China initiates multi-project on creating balanced urban environment
China will construct 285 eco-cities in order to stabilize its ecological situation.
The megaproject will cover the entire territory of the country - from the eastern coast to the border with Central Asia, from Inner Mongolia to the jungle lands of south.
Already, more than 80% of cities are engaged in the implementation of at least one project to introduce environmentally friendly technologies.
The government of the country hopes that in the near future more than 50% of all urban developments will be classified as “green city”, “smart city” or “low carbon city”.
For the first time the notion of "eco-city" was mentioned three decades ago in the book of the American scientist and writer Richard Register “Ecocity Berkeley: Building Cities for a Healthy Future”. And to date, the world knows about 10-12 principles, the observance of which allows to call the settlement as environmentally friendly.
According to the Chinese concept, the eco-city is built with the aim of economic progress and ensuring perfect conditions for human life.
In general, it is assumed that such cities will become a kind of a place of harmonious coexistence of nature and man. And this can be achieved through the adaptation of infrastructure to the habitat, the production of energy from renewable sources, low consumption of resources, improving the energy efficiency of buildings, the preference for clean transport (for example, bicycles) to motor vehicles.
Why China today is really eager for setting up "green cities"? The answer lies in statistics that give rise to justified concerns. Rapidly growing industrialization and urbanization in the country led to the fact that more than 50% of drinking water is not suitable for consumption, over 40% of the cropland is poisoned with toxins, and in 90% of cities air pollution threatens human health. The rates of depletion of the aquifers are also threatening.
Therefore, the expansion of zones of ecological well-being, in a country with more than 650 cities at prefecture level, is quite a rational decision dictated by the realities of the time.
The starting point for the implementation of the grandiose project is the fact that today the PRC enters the world arena as a giant of alternative energy, being the largest producer of hydroelectric power, solar batteries and wind turbines. Moreover, China has huge potential to develop geothermal energy and huge biomass resources.
