Eco Cities and Sustainable Urban Environments

SCHOOL OF DESIGN & ENVIRONMENT - NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE

Eco Cities and Sustainable Urban Environments M.T.O.V. Peiris 3/9/2015

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Eco City Concept and Sustainable Urban Environment

M.T.O.V. Peiris

Contents 1.

INTRODUCTION

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1.1 The Urban Context

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1.2 Evolution of Eco Cities

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1.3 Eco Cities in the Context of Sustainable Urban Environments

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2.

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MODERN ECO CITIES AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

2.1 Introduction to the Modern Day Eco Cities

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2.2 Overview of Selected Eco Cities

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2.2.1 Masdar Zero Carbon Eco City, United Arab Emirates

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2.2.2 Tianjin Eco City, China

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2.3 Significance of Eco Cities in terms of achieving Objectives

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3.

EVALUATION & CONCLUSION

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4.

ANNEXURES

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4.1 Annexure 1: Location of Masdar Eco City in UAE and Master Plan

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4.2 Annexure 2: Location of Tianjin Eco City, China and Master Plan

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5.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Eco Cities and Sustainable Urban Environments

1.

INTRODUCTION

1.1

The Urban Context

Urbanization has been the driving force for number of issues for city planning as such pollution, congestion and socio economic disparities. Recently, emerging developing countries has mass movement of people into confined urban spaces which resulted in challenges of infrastructure provision, climate change impacts and exceeding of urban capacity (Lye & Cheng, 2010). As cities are known to be the ‘engines of economic growth’ (ADB, 2011) the quality of life and the environmental concerns were kept in the back seat during industrialization and globalization era. But the world recognized on solving the emerging issues by using the concepts of eco cities, green growth, inclusive cities, liveable cities, eco2 cities (Ecological & Economic), etc. Eco city concept became into stages in mid 1970s to rebuild cities in balance with nature from the ecological perspective. The concept has expanded in the urban planning profession with sustainable development concept (Brundtland Commission, 1987) and eco city and sustainable development concepts merged together for sustainable urban development. Modern day eco cities are focused on managing urban environment for the residents to live, work & play. 1.2

Evolution of Eco Cities

Eco city concept has evolved in 1975 by Richard Register under the umbrella of urban ecology (Roseland, 1997). Since then, eco city concept has been popular among designers, activists, practitioners and visionaries. Due to widespread nature of the concept and paradigm changes of urban structure, the definition of eco city has been wayward, but this caused the city planning to move away from anthropocentric nature towards synergizing rights of nonliving components and intrinsic values of environment (Wong & Yuen, 2011). Eco city is a new term with an old concept. Urban development harmonizing with nature is moving back to 19th century with “Garden City Concept” introduced by Ebenezer Howard as a solution for the increased air, water pollution and substandard livelihood of people in England (Reps, 2002). With the rapid urbanization with post World War II, developed countries in Europe and East Asia focused on tight environmental policies followed by eco-

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nurturing city planning (Imura, 2010). The challenges of urbanization versus environmental degradation are currently faced by emerging developing nations and out of most are located in Asia. The demographic changes and industry driven economic structure has resulted irreversible damages to the nature and people, so modern day eco cities are focused on triple bottom line of achieving environmental, social and economic sustainability through urban planning intervention. 1.3

Eco Cities in the Context of Sustainable Urban Environments

Trans-boundary nature of impacts on cities created the challenge of overcoming environmental problems within the cities complex. Sea level rise and climate change related impacts are common challenges for many cities in the world and the impacts are severe on developing countries (Peake & Smith, 2010). Therefore eco city development has merged together with the objective of creating low carbon societies within city level. The focus of eco city development has been transformed from creating prosperous urban livelihood for the citizens of its own towards the responsibility of cities to protect the global environment while improving themselves (Imura, 2010). The concept of “Think Globally, Act Locally” came into design and rebuilding challenge of eco cities in 21 st century (Whittemore, 2012). The policies play key role in shaping eco cities into workable form of all these objectives. Imura (2010) demonstrated the integration of policies towards eco city concept. Figure 1: Integration of Policies in the Concept of Eco-Cities

Global Environment Climate Change, Tropical Rainforest, Bio Diversity, Ozone Layer, and so on

Environment

Integration

Development

Policy Tools for Environmental Control & Management

Eco-Cities

Policy Tools in the Hands of Development Authorities

“Think Globally, Act Locally” Local Environment Urban Sprawl, Land Use, Air Pollution, Traffic Congestion, Solid Waste, and so on

Source: Eco Cities: Re-examining Concepts & Approaches (Imura, 2010)

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Eco City Concept and Sustainable Urban Environment

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Although cities face new challenges in modern world, effective construction of eco cities involve appropriate technology, community economic development, bio regionalism and sustainable development (Roseland, 1997). This has been further elaborated by Lim (2010) on important components that comprised of an eco-city including transportation, green buildings, retrofitting, urban agriculture and recycling (Lim, 2010).

