Harmony between Man and Nature,a City of Rivers and Mountains
13 min readTurning Xi’ an into a water city did not seem practical at first, like building the Hanging Gardens of Babylon in the Mesopotamian civilization. Being an inland city in northwest China, although it had a developed water transport system in ancient times, it was challenging to build a water city.
“There is no example for Chan-Ba to follow, but the construction is conducted under the plan of scientific development.”said the director of the Management Committee, Men Xuan, confidently.
In the last ten years, Xi’ an government planned to develop the Chan-Ba Ecological District and its surrounding area into a new city district with a symbiotic relationship ecological reconstruction can add value to the city. On the basis of this, Chan-Ba came up with the A Picturesque Water City development guideline of “improving the river conditions to promote regional development and support ecological construction”.
It is a great design. Ten years ago, development concepts such asecology, environment conservation and green development were not applied in city construction plans as widely as today. However, many factsof city development show that even under the present circumstances, there is great gulf between planning concepts and practical decision making.
On the basis of improvement of conditions of Chanhe River and Bahe River, Chan-Ba Ecological District developed conference and exhibitioneconomy and sport events economy, focusing on modern service industry. Nowadays, it is building Headquarters Economy District and Finance and Business District, conducting transformation again.
In order to improve conditions of the Chanhe River and Bahe River, the Chan-Ba Ecological District developed a local economy that was driven by hosting conferences, exhibition and sports events, focusing onthe modern service industry. Nowadays, it is building a Central Business District. In the whole process, the decision makers of the Chan-Ba Ecological District have been waiting for the output or revenue in the city to reach a break-even point and then for the city to enter into a positive growth phase.
This is an anxious process for the decision makers and also a process making them explore and think-could the improvement of ecology produce appropriate economic output, especially under circumstances where the regional and city economic development are often influenced by the macroeconomic cycle and the state macro-control cycle.
On 17 December,2010, in the inspection of national ecological districts orgniazed by Ministry of Environmental Protection, Chan-Ba Economic District passed test and became the one of the first national ecological districts in middle and west China. Chan-Ba Ecological District uses ten years’ development to respond the anxiety and doubt in the academic, industrial and political circles.
In the process of the modern development of the city, the Chanhe River and A Legend of Chanba Ecological District were polluted and the volume of runoff was greatly decreased. The basic ecological functions of the rivers were lost, let alone the beautiful scenery in the past In the new century, as Xi’ an expands its downtown area and revised the fourth city plan, the city reaches of Chanhe River and Bahe River becomes an important part of the central district in Xi’ an.
The Management Committee of Comprehensive Improvement and Development of Chanhe River and Bahe River was founded on September 9,2004, with Wang Jun as its Party leader and director, whowas the Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Xi’ an Municipal Committee at that time.
In fact, ecological improvement was the main goal of setting up the Chan-Ba Management Committee.”You can feel that industries in Chan-Ba District had developed slowly before last year, for ecology has been the focus of it for a long time.
However, through efforts of these years, the industrial development of Chan-Ba is full of vigor now, on the basis of ecological improvement.”
Hui Yingji, former deputy director of Xi’ an Development and Reform Commission, shares the same opinion with Li.
“However, the problem is that ecological improvement needs a great amount of economic input, otherwise the results could not be sustained for a long time. What’s more, in so large an area, there cannot be only waterand plants. Such an area cannot be called a city. In the very beginning, some people advised to build Chan-Ba a simple ecological district and not to develop the economy here.”
The current form of the Chan-Ba Ecological District shows that it did not take such advice. Chan-Ba is now waiting to reap the returns of the money invested in ecological improvement. The Management Committee started from scratch, with the goal of improving the conditions of Chanhe River and Bahe River. Besides the funds guaranteeing the basic works, the city had to rasie other funds itself.
It was unfortunate that there were policy”cold currents”in China when Chan-Ba Ecological District was established. At that time, the central government changed polices about development zones, from supporting and encouraging to clean-up and rectification. Meanwhile, there was a tightening trend in land policies and finance policies.
