Striving Towards the Eco-city: Experience from Huainan, China

Urban-Rural Integrated Planning  

China has adopted a policy of urban-rural dual structure system since the founding of the Republic in 1949. The system is urban-biased in economic, social and infrastructure development. This has brought about many problems triggered by urban-rural separation and inequality. It creates a serious obstacle for sustainable urban-rural integrated development.

Huainan has taken the lead to change this situation through its “Urban-Rural Integration Plan 2011” (fig.2). Upholding the idea of an integrated Huainan, the plan features  comprehensive treatment of coal subsidence areas; promotes intensive and compact developpment of urban and rural land, maintains five balances of urban-rural planning, industrial development, infrastructure, public service, employment and social security. Altogether, the plan supports an urban-rural integrated development model of “industry promoting agriculture, city helping town, town helping village and city-town interacting with each other.” There is an eco-city indicator system tailor-made for Huainan, which sets targets and provides an assessment tool for each stage of development

Figure 2. Urban-Rural Integration Plan (2011) of Huainan city

http://www.hngh.gov.cn/ReadNews.asp?NewsID=706

Eco-Restoration of Mining Subsidence Areas

Long-time coal mining results in subsiding land, which in effect destroys the local environment. Main eco-restoration techniques of mining subsidence areas include improvement of soil, re-vegetation and application of soil micro-organisms (LIU and LU, 2009). According to Huainan’s “Eco-city Construction Plan 2005” the local government will by 2020 invest 10 billion RMBuan in eco-restoration, infrastructure and slum reconstruction. An important feature of the Eco-City Construction plan is that eco-renovation goes hand in hand with infrastructure improvement, human habitat environment upgrading and industrial transformation.

Huainan’s coal mines have been exploited for 500 years. Mining subsidence areas exist in many places of the city. In 2007, the city launched an eco-restoration project of the Quanda region, 1,250,000m2 in area and with 250,000 inhabitants. The coal has long been exhausted here and the land was abandoned, leaving a wasteland of mining subsidence areas. In compliance with the topography of the region, the government divided it into four sub-areas for eco-restoration, and reconstructed them with different characteristics. These four sub-areas include reservoirs, wet-lands, residential areas and mountains. The wetland area centers around the Datong mining subsidence, where the environment is most seriously endangered and in need of urgent remediation (e.g. construction of wetland parks and public facilities, closure and relocation of heavily polluting enterprises, vegetation restoration and landscaping etc). In 2010, with the completion of the restoration project, the Quanda region was revitalized and become a new urban center for living, working, transportation and recreation.  

Figure 3. Mining subsidence areas before restoration

Figure 4. Mining subsidence areas after restoration

Comprehensive Utilization of Resources  

COAL-MINE GAS: Coal mines emit gas containing mainly coal-mine methane (CMM). It poses the biggest risk to coal mine safety, and it is one of the major greenhouse gas emissions contributing to global warming. However, if the coalmine gas is comprehensively utilized, it can be converted into a source clean energy.       

Huainan is the forerunner of comprehensive coalmine gas utilization in China. Its coalfield is rich in CMM resources and has large-scale CMM drainage. Huainan Mining Group is in charge of the effort to comprehensively utilize the drained CMM and ventilation air methane as green energy resources. The National Engineering Research Center for Coal Gas Control is established in the city. According to market conditions in the region, the most practical utilization option for CMM is use as household fuel, and secondarily for power generation. The household utilization project mainly uses CMM recovered from the seven permanent gas drainage systems (USEPA and CCMC, 2001). The Huainan mining area is divided into the Panji and Xinxie Blocks, and CMM in these two blocks is supplied to residents in Huainan City through the gas storage and distribution system and pipeline network, serving 100,000 households. Besides, the CMM is used to generate 47,646,000kwh of electricity each year. The CMM recovery method adopted in the Huainan mining area is underground gas drainage. The total CMM drainage was 49.4 Mm3 in 2000 and reached 416 Mm3 in 2010. 

