1. General information
Location and description of the intervention
City or FUA
Tianjin
Region
Asia
Native title of the NBS intervention
Ecological Wetland Park of the Tianjin Free Trade Zone Harbor Region
Short description of the intervention
The Ecological Wetland Park is a 630,000 m2 artificial wetland located in a high tech industrial pioneer zone, adjacent to the Tianjin Harbor. The project was initiated by an agency of the local government and constructed with financial support from the Asian Development Bank (1). The area of the park used to be "a natural coastal salt marsh, which become reclaimed land in the early 2000s. The resulting saline-alkaline area had minimal ecosystem value and use value (as it was not considered to be suitable for agricultural activities either)" (1 p20). The wetland park's objective is threefold: 1) to provide a natural wastewater treatment plant for the industrial area to decrease pollutant discharge into the Bohai Bay and improve water quality; 2) to rehabilitating and restoring the once thriving biodiversity in the Harbor Area and the Hai river's estuary 3) to create a place for recreation and leisure for residents. (1)
Address

Chang Jiang Dao Li Jiao, Binhai Xinqu
Tianjin
China

Location
The NBS is situated in an area, with clear delineation of boundaries and a specific shape (polygon). The NBS project can also have more than one area location (more than one polygon, situated close by).
Area boundary
POINT (117.717022 38.957076)
POINT (117.708882 38.957989)
POINT (117.705845 38.946558)
POINT (117.669501 38.906659)
POINT (117.678202 38.903879)
POINT (117.687975 38.920895)
POINT (117.710201 38.94406)
POINT (117.713467 38.955252)
Total area
630000.00m²
NBS area
63000.00m²
Type of area before implementation of the NBS
Industrial
Previous derelict area
Timeline of intervention
Start date of the intervention (planning process)
2008
Start date of intervention (implementation process)
2010
End date of the intervention
2013
Present stage of the intervention
Completed
Goals of the intervention
1) Creation of a wetland for the wastewater treatment of the industrial park, thus reducing the pollutant discharge into the Bohai Bay
2) Restoration of the habitat of local birds and increasing the local biodiversity
3) Creation of public green space sufficient for leisure and recreation, thus increasing the livability of the district to attract a skilled workforce to the industrial zone (1)
Quantitative targets
Unkown
Monitoring indicators defined
Unknown
Sustainability challenge(s) addressed
Water management (SDG 6)
Stormwater and rainfall management and storage
Improvements to water quality
Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
Habitat and biodiversity restoration
Green space creation and/or management
Environmental quality
Waste management
Regeneration, land-use and urban development
Conversion of former industrial areas
Promote natural styles of landscape design for urban development
Health and well-being (SDG 3)
Creation of opportunities for recreation
Economic development and employment (SDG 8)
Economic development: industry
Employment/job creation
What types of restoration goals are / were defined for the NBS intervention?
Ecosystem-focused
What activities are implemented to realize the restoration goals and targets?
Rehabilitate and restore damaged or destroyed ecosystems
Implementation activities
- Construction of 630,000 m2 artificial wetland on a barren, reclaimed, industrial land
- Construction of 170,000 m2 water surface for root zone treatment with 56,000 subsurface wetland for sewage treatment
- Plantation of 29,000 trees, 15,000 shrubs from over 130 species (1)
Type of NBS project
Creation of new green areas
Creation of semi-natural blue areas
Ecological restoration of ecosystems
Transformation of previously derelict areas
NBS domain and interventions
Ecological domain(s) where the NBS intervention(s) is/are implemented
Blue infrastructure
Coastal wetland, mangroves and salt marshes
Green areas for water management
Sustainable urban drainage systems
What is the level of innovation / development of the NBS related to water management?
