Eco-cities in China have been a hit and miss proposition for the most part, with projects like Huangbaiyu and Donftan serviing as constant reminders of how bad even things can go.
The Tianjin Eco-park launched 2 years ago is a different model though. It leverages one of the most successful partnerships in China’s investment history, it was developed at a size and scale that fit the “China model”, and unlike other plans it was developed with an industrial/ commercial economy as the core. (see my previous posts for more: Tianjin Eco-City underway and Will Commercial Interests Increase the Likelihood of Tianjin Eco-City)
Now the question is changing from “will it succeed” to “How to leverage this project on a wider level” – quetions I also asked myslef when writing China’s Eco-Towns: Big Plans, Few Actions.
Questions that Singapore’s Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong recent addressed while at the Dalian World Economic Forum:.
‘The whole idea is it will be replicable…the model there can be used as a solution to China’s urbanisation of other cities,’
With the Nanjing Ecotown being the first test of their ability to scale, but in general I am an optomist that the Singapore relationships will prove to be one of the most fruitful when it comes to developing solutions that will scale. After all, Singapore has simliar motives driving their innovations…
Mr Goh highlighted waste water management as an example of a lesson in the development of the eco-city and other Chinese cities, citing Singapore’s experience in which ‘every drop of water is collected, treated and recycled’.
‘China will face a shortage of water. It can go into waste water management and then we can see how water can be managed and recycled for use in industries, and even human consumption,’ he told Xinhua.
Where I remained concerned though is will these innovations and lessons be ready in time. That, with Tianjin requiring another 10 years to completion, we may have already seen too much investment in other cities that will reduce the opportunities to replicate.
It makes me think that the Singapore government should also develop a parallel project within Tianjin proper where they take an existing plot of land and buildings that are highly inefficient, turn them around, and then scale out those lessons across China.