On a piece of barren land with salinized soil and a severe fresh water shortage in the Tianjin Binhai New Area (BNA) will arise an ecological city. On September 28th, 2008, the construction of Sino-Singapore Eco-city project, a strategic cooperative project initiated by the governments of China and Singapore, is officially launched. The city of the future, which features the principle of sustainable development, is poised to benefit both countries.
Sino-Singaporean Tianjin Eco-city is the world’s first national-coordinated eco-city project, and the second Sino-Singaporean coordination after Suzhou Industrial Park. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Singaporean Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong attended the project’s opening ceremony.
This ecological city is situated in the Binhai New Area of Tianjin. It is planned to cover a total of 30 square kilometers, 20 square kilometers from Han’gu District and 10 square kilometers for Tanggu District. The project is 15 kilometers away from the central area of the Binhai New Area, 45 kilometers away from downtown of Tianjin, and 150 kilometers away from Beijing. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Singaporean Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong proposed in April of 2007 to build an ecological city in North China, which should be in water-short area and does not occupy arable land. This city could be duplicated and promoted, serving as a model project. In this way, it could set an example for other areas. In November, the two countries signed a cooperation framework agreement.
Up to now, the Eco-city has finished the establishment of index system and overall planning. Detailed plans are also under drafting, with 14 specialized plans, 21 specialized researches accomplished, and 30 program designs and several residential cell designs worked upon. Requisition, clearing and transfer of land have essentially wrapped up, with 8 million cubic meters of land reclaimed and an investment service center built up. The construction of highway system, pipeline network, and telecommunication facilities is under way. There are already 58 companies settled in the eco-city, 12 project deals to be sealed, and negotiations for 23 programs under way. The eco-city is busy tracking 50 potential projects, aiming for an industry cluster to emerge. Total investment for the eco-city for 2009 will amount to 8 billion yuan. It is expected for 1.5 million square meters of construction to kick off in 2009, and the construction of the starting area will be fundamentally finished by 2011.
Sino-Singaporean Eco-City Investment and Development Corporation Limited and Keppel Group have hammered out joint investment agreement and declared the founding of Sino-Singaporean Joint Investment Company. The registered capital of the joint company is 4 billion yuan, with China and Singapore accounting for 50-percent share each. At the same time, four specialized companies of ecological city energy, construction, municipal administration and environment protection have been set up by investment companies from China and some outstanding companies from Singapore. Compared to Suzhou Industrial Park also built up by China and Singapore, this project will generate more profound influence for China, who is seeking sustainable development. Facing increasingly deteriorating environmental restraints, China hopes that this project will set a good example for sustainable development.
The ecological city is planed to occupy a ground space of about 30 square kilometers, and to take approximately 10 to 15 years to be completed. The permanent population of the city will be kept under 350,000 by 2020.
In line of the plan, the starting area is situated at the south of the ecological city, with the ground space of 3 square kilometers, a residence area of about 2.8 million square meters, and a population of 80,000. This planning is a result of joint design by China and Singapore designing experts, who continue to take ecological concern as the top priority and stick to human-oriented principle in designing. The plan marks out a structure of ecological cells, ecological neighborhoods, and ecological communities. The two countries show great confidence to the future of this project, which is also reflected in the planning. The ecological city will build up 5 grades of commercial service centers — the main center, secondary center, comprehensive area center, residential community center and the grass roots-level community center. An ecological valley from south to north will also be built to connect four ecological comprehensive areas with the ecological main center and to link transportation stations. Eventually the city will witness a space layout as following — one axis, three centers and four areas; one island, three rivers and six corridors.
Alternative energy and energy-saving technologies will be widely adopted in the eco-city. Clean energy and renewable energy resources, such as wind power, solar energy, underground heat pump and air source heat pump, will reduce carbon emission to the largest extent. All the buildings in the ecological city should conform to the green architectural design standards, and the concept of “zero energy-consumption housing” will also be experimented and explored.
Experts believe that this new joint project is a highlight and sparkling point of the cooperation between China and Singapore. It showcases the determination of the two countries to cope with global warming problem, strengthen environment protection efforts and save energy and resources. The two countries also form Sino-Singaporean Coordination Committee at vice-premier level and Sino-Singaporean Joint Working Committee at ministerial level to promote this project. |