Medium / High: sustainable urban drainage systems which include water storage and diverts water flooding
Vegetation Type
Shrubs
Trees
Other
Please specify how many trees were planted
Unknown
Please specify other amenities offered by the NBS
34 bridges, 11 pavilions, 2 viewing corridors, 9 viewing platforms, 11 thematic scenic areas (1)
Amenities offered by the NBS
Benches and drinking water stations
Cultural (museum, concert areas)
Viewing and outlook points
Other
Services
Expected ecosystem services delivered
Provisioning services
Water (surface and ground water for drinking and non-drinking purposes)
Regulating services
Flood regulation
Water purification / filtration
Habitat and supporting services
Habitats for species
Cultural services
Aesthetic appreciation
Inspiration for culture, art and design
Recreation
Scale
Spatial scale
Micro-scale: District/neighbourhood level
Beneficiaries
Primary Beneficiaries
Local government/Municipality
Public sector institution (e.g. school or hospital)
Private sector/Corporate/Company
Citizens or community groups
Governance
Governance arrangements
Led by non-government actors
Non-government actors
Public sector institution (e.g. school or hospital)
Please specify the roles of the specific government and non-government actor groups involved in the initiative
The Ecological Wetland Park was initiated and constructed by the state-owned Tianjin Harbor Construction and Development Committee while several other actors from the governmental and private sector contributed to the implementation of the Wetland project. "The publicly owned Tianjin Harbor Construction and Development Company was responsible to coordinate the visioning, planning, and implementation process and its subsidiary company (Tianjin Harbor Landscape Company) is responsible for the maintenance of the area" (1 p22). The wastewater management process of the Ecological Wetland Park is maintained, monitored and evaluated by the Tianjin Environmental Protection Institute (1)

Further actors are the China-Europe Advanced Manufacturing Industrial Park, The Asian Development Bank, the Ministry of Finance of PRC, Tianjin Port Free Trade Zone Harbor Region AC, Public utility companies, Universities. (1)
Key actors - initiating organization
Public sector institution
Land owners
Public space owned by the city
Key actors - Other stakeholders involved (besides initiating actors)
National government
Local government/municipality
Financial institution
Researchers/university
Please specify other participatory methods
No residential area was located in close proximity to the area where the ecological wetland park has been constructed, therefore community groups weren't consulted or involved in the planning phase (1).
Land owners
Public space owned by the city
Participatory methods/forms of community involvement used
Other
Policy drivers
NBS intervention implemented in response to an Regional Directive/Strategy
No
NBS intervention implemented in response to a national regulations/strategy/plan
No
NBS intervention implemented in response to a local regulation/strategy/plan
No
Mandatory or voluntary intervention
Voluntary (spontaneous)
Enablers
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS vision/strategy/plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS section/part in a more general plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify the general plan with GI/NBS section
1) The 13th Five-Year-Plan of Tianjin aims to increase the green space per capita ratio in the city and to expand the restoration of wetlands in the city (1)
If there is a relevant strategy or plan, please specify the theme / type of the plan.
City specific green space strategy or plan
Please specify other vegetation type
aquatic plants
Presence of city network or regional partnerships focused on NBS - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
1) "The wetland project was implemented in the context of the China-EU collaboration, as the area is attached to the China-Europe Advanced Manufacturing Industrial Park, and the Industrial Park aims to appeal European investors, and provide high quality manufacturing capacity to European companies." (1 p20)
2) "To support the national policy agenda of ecological civilization, the Ministry of Finance promotes an extensive application of the public-private-partnership model to encourage its broader adoption in public service fields such as green infrastructure and pollution control, often providing direct guidelines and guarantees for the parties involved" (1 p21)
2) Tianjin is part of the second batch of China's national Sponge Cities Project, where it aims that 20% of the city reaches the national sponge city standard standard by 2020 and 80% by 2030. (1)
3) Tianjin is involved in China's national Sponge City Project to improve the collection and utilization of rainfall in urban areas with the creation of green spaces, rain gardens and permeable surfaces (1)
4) The municipality was involved in a regional reforestation project, has a large-scale reforestation project from 2018 ('Twin City Parks) to rehabilitate abandoned derelict areas (1)
5) Tianjin is a state-level model city in environmental protection by the Ministry of Environmental Protection for its "Four Clean, One Green" campaign that focuses on clean air, clean waterways, clean public spaces, clean communities (1).
Presence of GI / NBS research project - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Subsidies/investment for GI / NBS in the city - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Co-finance for NBS
Yes
Co-financing governance arrangements
No
Was this co-governance arrangement already in place, or was it set up specifically for this NBS?
Set up specifically for this NBS
Financing
Total cost
More than €4,000,000
What is/was the Cost/Budget (EUR) of the NBS or green infrastructure elements?
32 million EUR
What are the total amount of expected annual maintenance costs?
Unknown.
What is the expected annual maintenance costs of the NBS or GI elements?
Unknown
Please specify cost savings
Unknown
Please specify total cost (EUR)
A regional green development fund was established by the local government and the Asian Development Bank that received loans from ADB, investments from the local government and national bonds. With the accumulated funds 5 large-scale environmental projects were realized in Tianjin Binhai New Are, with the Ecological Wetland Park being one of them. The total cost of the Wetland park was 32 million EUR. (1)
Source(s) of funding
Public national budget
Public local authority budget
Multilateral funds/international funding
Type of fund(s) used
Direct funding (grants, subsidies, or self-financed projects by private entities)
Loan
Green bonds
Non-financial contribution
No
Business models
None of these
Which of the involved actors was motivated by this model?
