By Catherine A. Cardno, Ph.D.
China might have a reputation for prioritizing the built environment over nature, but efforts are now under way to create water-sensitive, ecologically sound cities.
The city of Yangzhou, home to China’s Grand Canal system, will be the first to test a program that seeks to balance the development and protection of water resources with economic growth. Thinkstock/Getty Images, Courtesy of GHD
March 31, 2015—Urban development and construction is known to move quickly in China, often to the detriment of the natural environment. But a shift seems to be taking place. The government's Ministry of Water Resources has selected 104 cities to pilot-test what it calls "water ecological civilization" principles that will strive to create a balance between the environment and economic development. The first pilot program, in Yangzhou, a city of 4 million people located along the Yangtze River in the Jiangsu province, is already under way.
Ecological progress has been placed at the core of China's sustainable growth for the future, according to Yuxiu Zhong, the division chief of the Economic Development Research Centre at the Ministry of Water Resources in the People's Republic of China, who wrote in response to questions posed by
Civil Engineering
online.
"China has been aware of the severity of the burden of pollution and energy consumption amid its economic miracles over the past decades," said Zhong. As such, "the Chinese government has developed a strategic plan to step up environmental improvement and ecological protection and accelerate the building of a resource-saving and environment-friendly society.
"Faced with increasing resource constraints, severe environmental pollution, and a deteriorating ecosystem, China must raise ecological awareness of the need to respect, accommodate, and protect nature," said Zhong.
The trial cities that have been selected as part of the program are representative of the variety of water and environmental conditions in China, according to Zhong. Each of the selected cities also has a "reasonably good" economic base, she noted. "While the 104 cities were identified as representative cases to demonstrate the concept, it is expected that the remaining cities [within the country] will also implement this water ecology concept to some extent," said Zhong.
"Water ecological civilizations" are characterized by the "harmonious" integration of people and the water environment, a balance between the protection of water resources and the economic and social development of an area, and the enhancement of residents' living standards and water quality, according to Zhong.
The Beijing, China, office of the engineering, architecture, and environmental consultancy firm GHD is providing concept planning and analysis of existing water resources, river systems, and ecological conditions for 17 of the cities that have been identified by the ministry. The first pilot project involved the study of Yangzhou, on the nation's eastern seaboard. Changes to the city are now being implemented as a result of the first study.
"The city of Yangzhou has particular significance as it is home to the first section of China's Grand Canal system, built around 2,400 years ago," Zhong said. In 2014, the canal was recognized as a World Heritagesite by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The canal is also used as part of the eastern route of China's National South-North Water Transfer Project, according to material provided by GHD.
As part of the pilot study conducted by GHD, water-sensitive urban design (WSUD) was introduced to China by Australia, according to Hongli Zhan, Ph.D., a water resources engineer and job manager for the Yangzhou report at the Beijing, China office of GHD, who wrote in response to questions posed by
Civil Engineering
online. In this case, WSUD includes using storm water to reduce environmental degradation, improving the appearance of urban areas, and allocating space for recreation. Solutions can be structural, regulatory, or management-based and include the conservation and reuse of both water and energy, and the use of high-efficiency water resources management techniques to control flooding and maximize the usability of storm water, according to material provided by GHD.
For the city of Yangzhou, GHD identified water quality, ecological deterioration, potable water safety, and water landscapes as priorities. "For example, wetland protection and restoration has been identified as one of the important solutions," Zhan noted. As part of the implementation, 10 wetland parks will be built, restored, or upgraded. "These wetland parks will play an important role, acting as a bioretention system, creating natural landscapes in urban areas, and protecting vegetation," he said.
Implementation of the solutions in Yangzhou is a work in progress, according to Zhan, and additional elements will continue to be added. "The trial period is for three years, from 2014 to 2016. In total there are 12 initiatives that Yangzhou will complete throughout 2016, including waterway dredging, water system connection, an irrigation water-saving scheme, wetland protections, and riverway ecological remediation," Zhan said.
"There will be a performance review by 2016 to evaluate the first stage and identify the focus of the next stage," Zhan explained. "Ultimately Yangzhou will be turned into a city that balances the water environment and economic development."
In addition to Yangzhou, additional cities that will implement the "water ecological civilization" principles include Suzhou (Jiangsu Province), Puer City (Yunnan Province), Wuhu City (Anhui province), Longnan (Gansu Province), Xuzhou (Jiangsu Province), Chengdu (Sichuan Province), Xi'An (Shanxi Province), Wuqing District (Tianjin City), Miyun County (Beijing), Guangzhou (Guangdong Province), Qingpu District (Shanghai), Ningbo (Zhejiang Province), Qionghai (Hainan Province) , Nanning (Guangxi Province), Qingdao (Shandong Province), Zhengzhou (Henan Province), Luoyang (Henan Province), Changsha (Hunan Province), and Ezhou (Hubei Province).