China is building its first Green City

Cars will hardly be needed in "Great City."

The Chinese government is building a sustainable, environmentally friendly satellite city outside Chengdu. The master plan for the "Chengdu Tianfu District Great City," with a size of 1.3 square kilometers, is being built with the assistance of Chicago-based Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture.

Construction on the development is expected to begin this fall. Great City is being developed by Beijing Vantone Real Estate Co., Ltd.

Energy efficient green building techniques will be the norm in Great City, while renewable energy will be used for electricity. The architects expect Great City to use 48% less energy and 58% less water than a conventional development housing a similar number of people. Great City will also produce 89% less landfill waste and generate 60% less CO2 than its conventional equivalent.

Some 60% of Great City will be earmarked for construction; 15% for parks and open space and 25% forinfrastructure, roads and pedestrian streets.

Great City will also be pedestrian friendly. The distance from any location in the city to any other location will be a 15 minute walk, all but eliminating the need for most motor vehicles. The city will also be built around a regional transit hub connecting it to Chengdu and surrounding areas via a mass transit system.

Great City is envisioned as a prototype to be duplicated in other locations throughout China. The development is a solution to the problem of overburdened infrastructure in many of China's major urban centers without the massive energy consumption and carbon emissions.