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Planning Area •• Establishment of a livable city fo- Wuhan, capital of the Hubei province, cusing upon community construc- covers an area of 8,5 km2 and has 8.97 tion, encouraging a balance between million permanent inhabitants. It is a homes and jobs to reduce commuting central metropolis in central China. and carbon emissions •• Strengthening measures for urban Background and Context sustainable development Wuhan, a nationally famous city of his- •• The use of ecological methods based New Comprehensive tory and culture, major industrial, sci- on natural circulation leading toeffec- entific research and education base, tive mitigation of the urban heat is- traffic and communication terminal, land effect Planning of Wuhan will have a population of 11.8 million by 2020. Steps of the Realization Process It used to be one of the four famous In 2007, Wuhan Urban Circle was “stoves” in China because of the prob- granted the “Experimental Area for Wuhan Planning lem of urban heat island effect, with Comprehensive Reform of Two-Oriented temperatures ≥35 °C in summer. Society” status. and Design Institute, Ecological problems in the rapid ur- Thus, building a resource-efficient banization period are increasingly and environmentally- friendly eco-city prominent. The City’s water area, ar- has become a new aim for the spatial People’s Republic able land, forests and other ecological development strategy in Wuhan. This resources are being encroached upon, aim shall be met by adopting TOD Mode of China while green space in the central city for sustainable metropolitan axial ex- amounts to less than 9 m2 per capita. pansion as well as seeking urban eco- China’s longest river, the Yangtze logical framework control for rapid joins the Hanjiang River in the city urbanization period. This is supported center. The City’s water area covers one by applying natural circulation of ven- quarter of its total area. Wuhan is the tilation stack control to reduce the heat most typical riverside & lakeshore city. island effect.

Objectives Strategy Content: The overall objectives of the project are: •• Create a spatial development pattern Promoting Urban Ventilation (channel- of “Mixed Axes & Wedges” ling fresher and cooler air into the city), •• Master Planning involving six new in- Stack Control (technical design meas- tensive urban groups and six ecologi- ures to enhance or, where appropriate, cal green wedges at the core of the avoid this ventilation), an Ecological main city zone”, and a new approach Framework & a Sustainable Metropolis to urban development, away from Region resource-oriented extensive devel- Jury comment: •• Expand and introduce population dis- opment to an intensive ecological de- The “New Comprehensive Planning of Wuhan” is setting the ecological frame- tribution based on six development velopment pattern. The planned land work for the sustainable metropolis region. The entry shows an advanced tech- axes, applying a Transit Oriented area for ecology control is up to 83%. nology in problem identification, analysis and presentation. It also shows a Development (TOD) mode based on •• Construct an urban ecological frame- sophisticated understanding of the relationship between microclimate consid- “expressways, main roads and rail” work based on the ventilation and erations, open space provision, transportation and building strategies as key along multi-mode transportation stack control by setting up six large- elements of sustainable comprehensive planning in Wuhan. corridors scale ecological green wedges that •• Encourage a green traffic network by run through the whole city main- preferential public traffic, developing ly based on water areas, wetlands, a rapid, high volume public transport mountains and woodlands along the system . Yangtze and Hanjiang rivers 254 ISOCARP | Review 06 ISOCARP | Review 06 255

•• Provide extensive public green space Innovation and Achievements presentation. That framework effec- decreased by 1 °C on average in the ur- in the urban area based on the clima- The new comprehensive planning of tively integrates microclimate con- ban areas of Wuhan. It means that the tology theory Wuhan helps the finding of solutions siderations with green infrastructure city has successfully shaken off its •• Emphasise the role of open space and to the ecological dilemmas typical for provision, transportation and the loca- nickname “stove”. the construction of main roads along metropolises in central China. It sets tion of built development as key ele- _ river corridors in order to channel an ecological framework for the sus- ments of sustainable comprehensive high quality air from the surrounding tainable metropolis region and shows planning in Wuhan. areas to the city center, accelerating an advanced technological approach Since 2003, high temperatures dur- mitigation of thermal island effect. to problem identification, analysis and ing summer days have apparently

Evolution of land construction and urban development structure plan