eco-City City diversity Will residents adhere to green standards?

Indicators will be assessed in 2013

URBAN FORM AND THE ENVIRONMENT: HOW CHINA’S ECO-CITIES STACK UP

MPA Candidate, International Development, Tsinghua UniversityGavin Lohry

What Urban Form has the least Inherent impact on the Environment?

• As Countries develop building and transportation emission become more important (larger percent of overall emissions)

• Hong Kong’s per capita level of building and transportation emissions are lower than major Chinese cities and just above the Chinese National

• What does Hong Kong do right?

Density is Important (What do we know about Density)

Reduces Transport Emissions Makes public transport more cost effective and convenient Increased number of services within walking/biking distance Makes driving less convenient and more expensive

Building Emissions Decreases building energy use through shared walls Reduces floor space and increases communal space

Other Effects Increases infrastructure efficiencies and service efficiencies Reduces the total amount of land used (more land for farms & forests)

Negative Effects Pollution is concentrated Heat Island effect, Peak Flow Volume increase, etc.

Spatial Form is Important

Path #1Walking Distance=0.6km 8.4minActual Distance= 0.15km

Path #2Walking Distance= 1.1km 15.3minActual Distance= 0.55km

Path #1Walking Distance=0.3km 4.3minActual Distance= 0.15km

Path #2Walking Distance= 0.7km 10minActual Distance= 0.55km

NYC Manhattan East Side

Wangjing

Beijing

Comparison of Chinese Urban Areas (All Images are set to the same scale)

Tangshan Bay Eco-city

Hong Kong Island

Shanghai Nanjing Road Area

Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city

New Songdo- South Korea

High density mixed use city scale development- Current pop+35,000

LEED Neighborhood Development project- pedestrian & cyclist friendly

Bike-Transit Oriented Development with small block sizes

Comparison- New Songdo and Tianjin Eco-city

Tianjin Eco-city Large blocks (2 to 4 time the size) Fenced off communities Two and three lane divided roads Large separated bike and walking lanes

470m

350m

Fenced Off Blocks No Through Traffic

Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city

200m

170m

350m

Neighborhood Through

Path

New Songdo, South Korea

Conclusion

Density and Spatial Form are both important and work best together

Neighborhoods need to be built for pedestrians and cyclists not with highways for cars

It is easier to add new technologies to existing developments for environmental improvements than to change a developments Density and Urban form

Three Takeways

1. ‘Eco’ has many connotations in China that may differ from Western conceptions of the term (e.g. luxury, low density)

2. Current eco-city developments face challenges in achieving their green goals due to their urban form

3. China is a testing a new green urban model in eco-city ‘laboratories’ across the country

For More Information: ecocitynotes.com