View from Dongtan (China's planned) Eco-City

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=8953837a-d7f3-423f-a521-10a8f1ae966e

VIEW FROM DONGTAN ECO-CITY

Chinese developers are planning a community for up to 400,000 people that they say will be the world's first carbon-neutral city but some experts dismiss it as a dream

Reuters
Published: Monday, June 23, 2008

SHANGHAI - On the eastern tip of Chongming, the world's largest alluvial island in the mouth of the Yangtze River, birdwatchers wait patiently to glimpse an occasional crane or plover rising from the wetlands' reeds.

A few kilometres to the southwest, in an area of fishponds, marshes and farmland, developers are plotting out a city for up to 400,000 people that they hope will be a model of ecological harmony, powered entirely by renewable energy.

Shanghai's Dongtan eco-city has a lofty ambition: To become the world's first carbon-neutral city, just as recent estimates suggest that China has overtaken the United States as the largest emitter of globe-warming carbon dioxide.

But the project has been marred by delays and faces rising doubts over whether it will be a model for China's rapid urbanization, or just a posh community for wealthy commuters eager to flee the smog and traffic of Shanghai.

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[diane in sf]

1. Seems good as a model and aspiration.

[kgrandia]

2. Great ambition!

This is a great goal - while there seems to many detractors, you have to start with a first step.