Public actor (e.g. municipality)
Private for-profit actor (e.g. firm, insurer)
Type of innovation
Technological
Product innovation
Infrastructural innovation
Please specify technological innovation
The Ecological Wetland Park has a butterfly shape conceptual design is considered as an innovative design approach by stakeholders.
The NBS intervention is considered innovative due to its multi-purpose concept that covers environmental restoration and conservation, wastewater treatment, economic advancement and recreational functions at the same time on an area that had been previously derelict and low use-value. (1)
Novelty level of the innovation
The innovation is completely new without connections to previous initiative(s)
Please specify novelty level of the innovation
The NBS with the combination of different services and functions is a unique approach to wastewater treatment, biodiversity restoration and recreation.
Replicability/Transferability
Ambiguous (e.g. multiple interpretations)
Please specify Replicability/Transferability
There is great interest from external actors (ADB offices, political representatives of other provinces) to learn more about the technical and organisational details and prepare the implementation of the intervention in different contexts. (1)
Impacts, benefits
Environmental impacts
Environmental quality
Improved waste management
Water management and blue areas
Improved water quality
Enhanced protection and restoration of freshwater ecosystems
Green space and habitat
Promotion of naturalistic styles of landscape design for urban development
Increased number of protection areas
Increased green space area
Increased conservation or restoration of ecosystems
Increase in protected green space areas
Increased conversion of degraded land or soil
Increased number of species present
Restoration of derelict areas
Description of environmental benefits
- With complex water purification system including a regulation pool for aeration, a mechanic filtration area, a dam system, three zones of horizontal subsurface wetland with a large number of aquatic plants, the in-coming 1-B quality water (according to Chinese emission standards) from the ShengKang Sewage Treatment Plant of Tienjin Economic-Technological Development Area discharged water has an improved quality of 1-A (according to Chinese emission standards) sufficient for irrigation and human contact. (1)
- With the plantation of approx. 29,000 trees, 155,000 bushes and shrubs the green area increased significantly.
- The newly planted trees and shrubs are from over 130 species, most of them native to the region, thus supporting the local biodiversity. (1)
- With three central islands of the constructed wetlands that are highly protected, a new large habitat was created for coastal species in a large industrial zone. The new protection area is primary supports bird species 'with berry species, shallow wetlands and nesting grounds' (1 p23).
- The artificial wetlands restored some of the ecosystem services the once natural coastal salt marsh offered before it become a saline-alkaline area as a result of its reclamation in the early 2000s. (1)
- The planted aquatic species include various cattail, bulrush and reed species. (1)
Economic impacts
Unknown
Description of economic benefits
Unknown
Social and cultural impacts
Health and wellbeing
Gain in activities for recreation and exercise
Education
Increased support for education and scientific research
Description of social and cultural benefits
- The Wetland Park offers a recreational and educational opportunity for the 800/day visitors and thousands participating in special events organised in the Park such as the '7000 Steps Marathon. (1)
- The Park also offers research opportunities for thousands of university students in the form of study trips, internships and research projects. (1)
Type of reported impacts
Achieved impacts
Indicators
Water quality
Number of bird species
Analysis of specific impact categories
Job creation: The NBS created ...
No information available
Negative impacts: Did the project cause any problems or concerns?
No information was found regarding negative impacts of the project
COVID-19 pandemic
Unknown as of September 2021
Methods of impact monitoring
Process of recording NBS impacts
Collection of monitoring data continuously throughout the project to aid evaluation
Methods used to evaluate the impacts of NBS
Measurements of biophysical aspects of the NBS (e.g. temperature, water flow)
Evidence for use of assessment
Presence of an assessment, evaluation and/or monitoring process
Yes
Presence of indicators used in reporting
Yes
Presence of monitoring/evaluation reports
No evidence in public records
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
No evidence in public records
Impact assessment mechanism
Name of any specific impact assessment tools
Unknown
Use of GIS in mapping impacts
No evidence in public records
Citizen involvement
Citizens involvement in assessment/evaluation
Unknown
Citizens involvement in the analysis of the assessment/evaluation
Unknown
Follow-up to the evaluation / assessment
Unknown
References
List of references
1) 1) Katona, A. 2018. NATURVATION - Working Paper: Tianjin, China.