1. General information
2. Objectives of the intervention
Goals of the intervention
This project forms part of the larger ecological network in the Ningbo Eastern New Town, and it aims to build the continuity and integrity of the ecological corridor while fulfilling the needs of the communities surrounding the site and enhancing citizens’ sense of belonging. [1] It also aims to be cost-effective in construction and maintenance [1].
General objectives of the Ecological Corridor project include:
1) Build a comprehensive ecological infrastructure to provide holistic ecosystem services, while systematically addressing ecological and environmental problems; [1]
2) Restore the hydrologic environment to cleanse water bodies [1]
3) Create ‘retention basins’ and ‘rain gardens’ to mitigate the water level rise [6]
4) Restore the ecological network in the region to create vital habitats for native flora and fauna; [2]
5) Enhance public health [2]
6) Rebuild riparian wetlands [1]
7) Create a public green space [1,2]
8) Establish an identity of the newly built urban district [1]
9) Serve as a model for sustainable development in China and beyond [2]
General objectives of the Ecological Corridor project include:
1) Build a comprehensive ecological infrastructure to provide holistic ecosystem services, while systematically addressing ecological and environmental problems; [1]
2) Restore the hydrologic environment to cleanse water bodies [1]
3) Create ‘retention basins’ and ‘rain gardens’ to mitigate the water level rise [6]
4) Restore the ecological network in the region to create vital habitats for native flora and fauna; [2]
5) Enhance public health [2]
6) Rebuild riparian wetlands [1]
7) Create a public green space [1,2]
8) Establish an identity of the newly built urban district [1]
9) Serve as a model for sustainable development in China and beyond [2]
Quantitative targets
Improve water quality to level III (China standards)
Monitoring indicators defined
Quality of canal water
Sustainability challenge(s) addressed
Climate change adaptation: What were the goals of the NBS?
Climate change adaptation: What activities are implemented to realize the conservation goals and targets?
Habitats and biodiversity conservation: What types of conservation goals are / were defined for the NBS intervention?
Habitats and biodiversity conservation: What activities are implemented to realize the conservation goals and targets?
What types of restoration goals are / were defined for the NBS intervention?
What activities are implemented to realize the restoration goals and targets?
Implementation activities
The Ecological Corridor project includes four areas (i.e., the North Area, Phase 1, Phase 2, and phase 3) [4]. Main implementation activities include:
- Reuse previous factory buildings to preserve the site’s memory and historical context [1]
- Retain existing trees and water system while integrating them into the new design [2]
- Restore wetlands and aquatic habitats through native plantings to protect wildlife and to “jumpstart habitat complexity and species richness function” [2]
- Strategically use diverse vegetation (e.g., wetland vegetation, annual crops and meadows, and woods) to build resilient landscape, lower maintenance cost, mediate visual impacts, divide spaces, whilst helping to purify water and enabling aesthetic appreciation [1,2, 4]
- Create networked series of waterways organized by low, undulating hills to improve hydro-ecological processes, treating polluted water and managing stormwater runoff, contributing to flood control [1, 2, 4]
- Build biological retention zone, permeable zone and pavement, and ecological floating island, and use natural energy such as solar energy [5]
- Establish riparian zones to provide recreational and educational opportunities for new inhabitants [2]
- Building facilities such as boardwalk, pavilions, footpaths and cycling paths. Among them, the pavilions also serve as the highlight and viewpoints of the ecological corridor. [1]
- Reuse previous factory buildings to preserve the site’s memory and historical context [1]
- Retain existing trees and water system while integrating them into the new design [2]
- Restore wetlands and aquatic habitats through native plantings to protect wildlife and to “jumpstart habitat complexity and species richness function” [2]
- Strategically use diverse vegetation (e.g., wetland vegetation, annual crops and meadows, and woods) to build resilient landscape, lower maintenance cost, mediate visual impacts, divide spaces, whilst helping to purify water and enabling aesthetic appreciation [1,2, 4]
- Create networked series of waterways organized by low, undulating hills to improve hydro-ecological processes, treating polluted water and managing stormwater runoff, contributing to flood control [1, 2, 4]
- Build biological retention zone, permeable zone and pavement, and ecological floating island, and use natural energy such as solar energy [5]
- Establish riparian zones to provide recreational and educational opportunities for new inhabitants [2]
- Building facilities such as boardwalk, pavilions, footpaths and cycling paths. Among them, the pavilions also serve as the highlight and viewpoints of the ecological corridor. [1]
Type of NBS project
3. NBS domains, ES and scale
4. Governance and financing
5. Innovation
Type of innovation
Please specify technological innovation
This project utilizes innovative bio-remediation technologies that mimic indigenous ecological processes: it replaces the existing system of dead-end and disconnected canals using a series of free-flowing rivulets, streams, ponds and marshland. [2] "The hydrological flow is designed to be slow and meandering, approximating the original conditions of the lowland floodplain, in order to support the re-establishment of the native ecology." [2] "Through the innovative synthesis of topography, hydrology and vegetation, the Ningbo EcoCorridor project transforms an uninhabitable brownfield into a 3.3km long “living filter”."[2]
The first phase project was designed by SWA Group, which has won the 2013 ASLA Professional Awards. In the Phase 1 project, "[r]ecognizing that wetland and aquatic habitats hold the greatest conservation significance for this eco-region", the design focuses on a site-specific intervention that would have historical and cultural relevance in the new era of eco-consciousness. [2]
The first phase project was designed by SWA Group, which has won the 2013 ASLA Professional Awards. In the Phase 1 project, "[r]ecognizing that wetland and aquatic habitats hold the greatest conservation significance for this eco-region", the design focuses on a site-specific intervention that would have historical and cultural relevance in the new era of eco-consciousness. [2]
Novelty level of the innovation
Please specify novelty level of the innovation
”Through the innovative synthesis of topography, hydrology and vegetation, the Ningbo EcoCorridor project ... serve[s] as valuable teaching tool and model for sustainable urban expansion and development in China’s rapidly advancing economy.“ [2]
Replicability/Transferability
Please specify Replicability/Transferability
”Through the innovative synthesis of topography, hydrology and vegetation, the Ningbo EcoCorridor project ... serve[s] as valuable teaching tool and model for sustainable urban expansion and development in China’s rapidly advancing economy.“ [2]
"[T]he Ningbo Planning Bureau (2006) has recently declared the intention to establish three similar types of development in greenbelts in the briefing documents of their current master plan." [6]
"[T]he Ningbo Planning Bureau (2006) has recently declared the intention to establish three similar types of development in greenbelts in the briefing documents of their current master plan." [6]
