It is fortunate to be travelling with our Mayor Larry O’Brien because the cities that we are visiting put the entire management of the City in perspective before dealing with the question of sustainable economic development, my specific interest area.
Urban planning in Chongqing must not only deal with the challenge of population, it must also accept the geographic realities of a mountainous terrain and two major river systems. We are also not talking of a new city but a city first settled over 3,000 years ago. The development of a nice symmetric grid system with a gently sloping underground infrastructure is definitely not an option.
Chongqing refers to itself as a phoenix. Its geographic area does resemble the mythical bird rising into the air and the City is in the midst of a major renewal as it becomes China’s western gateway. It has developed a planning strategy of a circle with two wings. The circle represents the reconstruction of the urban core and the two wings, the development of the new regions that stretch northeast and southeast.
The redevelopment of the core is not being done as one massive project, but as a series of smaller districts, each with its own designation for concentration. For example, in the west is a large area that will house over a dozen universities.
Several of the rookies on this trip had a negative impression as we drove in from the airport to our hotel in the city’s downtown. We passed through older areas of the city, many in various stages of reconstruction. The fog and drizzle did not help.
Grey fog and mist in Chongqing
Vision for the future ....
Then came our trip to and briefing on the New North Zone. This area was farmland a few short few years ago. The region could be planned from scratch and did not face the challenges of the river gorges in the city centre.
The rookies went from wondering why we had chosen Chongqing as an area of focus, to “are we in China or in Silicon Valley?” The streetscapes, the buildings, the landscaping and even the BMW’s and Audi’s all could have been in Palo Alto. OK, the Chinese characters on the buildings and the distinct lack of sun did let you know this was China, but our Starbucks addicts never had a problem!
I have commented in the past on the Chinese commitment to the low carbon environment, and it was clearly seen in two of our meetings. Some of our delegation had visited the China Energy Conservation Investment Corporation (CECIC) in Beijing and we visited their office in Chongqing. The City is a major industrial location and does face significant challenges as it struggles to meet China’s new low carbon goals. Chongqing has been chosen by the Chinese government as the pilot large city to identify the major obstacles to meeting the low carbon targets. A major question that they are trying to address is how to identify technology solutions and link them to the market needs. CECIC is developing a platform that links market need, technology and funding. This is exactly the type of vehicle that will allow our emerging companies like Plasco, Clearford and Thermal Energy to better partner in China.
Mayor of Ottawa, Larry O'Brien makes ceremonial presentation in Chongqing
Our meeting with Chongqing Energy Investment Group also proved to be fruitful. They are one of the largest power suppliers in the region with over 2.3 million households on their grid. If you look at their challenge, they are in a market in which demand is growing both from increasing population and the movement to a new level of economic importance, and yet new standards of carbon footprint must be met. They are experimenting with a variety of clean energy alternatives, including options for energy reduction. We in Ottawa are looking at many of the same challenges, albeit at a different scale, so once again there is the enormous potential for partnership in finding and implementing solutions.
As we progress through China, it is becoming increasingly evident that we are in a global economy, with nobody having all the problems and nobody having all the solutions. Partnership and cooperation are the keys to building sustainable economies.
