- Zuoling Eco Valley, Wuhan – A case study on attaining urban liveability through sustainable design at the master plan stage   click here to open paper content554 kb
by    Dijkwel, Renske & Krant, Pieter & de Ruiter, Teske | renske.dijkwel@grontmij.nl   click here to send an email to the auther(s) of this paper
Short Outline
This article describes the design concept developed for Zuoling, Wuhan by Grontmij urban designers that is based on (1) the existing landscape and (2) the BREEAM framework for implementing sustainable solutions.
Abstract
Wuhan, the host city of the 2011 ISOCARP congress, has an ever-increasing population base. In order to accommodate this ongoing expansion large new urban area’s like Zuoling Eco Valley, to the east of Wuhan, are being developed. In Zuoling, the goal is to transfer the now predominantly rural area of 30 km2 into a new eco valley accommodating at least 100.000 residents and many employment opportunities, especially in the 4th generation high tech sector.

This new urban area is to be developed in a sustainable way. Zuoling’s urban design should help make it easier for future residents themselves to minimize their ecological footprint and reduce their carbon dioxide emissions. Zuoling should be designed in a way that makes residents feel at home.

The existing landscape
In designing the large scale urban area of Zuoling in a sustainable way, many different environmental, economic and social interests of course come together. We found the foundation for the new design in the existing landscape structure. It offers a very useful basis for designing an excellent network for housing, industry, infrastructure, water and nature.

Sustainable solutions
The urban design was furthermore based on the idea that urban livability and an enhanced quality of life can be attained by incorporating a broad range of sustainability solutions in the early stages of the designing process. “BREEAM communities ”, we felt, offered a very usable and flexible framework for handling these different interests. Solutions were explored for the BREEAM categories climate & energy, building, transportation & mobility, community, ecology and landscape, resources (waste & water) and business & economy.
Keywords
sustainable urban design, eco valley, Wuhan, landscape, ecological footprint, BREEAM communities, sustainable solutions
Case Study presented on the ISOCARP Congress 2011: LIVEABLE CITIES: URBANISING WORLD, Meeting the Challenge
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