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Dujiangyan city is famous for its rich cultural heritage, especially the Dujiangyan Irrigation System which was built around 250 BC yet still works today. Located closest to the epicentre of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, the city suffered severe damages during the disaster.
Arup was one of the ten organisations to contribute to the design of the reconstruction masterplan for the area on a pro-bono basis, providing masterplanning, geographic information systems (GIS), geotechnics and sustainability consulting services.
Our multidisciplinary team put forth a holistic masterplan that is people-oriented, hazard-resilient, and goes beyond conventional planning by providing an exemplary model of a sustainable way of post-disaster reconstruction.
Structured yet flexible
As a starting point, Arup proposed a strategic decision-making framework that gave the reconstruction process adequate structure to enable policy formulation but allow enough flexibility for re-evaluation of decisions as new circumstances became available.
An independent authority was proposed as the key entity to oversee the entire reconstruction process, enhancing the efficiency of the reconstruction progress.
From emergency response to long-term resurgence
The remedial work was prioritised through extensive use of GIS, remote sensing techniques and most recent satellite images. Areas of likely risk of earthquake, landslide or flooding were identified and the findings were used to decide whether the infrastructure should be relocated.
We also formulated an urban disaster evacuation system by connecting open spaces with hazard resilient parks to ensure escape routes for survivors and unobstructed access for rescue teams.
Our masterplan looks beyond temporary recovery and looks into sustainable development of the community, socially, economically and environmentally. We proposed a socio-economic recovery strategy that utilises existing local natural and heritage resources, improving the competitive edge for the tourism industry.
Arup's in-house developed design tool, SPeARTM, was used to set up a sustainable eco-city plan incorporating water saving, solid waste control, renewable energy use and ecological system recovery.
