Pandemic proof for greener cities – is COVID-19 a wake-up call for planning in China?

Dr Ian Mell, Senior Lecturer in Environmental and Landscape Planning, School of Environment, Education and Development discusses how China, a country that has been at the forefront of tackling the impact of COVID-19, could lead the response to changes in urban planning practices.

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As the world continues to struggle with the immediate social and economic impacts of COVID-19, there is an opportunity to consider whether urban form needs to change to address the pandemic. 

With a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) exceeding 6% annually, China’s cities are expanding at over 2% a year leading to more than 60% of the country’s population being considered urban. This has a direct impact on housing density, access to employment and transport, and critically during COVID-19, access to parks and green space.

Shifting the focus

The provision of space for people in terms of housing, employment, transport and parks has been discussed extensively in the academic and practitioner literature (and during COVID-19). This reflects the changing structure of urban areas of China. In many locations, as cities have expanded, the proportion of land for agriculture, green space or public recreation has decreased and is being converted to provide sites for development. The impact of this has been a fundamental change in the ecological functionality of the landscape, with growing pollution due to construction and increased traffic, and flooding through the conversion of natural drainage into pipes or tunnels. It has also led to a real estate boom, which could be considered to undermine effective environmental protection. As a consequence, many cities in China are considered to be among the world’s worst for pollution.

Old meets new

Opportunities to address the impacts of urbanisation may come from a combination of the traditional and contemporary. Historical landscape design in China focuses on the provision of spaces that integrate people with rock, water, vegetation, buildings and balancing yin (earth/receptive/dark) and yang (heaven/creative/bright). Classical gardens promote a harmony between people and nature, providing spaces that meet the needs of a range of age groups. This includes seats, toilets, sports facilities, tea shops and walking paths that attract both young and old. They also continue a tradition of gardens being used to link people with nature by installing recognisable ‘green’ structure into urban areas.

By planning for extremities in heat, water and pollution, cities can integrate green and open spaces into their urban structures to meet ecological and social needs.

Dr Ian Mell / Senior Lecturer in Environmental and Landscape Planning

Although classical garden design has been supplemented with European North American landscape architecture, there remains an understanding that nature, and its location within urban areas, is important. New parks (in many forms) in Shanghai, Beijing and Suzhou may look different but they are being designed to work with nature to address extreme urban heat and flooding, as well as providing access for communities. This is achieved by integrating diverse species into design work and interventions in sustainable drainage, for example porous surfaces.

The promotion of sponge and forest cities by the Chinese government is the latest extension of these discussions and follows on from national eco-towns programme. Both programmes have tasked cities with the creation of climate-resilient urban areas that utilise trees, flora and fauna, natural drainage and waterways to address extreme heat, rainfall and pollution. Sponge cities, such as Wuhan, draw on sustainable drainage and stormwater management practices to limit the proportion of rainfall entering engineered drainage systems. This reduces the capacity needed to manage water in the city and provides landscape architects and engineers with scope to think innovatively about how cities can be greened effectively. Forest cities, such as the proposed Liuzou development, are comparable but use trees, woodlands and forests to provide connected habitats, heat stress amelioration and rainfall interception. 

Measuring the value

Linking sponge and forest to COVID-19 may seem flippant but belies a critical issue for urban planning in China: sustainability. By planning for extremities in heat, water and pollution, cities can integrate green and open spaces into their urban structures to meet ecological and social needs. New parks and greenspaces are key sites for outdoor recreation and health and wellbeing, as one sees every day with people doing their daily exercises in parks. However, the continuing primacy of real estate speculation undermines the economic, but not the socio-ecological value, of investing in urban nature. Therefore, as China returns to using its parks after COVID-19 lockdown for evening strolls, sports and meeting friends, the value of these spaces increases.

It may be too soon to say whether COVID-19 or sponge and forest cities will have a long-term impact on urban form. We can, however, highlight that people with access to parks in places that are more responsive to climatic change are healthier, happier and more productive. Working with nature via investment in parks, along with other innovative architectural practices, may provide the bridge between traditional forms of development and contemporary uses that meet societal needs of outdoor spaces, as well as providing the resilience needed for urban areas as they continue to evolve.