China Development Bank extended the olive branch to the Chan-Ba Management Committee, lending 1.5 billion RMB to it for improving the river conditions. This amount of money could be seen as the initial fund of Chan-Ba.
There is a story about this initial fund given to the Chan-Ba Ecological District. Chen Yuan, the president of China Development Bank at that time, came to Chan-Ba by chance. Seeing the messy environment, Chen Yuan surprisingly said that Chan-Ba was a gift offered by Xi’ an to the whole world, and it could not be wasted in such a way. It may sound legendary in some extent, but the loan from the bank helped Chan-Ba to make a breakthrough in improving ecological conditions. As the water became clear and the sand pits disappeared, the ecological scenery in Chan-Ba District IERFL.I
took shape. With the completion of the construction of infrastructure such as roads and the pipe network, the charm of Chan-Ba Ecological District emerged. In fact, although the value of the land in Chan-Ba District is increasing, the standard set in the initial plan to use half of the land to grow plants remains unchanged. There is a certain limit to which enterprises and people can occupy the land in Chan-Ba.
At the very beginning, the decision makers of Xi’ an made this choice while facing two difficulties in the transition phase of the city development.
Firstly, to protect the ancient city in Xi’ an, they must find an area outside the district surrounded by the old city walls to transfer the population; secondly, the water system, including Chanhe River and Bahe River, mustbe improved. The two difficulties were related closely to each other.
With the acceleration of urbanization, the city needs more space for development. Xi’ an has decided to shift the core area to the north and the east. To some extent, the ecological improvement of Chan-Ba District is unavoidable. According to the General Urban Planning of Xi’ an and the “Eleventh Five-Year Plan”for Xi’ an’s Development, the Chan-Ba Ecological District has three tasks: first, ecological reconstruction, recovering the ecological environment of Chan-Ba and making it an ecology compensation district for Xi’ an; second, accommodating the population and build a livable new city; third, developing a modern service industry, perfecting city functions of Xi’ an, improving the comprehensive bearing capacity of Xi’ an, and building a city favorable for starting businesses.
The years after, the goal of becoming an ecological compensation district is basically realized.
Chan-Ba Ecological District has built 50 kilometers of first-class embankments,4 rubber dams,18 city squares near the water, possessing 12,000 mu of water surface,7,000 mu of green land, and 29,000 mu of forest land. It has also built nearly one hundred kilometers of road,4 bridges, and 300 kilometers of pipe for sewage, electricity and telecommunications.
Deputy Director, Ren Chengbin is familiar with these numbers, since he has participated and witnessed the development of the Chan-Ba Ecological District. In April 2009, the municipal government of Xi’ an deliberated and adopted The National Ecological District Construction Plan of Chan Ba Ecological District, and Chan-Ba Ecological District became the first national ecological district with a development zone. It is also the first national ecological district in middle and west China.
According to the construction plan of Chan-Ba Ecological Development, its development depends on the modern service industry. Its goal is to develop into a district with qualifed modern service industries, with a green economy where many service industries are headquartered, a leisure economy and a logistics-hub as its features. The focus is put on finance, tourism, hosting conferences and exhibition, business and trade, logistics, cultural innovation, service outsourcing, scientific research, education, real estate and sports.
Chan-Ba Ecological District designed six sub-districts corresponding to the industries mentioned above-they are Finance and Business District, Trade Park District, Wetland Park District, Headquarters Economy Park District, Yanming Lake Park District and Expo Park District.
Nowadays, the construction of the Finance and Business District has been launched, and some institutes have already signed up to setup business there, including the global customer service center of Bank of China, Shaanxi Environmental Right Exchange, and the Insurance Administration of Shaanxi Province; meanwhile, the project of Low-carbon Industry Technology Park has been launched, aiming to build a service andtechnology base for low-carbon industries, with research and development, design, exhibition and aftersales service as its core part.
