Integrated Green and Blue Infrastructure of Wuqing District

1. General information

Location and description of the intervention

City or FUA

Tianjin

Region

Asia

Short description of the intervention

The Wuqing District of Tianjin is a rapidly developing suburban district, northwest of the city core, containing 4 larger 5 smaller rivers, 5 water reservoirs, Wetland area that partially protected by the DaHuangPu Nature Reserve, the Jinbei Forest Park, several public parks, greenery near buildings, green roofs and vegetation along roads. A spike in population growth going from 130.000 in 2000 to 1.2 million in 2018 brought the need for wide urban development where the district focused on implementing blue and green infrastructures (1). "The urbanized area of the district is reported to meet the requirements of the national ‘Garden City’ standard with over 36% green coverage, currently aiming to achieve 45% on the long run, and was selected as a pilot national ecological demonstration area for green urban development in 2014. Since 2014, over 500 million EUR was invested into blue and green infrastructure projects (1 p26). The three flagship projects evaluated here are 1) the South Lake (Nanhu) Area that combines business, recreational, residential, and ecological development around in a waterside area, 2) the North Canal Suburban Park which is a recreational, entertainment and wetland area on 2.53 km2 where over 72.000 trees were planted in recent years, 3) and the 400 meter wide, multi-functional green corridor running along the Cuiheng Road (1).

Address

Tianjin
China

Location

The NBS is a city-wide initiative, the GIS point marks the centre of the city

Type of area before implementation of the NBS

Residential

Public Greenspace Area

Timeline of intervention

Start date of the intervention (planning process)

2013

Start date of intervention (implementation process)

unknown

End date of the intervention

2018

Present stage of the intervention

Completed

2. Objectives of the intervention

Goals of the intervention

General objectives of the green and blue infrastructure application in Wuging District:
- Increase green space per capita
- reduce air pollution
- provide space for recreation
- Create green suburban area that supports high-end manufacturing (1)

1) South Lake (Nanhu) Area
- Creation of an area that combine landscape functions, living areas and high end business (1)

2) North Canall Suburban Park
- Transform an unused and low productivity saline-alkaline land into a public green space reflecting an ecological park concept
- Integrate greenery, recreation, entertainment culture sports and commerce functions (1)

3) 400-meter-wide green belt
- Connecting existing green areas and parks into a green corridor (1)

Quantitative targets

Unknown

Monitoring indicators defined

Green space per capita
Total green cover in the district

Sustainability challenge(s) addressed

Environmental quality

Air quality improvement

Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)

Habitat and biodiversity conservation

Green space creation and/or management

Regeneration, land-use and urban development

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

Economic development: service sectors

Habitats and biodiversity conservation: What types of conservation goals are / were defined for the NBS intervention?

Ecosystem-focused

Habitats and biodiversity conservation: What activities are implemented to realize the conservation goals and targets?

Protect and enhance urban habitats

Preserve and strengthen existing habitats and ecosystems

Means for conservation governance

Manage biological resources for conservation and sustainable use

Implementation activities

1) South Lake (Nanhu) Area
- Creation of recreational areas
- Creation of 2 artificial islands in the wetland area
- Creation of 1,7 km2 water surface and 0,7 km2 green area

2) North Canal Suburban Park
- Building of a children's park,
- Plantation of fruit orchards and 400,000 m2 aquatic plants
- Installation of 50-80 meter wide green belt along the Longfeng River that has a confluence to the North Canal
3) 400-meter-wide green belt
- Creation of 196 km2 green area to connect already existing green parks along the Cuiheng Road (1)

Type of NBS project

Creation of new green areas

Creation of semi-natural blue areas

Management and improved protection of rivers and other blue areas

Transformation of previously derelict areas

3. NBS domains, ES and scale

NBS domain and interventions

Ecological domain(s) where the NBS intervention(s) is/are implemented

Blue infrastructure

Lakes/ponds

Rivers/streams/canals/estuaries

In-land wetlands, peatlands, swamps, and moors

Community gardens and allotments

Community gardens

Grey infrastructure featuring greens

Alley or street trees and other street vegetation

Riverbank/Lakeside greens

Parks and urban forests

Large urban parks or forests

Green corridors and green belts

Vegetation Type

Grass

Shrubs

Trees

Please specify how many trees were planted

min. 72 000 trees

Amenities offered by the NBS

Benches and drinking water stations

Playgrounds

Services

Expected ecosystem services delivered

Provisioning services

Food for human consumption (crops, vegetables)

Water (surface and ground water for drinking and non-drinking purposes)

Regulating services

Air quality regulation

Cultural services

Aesthetic appreciation

Recreation

Scale

Spatial scale

Micro-scale: District/neighbourhood level

Beneficiaries

Primary Beneficiaries

Local government/Municipality

Private sector/Corporate/Company

Citizens or community groups

4. Governance and financing

Governance

Governance arrangements

Government-led

Please specify the roles of the specific government and non-government actor groups involved in the initiative

All the green and blue infrastructure development in the Wuqing District has been initiated by the local government with support from the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and the involvement of external landscape companies and institutions as contractors (1).

