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Architecture and Design
Utopias are not sustainable
(Photo via What is Enlightenment? magazine.)
Ah, how wonderful life would be if we could just start from scratch?
Well, that’s exactly what architects and engineers are trying to do with utopian “eco-cities,” environmental havens complete with solar panels, windmills, built-in water filtration systems and other sustainable, energy-saving designs.
China’s currently boasts three major eco-cities–Rizhao, Huangbaiyu, and most recently, Dongtan, currently under construction.
But are they all they’re cracked up to be? Not so, says Paul French from the Climate Change Corp:
China’s green construction: Shifting focus from eco-cities to real cities
CCC Newsdesk
By Paul French
July 26, 2007
The rate of growth in China is rapid, and therefore the challenge to improve what is being built to ensure some sort of sustainability is crucial. Consider that in 2005, Shanghai constructed more building space than exists in all the office buildings of New York City. Every month, China adds urban infrastructure equal to that found in Houston, Texas, simply to keep up with the rate of urbanisation.
The fact is that this orgy of construction has largely been decidedly non-green. The accent has been on volume completion, rather than quality or sustainability.
If dreams of creating made-from-scratch eco-cities are unrealistic, what are some better solutions?
According to French, here are some simple but effective measures to combat pollution and wasteful energy consumption:
- equip buildings with better insulation
- encourage people to buy energy saving light bulbs or water use limiting devices
- promote bicycle riding
- limit the use of air conditioning
- increase the price of utilities to discourage wasteful use
Read the full article to see more examples of how “bioclimatic design” can be incorporated into existing structures and cities.
[tags]china, dongtan, eco-city, energy saving, utopia, urbanization, bioclimatic design[/tags]
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2 comments for “Utopias are not sustainable”
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Erica
I completely agree that sustainable building design (and urban planning) need to be applied in a big way to existing cities. But Paul French’s article doesn’t really offer any serious criticisms of Dongtan. He is not saying eco-cities are unrealistic, he is just suggesting a few alternatives.
The fact that Dongtan’s approach is untested is not a criticism: something cannot be tested until you do it, and Dongtan is doing it. And the fact that there are other unsustainable cities also isn’t a reason not to build a sustainable one. By all means, go ahead and put proven technologies and strategies in existing cities, but in the meantime, see if Dongtan and others can provide new models for building from the ground up.
Dongtan is about more than just how to do sustainable buildings; it is about looking at everything that goes on in a city, and that is important because, unfortunately, there are no ideal solutions. Decisions often require compromise, and in order to identify the best overall solution it is necessary to look at the city holistically.
Yes, Dongtan will displace a natural area and have other impacts, but the future population has to go somewhere. Increasing densities in existing cities will only go so far, then you will have to start expanding their boundaries anyway. As I said, there are compromises to be made. Let’s just try and make the best choices.
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