Greenwashed? Are China's eco-cities really green?

Eco-cities are sprouting across China. Are they really green? What can keep them from taking off?
Grace Ng Straits Times 14 Aug 10;

CHONGMING ISLAND (CHINA): The Chen Family Village has been expecting a name change for years. It had even hoped that a world-famous mouse would move in after that happened.

The community of several thousand farmers on the east coast of Chongming Island - an hour's drive from Shanghai - was supposed to have become China's first environmentally friendly town by 2006, with the name of Dongtan Eco-City. It was also tipped to be the site of the first Disneyland theme park in mainland China.

But what student and part-time waitress Cai Yannan, 17, called a 'Cinderella moment' never came.

Four years of politicking and financial difficulties later, it is still just the sleepy Chen Family Village. Disney has also rejected it in favour of Shanghai's Pudong district.

'We have heard the eco-city is now in the beginning stages of construction,' mused Ms Cai.

'Meanwhile, I will go to Shanghai to study and seek a good life.'

Dongtan is not the only eco-city in China still waiting to take off.

There are now more than 40 sites across China which have embarked on the 'green city' endeavour, from Shenzhen in the south to Tangshan in the north. But many are struggling, because they started off with flashy environmental projects which over-ambitious local officials pushed for, but which require the right plans or political will to pull off.

Said Professor Niu Wenyuan of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, one of the country's top think-tanks: 'China has many projects that are eco-cities in name only - they lack substance.'

Western critics label as 'green-washing' the attempts by Chinese officials to rebrand urban centres as 'green cities' by slapping solar panels on buildings. This seems to be what China is practising as it races to be the first developing country to create a successful eco-city.

At a forum in Shanghai on sustainable cities last month, Vice-Housing Minister Qiu Baoxing reiterated the country's drive to be at the forefront of the creation of eco-cities in order to cope with the pressures of rapid urbanisation.

He highlighted eight projects, including a part of Shenzhen which is to become a 'smart city'; Rizhao of eastern Shandong province, which is already a veritable 'solar city'; the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City; and Dongtan.

Yet a closer look at some of China's eco-cities shows that many are struggling from 'lack of follow-through', said Beijing-based environment activist Wang Bao. 'They had big ideas - but did not plan how to implement such a massive project,' he said.

Dongtan is one such example. Mr Paul French, editor of a climate change website, pointed to the eco-city's internal feud between its master planner, British architect firm Arup, and the local authorities over who would pay for the project.

'Arup thought they were being brought in to design the project for a fee, and the Chinese side would build it. But the Chinese thought they would get a free eco-city,' he said.

Even so, villagers like farmer Chen Zhu, in his 60s, once believed political will would solve Dongtan's money woes.

'Dongtan Eco-City had top leaders' support,' he said, recalling that President Hu Jintao and then British prime minister Tony Blair had attended a signing ceremony in 2005.

Mr Chen lost hope after Dongtan's top backer, ex-Shanghai party secretary Chen Liangyu, was imprisoned for corruption in 2008.

'We knew the eco-city was doomed - no new leader would touch a project left by disgraced officials,' he said.

Huangbaiyu, another high-profile project backed by Ms Deng Nan, the daughter of late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping, also floundered in the wake of poor implementation.

A poor rural community in north-east Liaoning province, Huangbaiyu was chosen in 2003 to be the site of China's first 'ecologically sustainable' model village.

New houses were to be built out of hay and pressed-earth bricks to cut energy costs. But only three of the 42 houses built after long delays had eco-friendly bricks. And each cost more than six times what a farmer could afford.

Wary of unrealistic plans which cannot be easily carried out, other projects have taken a different route by being 'selectively eco-friendly', said Mr Wang.

Some, like Meixi Lake District in central China's Hunan province and Tangshan's eco-city, have simply opted for eco-friendly residential properties and water conservation features - as well as lots of greenery, he said.

What works best is to start small - making use of the existing cities and making them green, argued Mr French. He pointed to Rizhao, a solar city whose goal was simply to convert as much as possible of its energy consumption to solar power.

A local solar panel company had struck a deal with the local government to offer solar panels at a fraction of the price to households.

'Now traffic signals, streetlights and most of the school lighting rely on solar energy,' said Mr French, adding that an impressive 99 per cent of households in the city centre have solar panels.

The lesson from Rizhao, he pointed out, is that 'it is better to start with manageable, small projects'.

'If you can't even make existing large cities green, what's the point of spending so much to build prestigious eco-cities from scratch which benefit only a small number of people?' he asked.

Still, a full-fledged, large-scale eco-city can still be achieved in China, argued Prof Niu.

The Singapore-Tianjin Eco-City has potential, he said. 'They are realistic and reasonable in their design.'

Mr Wang added: 'They have scientific methods of ensuring that the development is in line with their green targets - and the Singapore leaders frequently come to check the progress.'

Additional reporting by Lina Miao