11 Oct 2010
Arup’s regional strategy plan for Zhengbian New District in Zhengzhou City, Henan Province has been awarded the highly acclaimed International Society of City and Regional Planners (ISOCARP) Award for Excellence 2010.
This is the second consecutive year that Arup has been recognised with the highest honour that ISOCARP can award to a city, region or an institution.
The 2,100km2 Zhengbian New District, adjoining Zhengzhou City in central China, is a proposed new urban growth area comprising towns, villages, farm land and environmentally sensitive water resources protection areas. Arup was invited to prepare a regional development strategy (in the form of an urban-rural systems concept plan) to guide the rapid urbanisation of the area from 2010 to 2020 and beyond.
Arup developed a series of innovative planning methodologies and tools for this spatial plan, which targets to enhance the competitiveness of the new town and stimulate the sustainable development of urban clusters within central China.
Our proposal employs a methodology that assesses the ecological and natural resources carrying capacity of the whole region’s environmental system to determine the limit of urban growth and population capacity. This will serve as an important tool to facilitate the consensus process among local authorities to arrive at an agreed regional growth pattern.
Another key idea of our planning strategy is to establish basic eco-spatial units – urban forms where people have access to public services within walking or short public transport distance – to encourage green commuting and get more people to choose public transport.
We also set up a carbon dioxide emission audit framework, based specifically on the China’s current statutory planning system for assessing alternative land-use strategies. The model is a pioneering planning tool in China’s urban planning practice, and was used for comparison and assessment of the impact of the land use options on regional greenhouse gas emission levels.
Our innovative, integrated plan directly addresses the immediate challenges and opportunities facing cities and regions in contemporary China. This will serve as best practice example for sustainable regional development planning in China and other developing countries with the same challenges.
– Stanley Yip, Arup’s Director of Planning and Development in China
This planning proposal for Zhenbian New District won the first place in an international competition and was endorsed by the Zhengzhou City government in 2009 as the spatial framework for the preparation of its statutory master land use plan subsequently.
Arup pioneers the planning and delivery of low-carbon communities in China. The firm's concept plan for Beijing Changxindian Low Carbon Community was the winner of the ISOCARP Award for Excellence in 2009.
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