China’s new ecocity
DigiEcoCity Finnish DigiEcoCity Oy designs and implements the Gongqing digital eco city. The work was launched festively in the beginning of May.A unique model city DigiEcoCity is being built in China. The aim is to create a reality in which sustainable development combines with the innovations of digital technology. The emission free ecocity is intended to produce more energy than it consumes.
The building of Gongqing DigiEcoCity in the Jiangxi Province of China was launched festively in the beginning of May. The area of the future city is about 5.2 square kilometres and population approximately 100 000. Finnish DigiEcoCity Oy is responsible for the design and implementation of the city.
– First we will build about five kilometers long main street crossing through the city. The aim is to complete the project in three to five years, tells CEO Mauri Tommila.
A project for a new time
The Chinese president Hu Juantao has set a goal of developing Gingqing into a model example for the country’s wide urbanization program. Its objective is to shift approximately 400 million countryside inhabitants into cities in the next 15-20 years.
– It is important that cities are built according to sustainable development. Finland can offer these projects environmentally friendly technologies and solutions, Tommila says.
– The project is unique in that the city will offer its residents all the services required for good life, within pedestrian access.
The city is intended to be energy plus self-sufficient, which means that it will produce more energy than it consumes by using renewably energy sources. The city will also be a zero-emission city, which produces no harmful emissions.
A big change
In the new era city the use of solar, earth and bioenergy sources, automatic waste retrieval system, recycling and energy usage, low energy lighting systems and water and sewage systems are all implemented according to ecological principles.
Digital solutions are more ecological and functional when virtual services are able to replace traditional physical operations, such as bank buildings. New innovations change the ways of working, healthcare and schooling.
– Digital technology will change the structures of cities and communities even stronger than previous grand inventions, such as the steam engine, train, automobile and airplane, Tommila notes.
Continuation for the first eco city is already planned. The building of the next, Danyang DigiEcoCity of Jiangsu Province will begin in early 2011.
www.DigiEcoCity.com
Comments (5)