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2.

MODERN ECO CITIES AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

2.1

Introduction to the Modern Day Eco Cities

Creating eco cities out of scratch is a challenging task compared with the organically developed eco cities in most of the European context. Transforming the concept into reality is even challenging due to the unique characteristics and practical barriers on ground. Modern cities get pressure from international communities as a result of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, increased environmental degradation and carbon intensity of economies. Emerging economies and countries with high scale GHG emissions such as China, Gulf countries focused more on eco city development to trade-off the pollution effects. Critical natural capital is considered as important elements in planning of modern eco cities. Air quality, water quality, green cover and forest areas and open areas have been recognized as essential elements for the livelihood of urban residents (Lye & Cheng, 2010). With the effects of climate change reached to a peak level, countries such as China, United Arab Emirates (UAE) initiated modern eco city projects to achieve win-win situation for both urban development and environmental sustainability. So these cases represent a balanced approach between urban sustainability with ecological modernization (Pow & Neo, 2010). The reflections of modern eco city development concept are compared in the context of Tianjin eco city of Tianjin, China and Masdar carbon neutral eco city of Abu Dhabi, UAE. 2.2

Overview of Selected Eco Cities 2.2.1 Masdar Zero Carbon Eco City, United Arab Emirates

Masdar city is located at Abu Dhabi, the capital of UAE. The main motive behind Masdar eco city project is the carbon intensity of UAE economy on oil & gas which reported as the second highest per capita emitter of GHG in 2000-2005 period (WRI, 2005), (Lye & Cheng, 2010). Masdar city initiative is not only the first ever zero carbon eco city development, but also a flagship project of WWF (World Wildlife Fund). The project follows the 10 sustainable principles of “One Planet

Image 1: Masdar Eco City Design (http://www.bustler.net/images/gallery/masdar_ plaza_lava_06.jpg)

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Living” program of WWF (Madichie, 2011). Table 1: 10 Principles of One Planet Living (OPL) adopted for Masdar Eco City Project

OPL Principle

Masdar City Initiative

100% energy supplied by renewable sources – Photovoltaic, 1 Zero Carbon concentrated solar power, wind, waste to energy and other technologies. 99% diversion of waste from landfill (includes 3R Concept - waste 2 Zero Waste reduction, re-use, recycling, composting, waste-to-energy). Zero carbon emissions from transport sector within city boundary Sustainable 3 through reduction of carbon cost (use of public transport, vehicle Transport sharing and low emission vehicles). Recycled materials for building construction and energy reduction Sustainable 4 through tracking process (timber from certified suppliers of Forest Materials Stewardship Council [FSC], use of bamboo, etc.) Use of organic food within the city outlets and growth of corn within 5 Sustainable Food city limits. Treatment and re-use of all the waste water generated and target Sustainable 6 reduction of per capita water use by 50% compared with national Water average values. Habitats and Available wildlife and habitats to be conserved while relocating the 7 Wildlife impacted habitats with post mitigation measures. Culture & Building design and architecture are reflected by local measures. 8 Heritage Priority concern on privacy of residents (Arabian culture). Wages and salaries are based on International Labor Organization Equity & Fair 9 standards and follow the equal wage system from planning, design, Trade construction and post commissioning process of the city. Regardless of demographic profile, everyone benefitted with access Health & 10 to health and pursuit of happiness. Happiness Source: WWF (http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/all_publications/?121361/WWF-Abu-Dhabiunveil-plans-for-sustainable-city/)

Planning intervention of Masdar eco city is heavily backed by economic objectives to seek a transition into renewable energy dominated economy to reduce the dependency on oil. The priority concerns of planning are to dominate Masdar in terms of renewable energy, knowledge and industry diversification (Caprotti & Romanovicz, 2013). The project is planned to house 50,000 residents expanded on an area of 6 km2 and its key feature in planning is the use of thermal metabolism. The project information on the Masdar eco city and its planning approaches are as per the Table 2.

