Shanghai to build 'green' island out of construction waste

Straits Times 18 Jan 08;

SHANGHAI plans to build an artificial island shaped like a magnolia that can house up to 80,000 people, according to media reports.

The magnolia is the city's official flower.

Local newspapers quoted an official of the Shanghai Municipal Ocean Bureau as saying that the island in Hangzhou Bay would be a sustainable community by the sea, the South China Morning Post reported.

The newspaper said that under the joint plan by the bureau and the district government of Fengxian, the 65,000 sq m project would be built using construction waste.

The island's electricity would be generated by wind and wave power, and its drinking water provided through desalination technology.

Shanghai produces about 37,000 tonnes of construction waste every day, which account for 30 per cent of its total solid waste.

'The goal is to make it an advanced city with international standards,' said bureau official Pang Zengdi.

The reports said an expert panel had endorsed the plan but did not outline a timetable for work on the island.

Last October, a Shanghai-based real estate developer bought one of the 300 artificial islands in Dubai's The World property project for US$28 million (S$40 million). The island was named after Shanghai.