In October 17th 2010, the Shaanxi Publishing Group Digital Publishing Base was established in Chan-Ba district. This project is a significant project in developing cultural and creative industries. Witha total investment of about 2.052 billion yuan, the project is estimated to bring an annual output of about 10 billion yuan after going into full operation, and an annual pre-tax profit of about 250 million yuan. Officialsof the Chan-Ba Ecological District often talked of this subject that:”With one percent of effort put in ecological governance, we get back ten percent benefits, whereas with one percent of damage done to the ecologic system, we will get ten percent retaliation from Nature.”
In 2004, we viewed the building of an “ecological district”as our objective. Without an existing model, for a decade, we’ ve studied and explored constantly to attain this objective. Though an ecological city is taking its shape, we are still far from building up an ecological city in its real sense. We have only laid a fairly good foundation for it… In the next couple of years, we shall promote Chan-Ba Ecological District from the developing stage of ecological rehabilitation and infrastructure construction to that of advancing industrial development, fostering advantageous industries and accelerating the comprehensive development of new urban zones.”As Menxuan sees it, when the Chan-Ba Ecological District embraces its tenth year of development, the regional industries will be able to create added value. In addition, the regional economy will no longer be depended upon bank loans and land finance and water generated profits; The project would benefit everyone without evoking conflicts or resistance. The sophisticated merchants had already noticed the promising prospect of the Chan-Ba district a long time ago; Therefore, several subsidiary companies of famous real estate enterprises have established offices here, among them are Singapore Surbana Land, Hong Kong Henderson Land, Evergrande Real Estate Group, Hong Kong NEOCHINA, Shenzhen Zhenye as well as Shanghai Greenland.
Speaking of making an investment in the Chan-Ba district, Cao Feng, the General Manager of Glorious Land remarked emotionally:”In 2008, the house price in Chan-Ba district was 3000 yuan per square meters, butno one seemed to care. However, over 600 houses at the price of 6000 yuan per square meters sold out almost instantly.”
Nowadays, together with his partners, Cao Feng is working on building low-density scenic rooms. The element of water incorporated in to the designing concept of the estate. Some real estate projects have already started to use recycled water to clean roads, control dust and supply water for landscaping.A couple of decades elapsed; the foul water sewer has now been refilled by clean waters again. The Bahe River has become a pleasant resort for relaxation and recreation for citizens, while the Chan-Ba Ecological District is praised as the most livable and the most promising district in Xi’ an. Green and ecological, the city is beautiful and charming with its splendid river scenery and clean air. Adding to that business here is flourishing and culture here is developing, the citizens of Xi’ an grow more fond of their home.
Chan-Ba Ecological District has become a new window to Xi’ an City.
Atracting people by its ecology, landscape, tourism and economy, Chan-Ba Ecological District aims to create a green living environment and life by the river. The Xi’ an China International Horticultural Exposition 2011constructed a variety of natural landscapes based on plants and a global background for garden architecture, which demonstrated the charm of Xi’ an’s history and culture, the local features of Chan-Ba as well as the integration of human beings and nature.
Due to Xi’ an’s location, deficiency of water, lack of plants and poor air are undoubtedly the big flaws of the city. Therefore, the residents have long been yearning for life by the river. Accordingly, Chan-Ba boasts a numberof river views, green ecology and fresh air. The blue sky and wide rivers make the district unique.
Water, the cradle and lifeline of civilization, plays an vital role in the origin, development and prosperity of Xi’ an.
Great achievements have been made in river control and ecologicaldevelopment in the Chan-Ba Ecological District during a decade of practice. It is the first development area with a Green-tag in China; the first “national ecological area”in Northwestern China; the first”national water ecosystem protection and restoration demonstration area”in Northwestern China as well as the only “development area”that has been listed as one of the”national ecological development pilot zones.”
Strolling along a small island of the Peach Blossom Lake, we ran into the Yangs who were busy taking photos.”Chan-Ba has changed so much!
