Dongtan: A Green Enclave or a White Elephant?
Comment is free: Can China go green?
Dongtan is to be built on Chongming island in the Yangtze river delta, over an area three-quarters of the size of Manhattan island - 86 square kilometres. It has been commissioned by the Shanghai Industrial Investment Corporation (SIIC) and is designed by the global consultancy Arup which boasts of its green credentials. It will be largely powered by renewable energy, and will consist of village neighbourhoods linked by public transport: polluting vehicles will not be allowed in the city. It will incorporate local agriculture and generate new clean industry to provide jobs for a target population of 80,000. It will also act as a buffer zone between the rest of the island and the Dongtan wetlands which are a migration route for rare birds including the hooded and red-crowned cranes.