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Table 2: Project information and planning approaches of Masdar Eco City Project

 

Masdar Initiative World’s first Carbon neutral car-free city with 100% renewable energy based city Abu Dhabi, UAE – 6 sq. km. (See Annex 1 for location details)

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Project Name & Nature

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Location & land area

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Investment

US$ 22 billion

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Investors

Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (ADFEC)

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Nature of Govt. Involvement

ADFEC is govt. owned company and developed through Mubadala Development Company

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Launched Date

Announced in March 2006; Initiated in February 2007

Plans and Status

  

Phase I completed in 2009 Full completion in 2016 50,000 residents, 1,500 industries and 60,000 daily commuters are expected



Use of renewable energy technologies (Solar, PV, wasteto-energy technology); Water resources management (recycling, advanced treatment of water, and reduction in water demand; A zero-waste lifestyle through reducing, reusing, recovering, and recycling waste materials; Urban transport through personal rapid transit (PRT) and material rapid transit (MRT).

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 8

Key Sustainability Initiatives

 

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Additional Planning Roles

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Economic-Environmental transitional role Metabolic urban planning (thermal efficiency)

Source: (Caprotti & Romanovicz, 2013), (Lye & Cheng, 2010) The design was followed by traditional Arab & Persian housing designs with wind towers and climatic architectural designs including narrow streets, shadow windows and thick walls. Project has extended its deadlines up to 2020 due to delays and the project proposal was revised in 2010 in order to meet the low demand of people into the city. The project has not completed yet and its progress reflects the Masdar’s journey to the urban sustainability. The key natural challenge for the eco city development is the deserted environment and continuous sand storms reduce the efficiency of solar PV panels due to deposition of dust.

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2.2.2 Tianjin Eco City, China Unlike Masdar, Tianjin Eco City is a trademark project for China and Singapore. Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City is designed and built by the two countries with an intention of strengthening political and economic relationships. Also it is expected to reduce the so-called ghost townships in China through application of Singapore’s urban planning excellence into China’s growing problems of pollution and congestion (Yu, 2014), (Lye & Cheng, 2010). China, the highest single GHG emitter in the world (World Bank,

Figure 2: Tianjin Eco-City Design, bird’s eye view Source: http://www.kepcorp.com/Upload/PressRelease/Pic%201( 1).jpg

2013), has initiated more than 100 eco city projects in past decade (Caprotti, 2014). Tianjin eco city spanned over 30 km2 of non-arable land located close to Tianjin Economic Development Zone is expected to cater around 350,000 residents by the end of 2020. The project information is as follows. Table 3: Basic information & Planning Approaches of Tianjin Eco-City Project

 

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Project Name & Nature

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Location & land area

Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city Economically thriving, environmentally friendly, socially harmonious and resource efficient city Tianjin, Binhai New District, China – 34.2 sq. km. (See Annex 2 for location details)

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Investment

US$ 7.3 billion (RMB 50,000,000,000)

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Investors

Keppel Corp (lead Singapore Consortium) Tianjin TEDA Investment Holdings (lead Chinese Consortium) Shanghai Industrial Investment Corporation (SIIC) & Arup

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Nature of Govt. Involvement

Joint Steering Committee Joint Working Committee SIIC is an investment group owned by Shanghai municipal government

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Launched Date

Announced in April 2007; Ground broke in September 2008

Plans and Status

  

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Start-up area of 4 sq. km to be ready by 2013 Full completion in 2020 Accommodate 350,000 by 2020 and 500,000 people by 2050

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Eco City Concept and Sustainable Urban Environment

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8

Key Sustainability Initiatives

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Additional Planning Roles

      

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Carbon emissions per unit of GDP: ≤150 tons C per one million US$ GDP Proportion of Green Buildings: 100 % Per capita domestic waste generation: ≤ 0.8 kg per day per capita (by 2013) Proportion of Green Trips: 90 % (30 % by 2013) Overall solid waste recycling rate: 60 % Renewable energy usage: 20 % Water supply from non-conventional sources: at least 50 % Eco cell concept (Eco communities within 400m*400m grid of compatible land uses) to form hierarchy of neighborhoods, districts and urban centers

Source: (Lye & Cheng, 2010), (World Bank, 2009) Although Tianjin has its own merits to be a role model for the many “failed” eco cities in China, still it has its own criticisms in terms of functional spaces. The key problem involved with Tianjin is the attraction of population in as it has been drawn around 6,000 people for the first 5 years of implementation work. But it seems to be progressing as the timeline is around 20 years for the completion of eco city project. 2.3

Significance of Eco Cities in terms of achieving Objectives

Masdar and Tianjin eco cities are located in different context with different objectives. But the both cities are based on the principles of eco city development and reduction of greenhouse gas emission is one important consideration of modern eco cities. The similarity of both cities is the creation of eco city out of scratch (Masdar is in the desert and Tianjin is in industrial waste dumping site) and it is seen the risk and challenges are comparatively high for such development than improving existing cities with eco concept. Masdar and Tianjin city can be analyzed in terms of the 10 eco city development principles which evolved from urban ecology (Roseland, 1997). Table 4 demonstrates the consideration of each project in developing eco urban areas. Other than eco city principles of Roseland (1997), both the projects are targeted on income generation through eco city project. The analysis reveals that economic objectives are prioritized than environmental or social considerations of each project. Also the regional & national context of China and UAE is important to evaluate due to the differences in development level of the 2 countries and its reflections on development of eco city project.