Not only the better environment, but also the free park! We live not far away from here, so we come for the fresh air and enjoy the scenery.”It is diffcult to imagine, however, such a beautiful ecological area was a dump stacked with more than 20,000m2 of rubbish just several years ago. The Peach Blossom Lake Area is located at the Chanhe River between Chan-Ba Avenue and Huaqing Road, covering an area of 1,516 mu, including 608 mu of water area. Through the shaping of natural islands and restoration of the river ecosystem, landscape belts on east and west sides of The Chanhe River have taken shape. The design of the area and names of the scenic spots are very romantic. The three bridges from south to north are examples. The name Leshan Bridge means “the benevolent love mountains”, from which one can catch sight of Zhongnan Mountain. The wavy Lingbo Bridge is where one can feel the waving river. Leshui Bridge means”the wise water of love,”from which one can overlook the Bahe River at a distant. Besides, spots like Yanzi Islet, Lotus Pond and Carps, Spring Island with Flowers as well as Trestle Bridge over Willow Stream are all unique and charming scenes evoking a myriad emotions.
The Chan-Ba Ecological District has many scenic area thanks to ecological control. Take The Chanhe River for instance. According to the limited depth on two sides of the river, Yanming Lake, Peach Blossom Lake and Chan-Ba National Wetland Park were constructed at the upper, middle, lower reaches of the river respectively and are linked with each other. Chan-Ba Ecological District is also enriching its natural environment and cultural scenery.
An artificial lake consisting of five lakes was formed through mounding hills and classifying the lake’s rubbish.A plant community was constructed on the mudflat by the river. These constitute the Yanming Lake Area. Through control of over dredging, the Xi’ an Chan-Ba National Wetland Park was built. It has ecological functions such as biocenosis restoration, biological sewage treatment and natural water surface recovery.
The Chanhe River, Bahe River and Yanming Lake all boast an advantage of scarce landscape resources. The integration of scarce resources of the Chan and Bahe Rivers that include natural water area,20,000 mu of international wetland park,5 kilometers of central inland river landscape as well as the ecological landscape corridor consisting of the riverside avenue, urban landscape, water surface wetland and green landscape, all of which meet people’s need to pursue a natural life to the largest extent.
It is hot everywhere in the city during summer. But in the Xi’ an Chan-Ba National Wetland Park, we will felt cool even in the afternoon. At the beautiful park,a chance to come into close contact with birds like peacocks and ducks gave us a feeling of returning to nature.
Human beings and nature coexist in harmony. Flowers, birds and animals cast beautiful reflections. With an urban green space ratio of over 40%,a forest coverage rate of over 20% and a regional hydrographic wetland coverage of over 10%, Chan-Ba Ecological District provides everyone with an ecological feast. It deserves to be the “urban green lung”of Xi’ an.
With the improvement of the ecological environment,a large area of forest，wetland and water surface landscapes have formed，thus providing a good living environment for birds.This has helped to protected and expanded the birds’habitat.As a result，the number of rare bird species is increasing steadily and biodiversity is recovering.To the delight of Xi’an’s citizens，more and more birds have settled down at the green and forestclose to the downtown area.Not long ago，the oriental white ibises were found again at Chan-Ba Ecological District after several decades.There are also many rare birds like white swans and flamingoes.At present，nearly 200 kinds of birds live in the District.
The landscape of fisherman’s song at sunset，the new ecological city with green and ethereal willows，the promise for Expo of flowers blooming in Chang’an as well as scenes of the city with water as its central element have undoubtedly created an extremely beautiful Chan-Ba.
In ten years, through ecological reconstruction of the Chan and Bahe Rivers, Chan-Ba Ecological District took the lead in advancing ecological development and exploring the question of how to create a positive interaction between industries and the ecological environment. By building the new urban district based on ecology, Chan-Ba Ecological District is making efforts to realize the “double cycles”of both ecological and economic outcome.
A series of activities with international partners including Euro-Asia Economic Forum,F1 Powerboat Racing and International Horticultural Exposition 2011 were held at the Chan-Ba Ecological District due to its good ecological environment. By virtue of these international activities, Chan-Ba and even Xi’ an are attracting more attention from investors, tourists and entrepreneurs.A large number of Shaanxi investors have moved from other provinces to reinvest in their hometown.
As an offcial of Chan-Ba District puts it, the benefit gained from the ecological control at Chan-Ba Ecological District has been far beyond the scope of economic benefit.
