Lohry, Gavin. 2012, December 3. Beyond eco-city development to creating eco-districts out of existing areas: the argument for a Beijing eco-district http://ecocitynotes.com/2012/12/beyond-eco-city-development-to-creating-eco-districts-out-of-existing-areas-the-argumen (accessed 31 January 2013).
Eco-city development in China has been focused in new areas outside of existing cities that promise to be developed in a more sustainable way. These cities include the newest green building technologies, extensive green areas, sustainable transportation and environmentally friendly living. These eco-city developments are extremely promising and will see reduced environmental impacts compared to similar developments.
More important than the eco-cities themselves are the lessons that can be learned and technologies that can be fostered for future urban development. With hundreds of millions of people set to move to cities and increase their standard of living over the next 20 years, eco-cities will play an important role in China’s sustainability drive. The benefits gained through the experience of eco-city development will be much greater than the low footprint and improved sustainability of the cities themselves. The real benefits will come as the cities speed the innovation of construction and planning methods, which can be used in future urban development. The numerous eco-cities could be seen as the largest experiment in urban sustainability ever, with potential to produce an extensive amount of innovations in technology, lessons in urban development, and sustainable construction capacity.
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