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Table 4: Comparison of Eco City Development Concepts of Masdar & Tianjin

No. 1 2 3

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Eco City Development Principle Revision of land use priorities  (mixed use communities) Revised transport priorities (favor  bicycling, foot & mass transit) Restore damaged urban environments (creeks, shorelines, wetlands) Create mixed housing (affordable, safe and convenient)

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Nurture social justice (opportunities for women, disabled)

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Support local agriculture (urban greening & community gardening)

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Promote recycling (resource conservation & technology use)

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Support ecologically sound economic activity (eco businesses)

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Promote voluntary simplicity (reduce excessive consumption) Increase public awareness on sustainability (educational projects)

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Considerations of Masdar Eco City

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Considerations of Tianjin Eco City

50,000 residents & 1,500 businesses

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350,000 residents with target of clean & green environment

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Car-free city with rapid transit rail system run by hydrogen & renewable energy

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

90% of transportation is through metro, light rail or bus.

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Cleaning of existing toxic polluted reservoir into a boating lake Eco-cell, eco-neighborhood concept with improved walkability 20% of houses for subsidized public housing

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? House designs related to local privacy concepts Solar powered houses for energy needs

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



? 

Wheat & corn grown within city limits

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Structures made of recycled materials, bamboo & wood Desalination, solar PV, wind turbines Production of PV cells, R&D on renewable energy sector Test bed for zero-carbon industries

  

   ?



Clean energy based university and experimental labs on thermal efficiency

 Overall plan considered effectively on specific aspect

?



 ?





Urban agriculture promotion with land saving, water saving & energy saving Walls of houses made of pressedearth blocks Recycling & desalination of water

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Eco business park

?

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Reduction of per capita waste generation up to 0.8 kg/day R&D for green buildings development

?





 

?

Plan has not considered effectively on specific aspect 11

According to Table 4, both eco cities are lack of considering social justice over women and differently abled community for giving opportunities and reducing excessive consumption of resources. To me, reduction of consumption pattern is a critical issue which has been failed to address by Masdar city and the target given for Tianjin city is controversial within the given scope of work (World Bank, 2009). Also the economy driven motive is clearly visible in both projects with the target population and business nature. Both projects have faced difficulties in meeting the given deadlines due to lack of attraction of residents and businesses. The risk involvement is also very high for China as the country is still on developing state of income. Also Tianjin city is more focused towards attracting resident population while Masdar city is focused highly on renewable industrial development. Therefore, Tianjin city faces risk of failure with lack of population attraction (of being a ghost city) where Masdar city has the risk of underperforming technology (which already faced Solar PV industry failure). Also the artificial cities of such nature face failure in meeting the demand of the market through required supply of goods and services. Cities need strong economic base guided by government regulations to create opportunities for the people to attract in. Masdar city has been focused in mega scale technological innovations of solar and wind power which they missed simple facts of sand storms and their effect on solar PV based energy production. Tianjin city seems to be a replication of urban planning excellence of Singapore which (I believe) failed in addressing the socio economic situation of ground level. Also the governance mechanism and regional context has been neglected in making key performance indicators (KPI) of Tianjin city which resulted in impractical targets in environmental pollution control (World Bank, 2009). The case studies show that sole economic motives or replications of global cities are not the only solution for achieving sustainable urban environments.

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3.

EVALUATION & CONCLUSION

Modern eco cities can be categorized into broad two (02) categories based on its scale. Conversion of existing neighborhoods or communities into eco city concept forms (i.e.: Freiberg-Germany, Augustenborg-Sweden) and new cities made out on scratch (i.e.: Dongton-China, Masdar-UAE) (Caprotti & Romanovicz, 2013). Building cities out of scratch may present opportunities in application of effective land use principles and urban design standards for sustainable urban development (World Bank, 2009). This study has focused on innovative eco city development efforts by countries which have sustainable urban development economic diversification related issues. Modern cities are dynamic in nature and pose numerous challenges between the increasing population growth and limited natural resources. Eco city concept itself emerged in similar context, but it has been reshaped by various professionals and various countries due to unique challenges and priorities of economy (Figure 3). The balancing act between these goals and nature is presented in the cases of Masdar city in UAE and Tianjin city of China. Figure 3: Changing priorities reflected from eco cities in various contexts