Key actors - initiating organization

Local government/municipality

Land owners

Public space owned by the city

Key actors - Other stakeholders involved (besides initiating actors)

National government

Local government/municipality

Private sector/corporate actor/company

Land owners

Public space owned by the city

Participatory methods/forms of community involvement used

Unknown

Policy drivers

NBS intervention implemented in response to an Regional Directive/Strategy

NBS intervention implemented in response to a national regulations/strategy/plan

Yes

Please specify the national regulations/strategy/plan

In case of urban development projects, local policies and projects has to be in line with the national plan in order to acquire the necessary permissions and financial support. Accordingly, "Wuqing adopted a multi-level governance approach for green infrastructure development. On a national level (...) the 13th (2016-2020) Five-Year Plan provides a guiding framework, which is based on national political goals, such as the construction of an ecological civilization. The national agenda is translated into urban policy and programs by relevant Ministries, and into local Five-Year Plans by municipalities, district municipalities, and district municipal bureaus in a hierarchical governance structure. All projects adopted in the district conform with these plans and guidelines (1).

NBS intervention implemented in response to a local regulation/strategy/plan

Unknown

Mandatory or voluntary intervention

Voluntary (spontaneous)

Enablers

Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS vision/strategy/plan - mentioned in connection to the project

Yes

Please specify

The previous Five-Year Plan of Wuqing District involved an expended financial support for green and blue infrastructure projects, thus encouraging their implementation.

Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS section/part in a more general plan - mentioned in connection to the project

If there is a relevant strategy or plan, please specify the theme / type of the plan.

City specific green space strategy or plan

Municipal / city level environmental plan or programme

Presence of city network or regional partnerships focused on NBS - mentioned in connection to the project

Unknown

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

Yes

Please specify

Since 2014, the Wuiqing district has invested over 500 million EUR into green and blue infrastructure which also has been increased in the 2016-2020 Five-Year Plan of the district 81)

Co-finance for NBS

Yes

Co-financing governance arrangements

Was this co-governance arrangement already in place, or was it set up specifically for this NBS?

Not applicable

Financing

Total cost

More than €4,000,000

What is/was the Cost/Budget (EUR) of the NBS or green infrastructure elements?

ca. 500 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)

The implemented blue and green infrastructure in Wuiqung district with the three flagship projects evaluated here in detail cost more than 500 million EUR.

Source(s) of funding

Public local authority budget

Public national budget

Corporate investment

Type of fund(s) used

Earmarked public budget

Direct funding (grants, subsidies, or self-financed projects by private entities)

Loan

Non-financial contribution

Business models

Green densification model

Which of the involved actors was motivated by this model?

Public actor (e.g. municipality)

5. Innovation

Type of innovation

System innovation

Please specify system innovation

Wuqing district of Tianjin applied an innovative approach to implement blue and green infrastructure planning by utilizing the district's unique geographic and economic position and the available policy framework and resources combining it with ambitious standards and indicators. As a result, the district received recognition on a national level for its 'garden city' approach and strengthened its position in the region as a leading role model (1 p33).

Novelty level of the innovation

Ambiguous (e.g. multiple interpretations)

Please specify novelty level of the innovation

The innovation was inspired and motivated by the garden city concept existing and applied in other Chinese cities as well, and good examples of wetland parks, urban forests etc. from Europe and America were taken, however, Wuqing district applied innovative policy and governance approach that made it a pilot national ecological demonstration area for green urban development in 2014 (1 p33).

Replicability/Transferability

Unknown

Please specify Replicability/Transferability

Unknown

6. Evaluation and learning

Impacts, benefits

Environmental impacts

Environmental quality

Improved air quality

Green space and habitat

Promotion of naturalistic styles of landscape design for urban development

Increased green space area

Increased conversion of degraded land or soil

Description of environmental benefits

- With the creation of vast areas of new green areas and complementary blue and green infrastructure interventions, the city's air quality was significantly improved ("In 2016 the city's air quality composite index, the PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations were decreased by 26.7%, 28.1%, 31.3% respectively from those in 2013". (1 p31)
- With the plantation of 72.000 trees, 170.000 m2 shrubs, 400.000 m2 new aquatic plants in the North Canal Suburban Park, the construction of 50-80-meter wide green belts along 156 kilometres of rivers and 653.5 kilometres of roads such as 400-meter wide green corridor along the Cuiheng Road the vegetated green space increased greatly in the district (1)

Economic impacts

Increased property prices

Description of economic benefits

- The elaborate green and blue infrastructure in the district was expected to potentially increase real estate values (1)