Sustainable Urban Planning

Why urban planning is a crucial question in today’s China

According to S.A. Hammer (Executive Director, Energy Smart Cities Initiative - JUCCCE):

On top of the 600 million people who live in Chinese cities at the moment, 350 million more should arrive over the next 15-20 years;
By 2025, there should be more than 200 cities in the country with populations exceeding 1 million people;
A great share of China’s industrial energy consumption has been driven by the need for concrete and steel to construct these growing cities – and this situation will not change any time soon;
China’s growing middle class is buying more and more energy consuming products (cars, computers, air conditioners…)
By 2030, Chinese cities will be responsible for 20% of global energy demand.

Our commitment to the design of better cities

Internat Energy Solutions has decided to conduct ongoing research in the field of sustainable urban development, in order to extend its field of specialty from green building to urban planning.

Our experience and capacities in the energy field allow us to get involved in projects from their very first stages, in order to design:

Alternative modes of energy production (rooftop orientation for the installation of photovoltaic solar panels, cogeneration systems, heating or cooling networks...)
Low-energy consumption architecture (bioclimatic design)
etc.

Our vision of urban planning

The spaces in which we live and work, our homes, neighbourhoods and offices, should not feel imposed upon us, but be places we enjoy, in which we feel at ease. However, such requirements often add to environmental degradation and ecosystems dysfunctions (interruption of water cycles, ruptures of the ecological corridors, etc.); besides, certain kinds of urban planning also lead to spatial segregation.

Therefore, much has to be done in order to invent districts and cities respectful of the environment and biodiversity, yet compatible with individual and social well-being.

The impossibility of 'isolated' design

Though « eco-cities » and « eco-districts » projects are rapidly multiplying everywhere — and China is no exception —, they seldom follow any broadly-accepted definition or common criteria. Moreover, many of these projects are based on the assumption that the considered area should be independant from its surroundings. Nonetheless, it is essential to understand that within the urban system, no such thing can exist: every part of a territory, newly-planned or in a state of renovation, should be considered as part of a whole, including neighbouring districts and cities, workforce location, 'green' and 'blue' natural frames, etc. An isolated « eco-district » could never be sustainable.

Therefore, a more sustainable urban planning requires designing at all possible scales, with an important focus on the vital territorial connections to preserve or enhance.

Urban design as part of sustainable development

A more 'sustainable' urban planning can only be pursued through the balanced consideration of three main objectives:

Cosmopolitism and social cohesion, by allowing people of different social backgrounds and needs to share the same public spaces, which should be made open, accessible to all and enjoyable;
Economic integration, by gathering all important urban functions within a common perimeter – thus reducing the need for transportation;
Environmental quality, by working on various keypoints, such as:

limiting greenhouse gas emissions, by favouring alternative modes of transportation: walking and cycling can be encouraged through specially protected lanes, public transport through good consideration of stations location, etc.

limiting energy needs through bioclimatic architecture;

limiting urban sprawl, by favouring urban density;

use and re-use of rain and waste water;

enhancing biodiversity, by creating 'blue' and 'green' connections between different spaces, and by bringing nature back to the city (greener rooftops, walls, parking lots...)

No methodology comparable to that of a green building label such as LEED yet exists in the field of urban planning. But though exploring this possibility would be worthwhile, such a methodology could never be as formalized as for individual buildings — for urban issues vary greatly depending on the objectives and ambition of each project, and on the unique historical, political and environmental characteristics of each location. No « eco-district » or « eco-city » project could be « sustainable » without taking into consideration the most specific needs of a given territory.