Tianjin: China's planned Eco-city

Tianjin: China's planned Eco-city (Full Version)

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Hippiekinkster -> Tianjin: China's planned Eco-city (1/16/2011 11:24:22 PM)
Is this the future of Urban design? China is at the forefront of eco-planning. They have no choice. They have seen that the Western model of unrestricted growth a la Houston, LA, and Atlanta is obsolete. Capitalism has been unable to allocate resources in a way that benefits ALL citizens in an urban setting. http://www.batangastoday.com/tianjin-eco-city-in-china-designed-by-surbana-urban-planning-group-set-to-be-completed-in-2020/8821/ I'm all for rational planning.

DarkSteven -> RE: Tianjin: China's planned Eco-city (1/17/2011 6:26:37 AM)
Um, HK, if you think that the Chinese need to look to the West to see the eco-consequences of a country, they don't need to look that far. China is a disaster, with major pollution issues, major fractures between haves and have-nots, etc. Communism does a beautiful job of allocating resources for the benefits of all, in theory. Not so much in practice. Look at some of the things that the former USSR did to give yourself an idea. Stalin's purges, the corruption when officials are given control over resource allocation and simply ask for bribes, the pollution of Lake Baikal, etc. Cuba is another example. The climate's great, the people are not lazy. but the economy has never done well. The people there are among the poorest in the world.

Hippiekinkster -> RE: Tianjin: China's planned Eco-city (1/17/2011 8:10:05 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: DarkSteven Um, HK, if you think that the Chinese need to look to the West to see the eco-consequences of a country, they don't need to look that far. China is a disaster, with major pollution issues, major fractures between haves and have-nots, etc. Communism does a beautiful job of allocating resources for the benefits of all, in theory. Not so much in practice. Look at some of the things that the former USSR did to give yourself an idea. Stalin's purges, the corruption when officials are given control over resource allocation and simply ask for bribes, the pollution of Lake Baikal, etc. Cuba is another example. The climate's great, the people are not lazy. but the economy has never done well. The people there are among the poorest in the world. Steven, pollution in China isn't the point. (I actually believe China will eventually collapse due to environmental destruction) The point is that China appears to be taking a bold step in Urban design to develop a city that is more ecologically sound than the urban sprawl model of the US. And we aren't talking about Stalinist Russia, nor Cuba. An argument could be made that Cuba would be in a much better situation were it not for ideologues in the US who can stand the though of a market they can't touch. China is looking at their own future, and their own mistakes, with this project.

joether -> RE: Tianjin: China's planned Eco-city (1/18/2011 2:43:35 AM)
Everything always looks good on paper, as the saying goes. Add to it 'artistic renderings' that put words in to images for the non-imagative to view. They may even create a 3-D physical layout and map to show individual buildings, roads, and even the plumbing underground. Likewise, showing investors and such, a computerized enviroment that allows someone to walk about and give the impression of scale. BUT.... Its all on paper until its a reality. Anyone that's done massive scale projects understand two things: It wont be on budget and on time. Boston's Big Dig is a great example of that. They created a tunnel for a highway (Route 93) with exits, underneigh both a living city, AND, the 'T' (Boston's Subway). By engineering marvels it does rank up there in the 'impressive' category. But the cost of the project and the time it took to build, are staggering. Also, corners were not allowed to be skipped, with everything being performed stable and correct. Unforturately, a car was smashed by a beam improperly constructed, killing one woman. China, will cut corners, and make things look 'nice and crisp' while controlling the media. Directing people's attention to what the Chinesse want the world to see, not the ugly reality, that is just around the corner. Time will tell if this project is a reality, or just a 'gimick' to get investors into China from the USA and Europe.

tweakabelle -> RE: Tianjin: China's planned Eco-city (1/19/2011 1:08:29 AM)
Canberra, our Federal capital here, is a planned city. Designed early last century by a distinguished architect, Walter Burley Girffin, it was built over pristine countryside. During a visit there, I sat on the steps of the amazing new Parliament House building and took in the view of the entire city. Every fibre of my body told me there was something seriously wrong with what I was seeing. But for the life of me I couldn't pinpoint what it was ..... it all seemed balanced, pretty, lots of green etc etc. Most people who live there dislike the place (tho that could be related to the excessive numbers of politicians residing there:) ) And it's so law abiding no one even breaks the speed limits ....... After about 15 minutes it finally dawned on me that what was wrong with Canberra was that there was nothing wrong with it - it wasn't human. [:D]

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