Figure 5. CMM Drainage of the Huainan Mining Area

Figure 6. Huainan CMM drainage Corp.

Figure 7. Household use of gas

Figure 8. Reading meters

MINE WATER UTILIZATION: During coalmine operations, a large amount of mine water is discharged without disposal. It not only causes environment pollution to surrounding mining areas, but also wastes a lot of precious natural resources. Comprehensive utilization of mine water is needed for the sustainable development of coalmines. Appropriate utilization of mine water enables us to achieve the multiple goals of economic, social and environmental benefits.

The mine water is classified into 5 categories according to qualities and characteristics. Different techniques are used to treat each category of water. After the treatment, the water is suitable for industrial and domestic use. In 2007, Huainan Mining Group processed 15.1 million m3 of mine water with a utilization rate of 61%, saving 12.8 million RMB a year.

Figure 9. Mine water utilization process in Huainan

(CHENG and HU, 2005)

Cultural and creative industries 

Huainan is a coal-dependent city, and its leading industries are coal mining, electric power generation and chemicals. To achieve a balanced industrial structure and sustainable development, the restructuring of its industry is necessary. Economic development plans were made and industrial parks were established to encourage economic developments and a diversified industrial structure.

Today, apart from coal mining, electricity and chemicals, more and more industries are represented in its economy, including pharmacuticals, construction, textiles, machinery, electronics, light industry, high technology and cultural and creative industries.

Huainan has a long history. It was once the capital city of the state of Chu (one of the major powers in ancient China) during the Warring States period (475BC-221BC) and the city has kept its prosperity ever since. Now, Huainan has many historic sites, like Bagong Mountain where the famous Feishui Battle was fought in 383AD along withthe ancient Chu state capital and the tombs of many historical figures. Since 2000, the local government has made plans to boost its tourist industry. Large investments have been made on tourist infrastructure upgrading and service improvement. Tourist income has increased sharply since 2001.

Huainan’s tourist industry is associated with rich cultural activities.Known in China as the birthplace of Tofu, each year Huainan hosts the Chinese Bean-Curd Cultural Festival, which has been held for 19 years. Nowadays, eco-tourism and agri-tourism (agri-tourism includes a wide variety of agriculturally-based activities, such as picking fruit, buying produce direct from a farm, feeding animals and farm stay etc.) are very popular in the city. Moreover, one of Huainan’s industrial ambitions is to develop the animation industry. The local government has invested 6 billion RMB, to build an animation industry park in the city. These rising “smokeless” industries have the potential to contribute to the eco-transformation of the industrial structure, and will help to deliver a more balanced form of economic development to Huainan.

Fig.10 Rising tourist income in Huainan

(ZHU and DUAN, 2009, revised by the author)

Slum reconstruction

It is a general consensus that social equality is a prerequisite for eco-city development. Huainan’s local government has worked hard to help underprivileged citizens improve their living conditions. An important component of Huainan’s public welfare program involves slum reconstruction.

From 1950s onwards, many shanty towns have established alongside the coal mines to accommodate miners. In the planned economy period (1949-1978), the government focused on production rather than on consumption. Miners’ quality of life was neglected. They lived in slums with primitive conditions and a bad environment, posing a threat to local security and having a negative impact on urban development.

In 2003, under the leadership of the local government, Huainan Mining Group launched a campaign to progressively reconstruct slums in the city. The plan called for an investment of 13.9 billion RMB to build a total of 8.7 million m2 affordable housing in the following 10 years, altogether benefiting 250,000 people. In 2007, the 1st batch of residents moved in to the new housing with consummate infrastructure and social amenities. Slum reconstruction has revitalized the local community and is an important function of the city’s sustainable development.

Figure 11. Before and after reconstruction-a comparison of the slum and new resident community

Capacity building

Capacity building is one of the most important components of eco-city development. The stakeholders include city decision makers, companies, public service departments, public organizations, social associations, individual households and residents. Huainan focuses its efforts on the establishment of proper government management systems, information dissemination, along with education and training for residents.

