Taopu Smart City aims at national ecological zone

Taopu Smart City in Putuo has scooped Shanghai’s “three-star ecological district” title for its energy-saving designs and being environmentally friendly.

The rising business district, featuring the China-Israel Innovation Hub (Shanghai), is now stepping up to become a national “three-star green ecological urban district.”

Buildings constructed under the three-star-rated criteria consumes about one-fourth less energy than those built in the traditional way.

The city’s Hongqiao Central Business District has become China’s first three-star ecological district, with over 60 percent of its office buildings attaining the energy-saving standard.

The China-Israel Innovation Hub was launched at Hero World, a renovated former site of the Shanghai Hero Pen Factory. Hero is one of China’s time-honored brands.

It is expected to drive Putuo’s Taopu area to be on par with the Zhangjiang Technology City in Pudong as a key hub for the development of Shanghai as a technology and innovation center. The innovation park will be developed in three phases.

Sino-Israeli joint research centers, institutes, incubators and accelerators will be built along with various investment funds.

Taopu Smart City management committee held a preassessment meeting to apply to become the top-level national ecological district.

Dozens of leading experts attended the meeting, such as Wang Youwei, director of the China Green Building and Energy Conservation Committee, Li Xun, vice president of China Urban Planning and Design Institute, and Wang Panyan, vice president of China Urban Construction Research Institute. They all offered suggestions and ideas about how to further transform the city.

Taopu Smart City should focus on high-rise public buildings with higher energy consumption to win the ecological title, said Wang Youwei, who is also head of the expert panel.

Li Xun suggested the smart city should emphasize more on urban renewal, integration and a comfortable environment to live and work.

Taopu Central Greenbelt will become the hallmark of the project.

Ge Jian said that though the planning area of the smart city has made a systematic plan for renewable energy utilization, more detailed calculation on renewable energy should be conducted.

The smart city, covering about 7.9 square kilometers, will feature 2.08 square kilometers of commercial and office facilities, 760,000 square meters of scientific research centers and 1.1 square kilometers of high-end residential areas.

The first phase of the China-Israel Innovation Hub will be based at the Hero World industrial heritage site. It offers 1,500 square meters of exhibition space and 5,000 square meters of office space.

The second phase will be expanded to the Top Plaza by 2021. It will feature about 50,000 square meters of offices and over 10,000 square meters of apartments to accommodate professionals.

The Putuo District government also made it known that the park can be further expanded to other sites at the smart city based on demand.