Will China's 'Eco-City' Live Up To Expectations

"On an island at the mouth of China's Yangzi River, plans are afoot to build the city of the future. The first residents will move in within five years. The city will be self-sufficient in energy and water and will generate almost no carbon emissions. Petrol and diesel vehicles will be banned in favour of solar-powered boats and fuel-cell-driven buses. The developers of this "eco-city", called Dongtan, hope that it will come to be seen as a model for the rest of the world: London's mayor, for one, is already inspired by it. Will it work?"

"A pioneer of the ecological footprint, William Rees of the University of British Columbia in Canada, has mixed views of Dongtan. It is, he says, "hardly a truly sustainable option" given that it is a new city occupying what is mostly agricultural land near a large ecologically significant wetland. He says that it is being designed to attract wealthy buyers whose way of life will be characterised by "high levels of personal consumption and large per-capita eco-footprints". But it could be worse. It is at least less bad, he concedes, than greenfield cities for the rich based on standard urban designs and architecture."