Local laws and regulations were made to promote and guarantee eco-city development in Huainan. These laws include the “Regulation on Environment Protection of the Development and Construction Projects”, “Regulation on the Restoration of Coalmine Subsidence Areas” and “Management Ordinance of the Recycling of Renewable Resources.” Relevant plans were compiled to guide its development, like the “Eco-city Construction Plan 2005”, “Urban-Rural Integration Plan 2011”, “Master Plan for Mineral Resources”, “Public Transit Plan” and “Master Plan for the Tourist Industry.” Enforcement and implementation of these regulations and plans were greatly enhanced by revising the political achievement assessment system for local government officials, effectively moving from a GDP centered system to a more comprehensive assessment of environmental, economic and social balanced development. Better enforcement was also achieved by increasing the public participation in the compiling, implementation and management of the whole planning process. The local government has also worked to expand urban financing channels by exploring new modelss like PPP, BOT, BT to raise funds for the construction of eco-city infrastructure projects, in addition corporate investment construction and government repurchasing.

People’s habits, behavior and life style choices have a deep impact on eco-city development significantly. They can all guided through dissemination, education and training for the public. Huainan has established a National Education Base for Eco-Civilization, a platform for eco-education. Local government tries to foster an eco-city, eco-community and eco-family culture by organizing training seminars and activities such as “City Car-Free Day” and “Low-Carbon Eco-Family,” thereby publicizing eco-city concepts to residents from all walks of life. 
 

Discussion and Conclusion

Huainan’s remodeling efforts cover 6 major areas of eco-city development as shown below.

Fig. 12 Major areas of eco-city development in Huainan

Huainan’s experience shows a vivid picture of eco-city remodeling practice in a resource-based city. Through Hainan’s example and Chinese understanding of the definition of an eco-city that achieves a balance between the environment, natural resources, industry, and social equity.

There is no fixed and unified model for eco-city development. Residents in different cities hold different opinions on what makes an eco-city. However, they tend to agree on some important areas of eco-city development. According to the questionnaire survey conducted in 8 Chinese cities of vary size and regions  (in total, 788 effective questionnaires received), the most important factors influencing sustainable urban development are the natural environment, housing, income and employment, transportation, and social security.

Eco-city development in resource-based cities involves a lot of aspects. It cannot be conducted in all-round manner, and it can’t reach its final goal in one step. Each city should examine its own individual characteristics, and concentrate their efforts and to make those defining characteristics the highlight of their city. Then cities should spread their relevant experience points to other areas. In other words, be sure to avoid aiming too high beyond their reach in order to seek quick success and instant benefits. Eco-city development is not the end product, rather, it is a long-time systematic process towards sustainable urban development. We shouldn’t dwell on the terminology the eco-city, as it is no more than a useful phrase to express people’s aspiration on an ideal city, like the “Garden City” term used over a hundred years ago. What is far more important is to witness the city’s actual progress on the road towards urban sustainability.  

Pengfei Xie
Beijing

Acknowledgement:

Thanks Jack Maher (PIA fellow in NRDC) for the English editing.

References:

CHENG Xuefeng and HU Youbiao (2005), Quality Characteristic of Mine Water and its Utilization in Huainan Mining Area,  Journal of Anhui University of Science and Technology (Natural Science),3:5-8

LIU Fei and LU Lin (2009), Progress in the Study of Ecological Restoration of Coalmine Subsidence Areas, Journal of Natural Resources, 4:612-620

USEPA (2001), Investment Opportunities in Coalmine Methane Projects in Huainan Mining Area, Huainan Mining Group Ltd.

XIE Pengfei and ZHOU Lanlan, et al.（2010）， Research on Eco-city Index and Best Practices, Urban Studies, 7:12-18

ZHU Xiaohui and DUAN Xuecheng (2009), Study on Developing Tourism in Resources-Based Cities—A Case Study of Huainan City, Journal of Shanxi Agriculture University (Social science edition), 2:216-219

[1] http://english.cri.cn/6909/2012/06/21/3124s707913.htm