Viewing China in a Different Light: From High-speed Growth to High-quality Sustainable Development

Among the fastest-growing economies in recent decades, China has been placing a strong emphasis on high-quality and sustainable development. As its built environment sector is committed to moving towards resource conservation and quality, balancing both practicality and sustainability simultaneously can be a real challenge. Thus, Singapore, with its long-term policies of sustainability in place which includes integrating nature and prudently managing scarce resources provides an excellent opportunity for local firms to share knowledge and work collectively with China to strengthen its resilience and combat climate change. In a live webinar organised by the Building Construction Authority (BCA) Singapore, DP Architects director Mr Niew Pey Ran joined other experts in a panel to discuss high-quality and sustainable developments in China as well as opportunities for collaboration.

In his presentation, Pey Ran shared how DPA translates its Hub Ecology concept to create sustainable and community-centric developments in China citing an ongoing project, the Jinhua Future Community Master Plan as case study. The design of the development is guided by three principles – it must be humanistic, eco-friendly and digitalised. By doing so, it aims to deliver an improved living environment, develop a green and digital industry, attract effective investments and transition to a smart community management system.

The project also explores the ‘Future Community’ ideology by introducing a people-centric, pedestrian-focused design scheme. The former creatively utilises the surrounding parks to draw people out and encourage social interaction between different end-user groups while the latter strategically integrates a variety of functions; thereby, prioritizing accessibility and walkability with amenities and services planned to be within 5, 10 or 30 minutes away from users. The combined design strategies result in a development that maximises connectivity between nature and the city.