CHONGMING ISLAND, China — At the mouth of the Yangtze River, an hour by ferry from Shanghai, a new kind of Chinese city will rise from the mudflats and wetlands. In three years, the island's black-faced spoonbills and other rare birds will share this migratory stop with 25,000 humans, the initial inhabitants of what developers call the world's first "eco-city." If Dongtan Eco-City opens on schedule, it will become a carbon-neutral urban showcase at about the same moment scientists foresee China surpassing the United States as the globe's leading emitter of greenhouse gases. The state-run developer behind the $1.3 billion project envisions three modern villages on Chongming Island, which is about three-quarters the size of Manhattan. The communities will be powered by energy captured from sun, wind, biofuels and recycled organic material. A quarter of the island will be untouched ecological buffer. Grasses will grow on rooftops for natural insulation. Rainwater will be purified for use. Vehicles will operate on clean fuels. Four other Chinese cities plan to build similar eco-zones. London Mayor Ken Livingstone, who visited Dongtan last April, said he wants to build a smaller version along the River Thames. Full story can be found here
Edited by Slidell, 15 January 2011 - 09:36 PM.
