All over China, scarce farmland is being developed as rural families flee their farms for better-paying jobs in cities. The farms that remain are inefficient and fragmented. Nanhu New Country Village breaks the mold by retaining the connection to farmland and nature, restoring a polluted water network, and creating a new village that is large enough to survive economically. The plan applies the urban to rural transect to China.
The project boldly restores a stagnant, fragmented, historic canal system that extends throughout the site. The canals are re-dug and reconnected so that polluted water can flow cleanly again, creating an urban amenity for the new town and forming a clean water network throughout the district— enabling the surrounding farmland to be certified organic.
The new town of 40,000 people will be surrounded by 1,350 acres of organic farms, 250 acres of eco-tourist farms, and more than 100 acres of restored wetlands. It will be connected by high-speed rail to Shanghai, providing a way for residents not employed in agriculture to get jobs in the city, and offer a way for city residents to vacation in the town. Most of the new village will be a 5 or 10 minute walk from the center.
“A compact, transit-served village will serve as a benchmark for ecological, agricultural development throughout China,” according to the planners. “At the heart of the village, a mixed-use commercial core is wrapped around 450 meters of revitalized canals, with waterways ranging from 10-40 meters in width, creating a unique network and modern identity from the area’s historic regional culture.”
The system allows for larger farms, using new technology, all within walking distance of homes. The entire village is connected by modern transportation to one of the world’s great 21st Century metropolises. A large and growing emitter of greenhouse gas emissions, China desperately needs new and sustainable models like Nanhu New Country Village.
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