Source: Eco-Cities: Re-examining Concepts & Approaches (Imura, 2010)

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It is evident that China and UAE followed different approaches to attain “eco-city” definition for the cities, but followed by various challenges and barriers in moving forward. The key prospect for the both cities is that the projects have not been completed yet. With the early signs of barriers, the city planners must be proactive to adapt into situation with flexible changes in original blueprint of eco city. But the social coherence and resource efficiency are key priorities as well as to the rate of return from investment to achieve sustainable urban environment. In my opinion, Masdar city and Tianjin city are comparatively better efforts than many failed ghost cities with eco labels. As the 2 eco city projects are created from the scratch, local conditions in terms of socio economic environment as well as the regional and national context has to be considered in the planning stage as priority basis. Finally, eco city must be an invention of maximizing exchange and minimizing travel (Engwicht, 1993). The exchange can be of all sorts of good, money, ideas, emotions and genetic material with clean environment & without fear of traffic (Roseland, 1997). I believe the functional space and interaction between human and nature must be demonstrated by eco cities to achieve sustainable urban environment.

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4.

ANNEXURES

4.1

Annexure 1: Location of Masdar Eco City in UAE and Master Plan

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Source: Google Earth

Source: www.openbuildings.com

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4.2

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Annexure 2: Location of Tianjin Eco City, China and Master Plan

Source: Google Earth

Source: www.tianjinecocity.gov.sg

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Madichie, N. (2011). IRENA – Masdar City (UAE) – exemplars of innovation into emerging markets. Foresight, 13(6), 34-47. Patel, P., & Griffiths, S. (2013). Masdar City showcases sustainability. MRS bulletin, 450451. Peake, S., & Smith, J. (2010). Climate Change: From Science to Sustainability. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pearce, F. (2006). Eco-cities special: Ecopolis now. New Scientist, 8. Pow, C., & Neo, H. (2010). Building Ecotopia: Critical reflections on Eco-City Development in China. In L. Fook, & C. Gang, Towards a Liveable and Sustainable Urban Environment: Eco Cities in Asia (pp. 91-106). Singapore: World Scientific Printers. Premalatha, M., Tauseef, S. M., Abbasi, T., & Abbasi, S. A. (2013). The promise and the performance of the world's first two zero carbon eco-cities. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 660-669. Reps, J. (2002, November 27). Garden Cities of To-Morrow. Retrieved February 13, 2015, from Urban Planning, 1794-1918: An International Anthology of Articles, Conference Papers, and Reports: http://urbanplanning.library.cornell.edu/DOCS/howard.htm Roseland, M. (1997). Dimensions of the eco-city. Cities, 197-202. Urban NEXUS project. (2014, August). Tianjin Eco-City, China. Retrieved February 16, 2015, from ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability: www.iclei.org/urbannexus Whittemore, A. (2012, February 7). Why Planners Need to Take Agenda 21 Criticism More Seriously. Retrieved January 23, 2015, from The Atlantic Citylab: http://www.citylab.com/design/2012/02/why-planners-need-take-agenda-21-criticismmore-seriously/1159/ Wong, T., & Yuen, B. (2011). Eco-city Planning: Policies, Practice and Design. Singapore: Springer. World Bank. (2009). Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City: A Case Study of an Emerging EcoCity in China. World Bank. WRI. (2005). NAVIGATING THE NUMBERS: GREENHOUSE GAS DATA AND INTERNATIONAL CLIMATE POLICY—PART I. World Resource Institute. WWF. (2008, January 13). WWF, Abu Dhabi unveil plans for sustainable city. Retrieved February 16, 2015, from Worldwide Fund for Nature: http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/all_publications/?121361/WWF-Abu-Dhabiunveil-plans-for-sustainable-city Yigitcanlar, T., & Lee, S. (2014). Korean ubiquitous-eco-city: A smart-sustainable urban form or a branding hoax? echnological Forecasting and Social Change, 100-114.

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Yoneda, Y. (2011, January 10). Tianjin Eco City is a Futuristic Green Landscape for 350,000 Residents. Retrieved February 05, 2015, from Inhabitat.com: http://inhabitat.com/tianjinecocityisafuturisticgreenlandscapefor350000residents/ Yu, L. (2014). Low carbon eco-city: New approach for Chinese urbanisation. Habitat International, 102-110.

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