Chinese Development Goes Green

Architects Calvin Tsao and Zack McKown bring a new model for ecologically responsible urban planning to China.

1 minute read

October 21, 2013, 10:00 AM PDT

By Lynn Vande Stouwe


China's rapid urbanization has reeked havoc on the country's architectural and ecological past, writes Karen Stein, with traditional buildings and countryside routinely decimated to make way for new development. Octave, a new project from Tsao & McKowan Architects, strives to create a better model for urban growth by designing a new kind of community throughout China. Stein writes:

"Octave wants to develop diverse, pedestrian-friendly live-work communities where people of all economic levels have suitable housing as well as easy access to cultural facilities and the outdoors."

Octave is part think-tank and part architecture firm, with projects spanning from a 2008 master plan for a 240-acre development in Chengdu to a small-scale, mixed-use tourist project outside of Shanghai. The firm's ultimate goal, Stein says, is to "create an urbanity that is new to the China of today, yet not so foreign as to be alienating."

Thursday, October 17, 2013 in The Wall Street Journal

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Aerial view of town of Wailuku in Maui, Hawaii with mountains in background against cloudy sunset sky.

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly

Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

July 1, 2025 - Honolulu Civil Beat

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 2, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

White and purple sign for Slow Street in San Francisco, California with people crossing crosswalk.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths

Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

July 1, 2025 - KQED

Google street view image of strip mall in suburban Duncanville, Texas.

Adaptive Reuse Will Create Housing in a Suburban Texas Strip Mall

A developer is reimagining a strip mall property as a mixed-use complex with housing and retail.

July 6 - Parking Reform Network

Blue tarps covering tents set up by unhoused people along chain link fence on concrete sidewalk.

Study: Anti-Homelessness Laws Don’t Work

Research shows that punitive measures that criminalized unhoused people don’t help reduce homelessness.

July 6 - Next City

Aerial tram moving along cable in hilly area in Medellin, Colombia.

In U.S., Urban Gondolas Face Uphill Battle

Cities in Latin America and Europe have embraced aerial transitways — AKA gondolas — as sustainable, convenient urban transport, especially in tricky geographies. American cities have yet to catch up.

July 6 - InTransition Magazine