Society

Wuxi: Slowing down on the road

By Du Wenjuan (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-09-10 10:53

Slow down in a fast developing city? Wuxi is trying.

Under an ambitious plan by the local government, a green town set to be a state pilot demonstrative project will be erected within three years in Wuxi city, East China, the town's planner said at a seminar at the European Union Pavilion of the World Expo in Shanghai Wednesday.

North of Taihu Lake next to a wide swath of wetlands, the 2.4-square-km eco-city modeled after Stockholm's Hammarby Sjostad will open a new area and provide a green lifestyle for the town's 20,000 residents.

To help people slow down, walking and bicycle lanes will outnumber car lanes, and the roads will be in accordance with the area's geographical features such as dense water lanes and low hills.

"With this eco-city as an example, our people will be encouraged to lead a slow life while on the road, drive private vehicles less and take more public transportation," said Feng Xiaoxing, director of the city's Taihu town management committee's planning office.

The city is even planning to move its city center to this area, along with its government. Now, more residential communities are moving into the area.

"My mother just likes this place, it's more relaxing and not as crowded as the central city area," said a 25-year-old post-graduate student whose family moved two years ago to an apartment in a community near the eco-city. "And more and more people are moving in, which surprised me at first," she added.

Eco-city in the making

The city is working to meet ambitious standards of energy use and ecological environmental governance, in cooperation with Sweden's technological support.

It hopes to bring its residents to lead others in recycling garbage, especially household waste, with plans to build a pipeline network from collection stations to recycling facilities in the area.

Potable water directly from the tap will be available, and water reuse and recycling will be put into practice.

All the structures in the area will be green and energy-efficient. Renewable energy use will account for more than 15 percent of the area's total energy use.