Dongtan was a planned development described as an '' eco-city'' on the island of Chongming in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

that was never built. Design began in 2005, and by 2010 the development had stalled. Adjacent to booming Shanghai, designers claimed Dongtan would be the world's first truly sustainable new urban development. Dongtan was presented at the United Nations

World Urban Forum The World Urban Forum (WUF) is the world’s premier conference on urban issues. It was established in 2001 by the United Nations to examine one of the most pressing issues facing the world today: rapid urbanisation and its impact on communities ...

by China as an example of a purpose-built eco-city. Reasons for the project's closure include its proposed location in a high-value wetlands area, tensions between its development partners (Arup, a British engineering company, and Shanghai Industrial Investment, a state-owned developer), and loss of political support (due to the jailing of Dongtan's top political backer, former Shanghai Communist Party chief

Chen Liangyu Chen Liangyu (; born October 24, 1946, in Shanghai) is a Chinese politician best known for his tenure as the Party Secretary of Shanghai, the city's top office, and a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party, from 2002 to 2006 ...

, on corruption charges in 2008). The project has been described as a failure because it was not built. However, as an example of design it has inspired and informed other cities worldwide. Ideas from Dongtan were incorporated into the renovation of the

Chongming District Chongming District () is the northernmost district of the provincial-level municipality of Shanghai. Chongming consists of three low-lying inhabited alluvial islands at the mouth of the Yangtze north of the Shanghai peninsula: Chongming, Cha ...

as a net zero island. Dongtan became a model for a subsequently planned eco-city outside Tianjin.

Proposed Design

Dongtan was to be located at the east end of

Chongming Island Chongming (), Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanized as Chungming, is an alluvial island at the mouth of the Yangtze, Yangtze River in East China covering as of 2010. Together with the islands Changxing Island (Shanghai), Changxing an ...

, adjacent to the sensitive wetlands of the Chongming Dongtan National Nature Reserve, near the mouth of the

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...

and just north of

. Dongtan's first phase, a marina village of 20,000 inhabitants, was supposed to be unveiled at the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai. Some questioned the proposed city's potential effects on the surrounding wetlands. The director of the project, Peter Head, insisted it would not affect the wetlands. "First of all, water usually discharged into the river will be collected, treated, and recycled within the city boundaries," he said. "There will be a 2-mile buffer zone of eco-farm between city development and the wetlands." While farming is water intensive, relatively small amounts of water reach the plants themselves. Head said Dongtan "will capture and recycle water in the city and use recycled water to grow green vegetables hydroponically. This makes the whole water cycle much more efficient". The developers planned to create a fully built city, with 80,000 residents by 2020. London-based Arup and the Shanghai Industrial Investment Corporation (SIIC), the city's investment branch, originally partnered to create a master plan for Dongtan, an area three quarters the size of Manhattan. Their brief called for integrated sustainable urban planning and design to create a city as close to carbon-neutral as possible within economic constraints. Project planners estimated a population of 10,000 by 2010 and 500,000 by 2050. Energy-efficient construction,

waste-to-energy Waste-to-energy (WtE) or energy-from-waste (EfW) refers to a series of processes designed to convert waste materials into usable forms of energy, typically electricity or heat. As a form of energy recovery, WtE plays a crucial role in both wa ...

systems, and

wind power Wind power is the use of wind energy to generate useful work. Historically, wind power was used by sails, windmills and windpumps, but today it is mostly used to generate electricity. This article deals only with wind power for electricity ge ...

were all part of the original plan. As a strategic partner, Arup was to be responsible for a range of services, including urban design, sustainable energy management, waste management, renewable energy process implementation, architecture, infrastructure, and even the planning of communities and social structures. Peter Head, director of Arup's sustainable urban design, led the project for the firm from its London's office (during design, Arup claims to have offset the emissions of its team's travel to and from the site in cooperation with emissions brokerage firm CO2e). "Renewable energy will be used to reduce particulate emissions. Transport vehicles will run on batteries or hydrogen-fuel cells and not use any diesel or petrol, creating a relatively quiet city," according to Head's original plan. Other priorities included recycling organic waste to reduce landfills and generate clean energy. Planners in Dongtan planned to put meters in each house to display energy use.

History

McKinsey & Company McKinsey & Company (informally McKinsey or McK) is an American multinational strategy and management consulting firm that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. Founded in 1926 by James O. McKinse ...

was involved in developing the initial vision for the project. The British engineering consultancy firm Arup was contracted in 2005 by the developer, the Shanghai Industrial Investment Company (SIIC), to design and masterplan Dongtan as the first of a planned series of

eco-cities An eco-city or ecocity is "a human settlement modeled on the Self-sustainability, self-sustaining resilient structure and function of natural ecosystems", as defined by Ecocity Builders (a non-profit organization started by Richard Register, who ...

. The 2008 conviction of prominent supporter

contributed to the project's failure.

Reaction

The reaction to Dongtan has been mixed. Former

Mayor of London The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom. The current ...

Ken Livingstone Kenneth Robert Livingstone (born 17 June 1945) is an English former politician who served as the Leader of the Greater London Council (GLC) from 1981 until the council was Local Government Act 1985, abolished in 1986, and as Mayor of Londo ...

praised Dongtan as pioneering work leading to a more sustainable future. His sentiments were echoed by other prominent British politicians, including

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. Previously, he was Chancellor of the Ex ...

and

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...

. Critics have argued that Dongtan will not have a big impact on existing Chinese cities, which will still house the majority of the population. The main designer, Thomas V. Harwood III, is also taking part in many environmentally less friendly projects in China, including airports and office blocks. In 2008, Arup received the " Greenwasher of the Year Award" from ''Ethical Corporation'' magazine.Ethical Corporation blog: Arup and Dongtan, worthy winner of Greenwasher of the year
Several sources described the project as a Potemkin village.

Transport

* Dongtan station (Shanghai Metro) ( 东滩站), future metro station on

Chongming line Line 22 of the Shanghai Metro, formerly named Chongming line () is a rapid transit line on the Shanghai Metro that is part of the 2018–2023 Shanghai Metro plan. The Chongming line was previously treated as the last phase of Line 9, and was L ...

of Shanghai Metro, opening in 2026

References

External links