Photos: Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture |
Great City, outside Chengdu,
China, is envisioned as a prototype satellite city to be replicated in
other locations throughout the country. The development is intended to
respond to the problem of overburdened infrastructure in many of China’s
major urban centers without contributing to the high energy consumption
and carbon emissions associated with suburban sprawl.
Great City will be home
to about 30,000 families totaling 80,000 people, many of whom will also
have opportunities to work within the development. The distance from any
location in the city to any other location will be walkable within
about 15 minutes, all but eliminating the need for most automobiles. The
city will also be connected to Chengdu and surrounding areas via mass
transit to be accessed at a regional transit hub at the Great City
center.
Great City will use 48% less energy and 58% less water than a conventional development of similar population. It will also produce 89% less landfill waste and generate 60% less carbon dioxide.
Great City will use 48% less energy and 58% less water than a conventional development of similar population. It will also produce 89% less landfill waste and generate 60% less carbon dioxide.
The project has been
designed to conserve existing farmland, with more than 60% of the
800-acre site area preserved for agriculture and open space. The
320-acre urbanized area will be surrounded by a 480-acre buffer
landscape, whose natural topography—including valleys and bodies of
water—will be integrated into the city itself. Within the city, 15% of
the land will be devoted to parks and landscaped space, while 60% will
be parcelized for construction. The remaining 25% will be devoted to
infrastructure, roads and pedestrian streets.
The city’s perimeter is
defined by a clear edge, from which the city center can be reached on
foot within 10 minutes. An extended recreation system connects the
pedestrian network to trails that run through the green buffer and
surrounding farmland. The infrastructure and public-realm networks
include electric shuttles, plazas, parks and links to the recreation
system. As a primarily pedestrian city, only half of the road area is
allocated to motorized vehicles. All residential units will be within a
two-minute walk of a public park.
In addition to improved
efficiencies within buildings, the city will use seasonal energy storage
to use waste summer heat to provide winter heating, and a power
generation plant will employ the latest co-generation technology to
provide both electricity and hot water. AS+GG has worked with the
infrastructure consultant Mott MacDonald on plans for an Eco-Park
located on the northwest edge of the city will integrate waste water
treatment, solid waste treatment and power generation.
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