EKONOMIA I ŚRODOWISKO • 2 (69) • 2019

Paulina SZYJA

GREEN CITIES IN ASIA

– CASE STUDIES

Paulina Szyja, PhD (ORCID 0000-0002-9672-1341) – Pedagogical University of Cracow

Correspondence address:
Podchorążych Street 2, 30-084, Kraków, Poland
e-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT: The idea of the green city is gaining importance across the world due to the image of cities
as well as some economical, social, and especially ecological reasons. The term and praxis of the
green city is a material for research and analysis of various science disciplines. We can point out to
different specificity of green cities due to their genesis, role of the government and local authorities in
development programming, the role of private-public partnership etc.
The purpose of the article is to highlight specific elements of development of green cities in Asia on the
basis of three case studies and to precise the possible categorization in terms of the mentioned term.
The methodology is based on literature review and a study visit. The limitations of the research are
related to the current construction of two out of three green cities being analysed. Practical implica-
tion of the paper is the issue of the level of activities undertaken to create green cities from scratch or
with the use of a smart technology. The problem of green cities is not enough developed in Poland,
neither in theoretical nor in practical aspects. More attention is put on the issue of sustainability or
eco-cities.

KEY WORDS: green city, investment, sustainable development, Asia

No. 2(69) 2019 • pages: 117-131 https://doi.org/10.34659/2019/2/25 JEL: O19, Q56, Q58
118 Studies and materials EKONOMIA I ŚRODOWISKO 2 (69) • 2019

Introduction

The concept of sustainable development gained importance thanks to

“Our Common Future” report (1987) and then, the Earth Summit in Rio de
Janeiro in 1992. Its operationalization, through a low-carbon economy,
started from 2008 – the real economy crisis (Szyja, 2016).
The idea of the green city is based on sustainable development concept,
which H. K. El Ghorab and H. A. Shalaby describe as “a process by which we
reason and a way we choose to live, a process that uses common sense and
intuition as a baseline. Sustainability should be viewed as a philosophy, or ethic,
affording people the ability to consider long-term consequences of actions and
to think broadly across issues, disciplines, and boundaries” (El Ghorab, Shalaby,
2016, p. 497), and on the idea of sustainable cities.
New approach to the issue of sustainable cities is defined as one of the
goals in Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nation, also called
Agenda 2030: Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable (UN, About
Sustainable Development Goals). This target aims at ten detailed areas (UN,
Sustainable Development Goal 11):
• by 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing
and basic services and upgrade slums,
• by 2030, provide access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable
transport systems for all, improving road safety, notably by expanding
public transport, with special attention to the needs of those in vulnera-
ble situations, women, children, persons with disabilities and older per-
sons,
• by 2030, enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanization and capacity for
participatory, integrated and sustainable human settlement planning and
management in all countries,
• strengthen efforts to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and nat-
ural heritage,
• by 2030, significantly reduce the number of deaths and the number of
people affected and substantially decrease the direct economic losses rel-
ative to global gross domestic product caused by disasters, including
water-related disasters, with a focus on protecting the poor and people in
vulnerable situations,
• by 2030, reduce the adverse per capita environmental impact of cities,
including by paying special attention to air quality and municipal and
other waste management,
• by 2030, provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green
and public spaces, in particular for women and children, older persons
and persons with disabilities,
EKONOMIA I ŚRODOWISKO 2 (69) • 2019 Studies and materials 119
• support positive economic, social and environmental links between
urban, per-urban and rural areas by strengthening national and regional
development planning,
• by 2020, substantially increase the number of cities and human settle-
ments adopting and implementing integrated policies and plans towards
inclusion, resource efficiency, mitigation and adaptation to climate
change, resilience to disasters, and develop and implement, in line with
the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, holistic
disaster risk management at all levels,
• support least developed countries, including through financial and tech-
nical assistance, in building sustainable and resilient buildings utilizing
local materials.
The literature contains wide selection of terms, which may, but should
not, be considered synonyms: “green city”, “eco-city”, “sustainable city”, and
“smart city”. The term “smart” is used next to “green”, Jedliński highlights an
example of a “smart green city” (Jedliński, 2014). Polzonetti and Sagratella
describe the differences in the meaning of the mentioned terms as follows
(Polzonetti, Sagratella, 2018):
• The green city is a city that aims at developing infrastructures, spaces,
facilities and urban activities with a low or even with no environmental
impact.
• The sustainable city is a city that aims at developing a socio-economical
urban context able to balance economic development with respect for
the environment and social equity.
• The smart city is a city focusing on the use of technologies to improve life
quality in urban areas.
They do not present explanation of “eco-city”.
We can also point out to other definition. According to “The Environmen-
tal Magazine”, “green cities movement” includes activities whose aim is to
“lessen their environmental impacts by reducing waste, expanding recycling,
lowering emissions, increasing housing density while expanding open space,
and encouraging the development of sustainable local businesses” (What are
‘green cities’?). In turn, eco-city was defined as “a human settlement modeled
on the self sustaining resilient structure and function of natural ecosystems.
The ecocity provides healthy abundance to its inhabitants without consuming
more (renewable) resources than it produces, without producing more waste
than it can assimilate, and without being toxic to itself or neighboring ecosys-
tems. Its inhabitants’ ecological impact reflect planetary supportive lifestyles;
its social order reflects fundamental principles of fairness, justice and reasona-
ble equity” (What Is An Ecocity?). The same elements may be found in expla-
nation of the term of “sustainable city”: “as one that is able to retain the supply
120 Studies and materials EKONOMIA I ŚRODOWISKO 2 (69) • 2019

of natural resources while achieving economic, physical, and social progress,

and remaining safe against the environmental risks that can undermine any
development achievement” (Hassan, Lee, 2015, p. 1271). In this way, the two
last terms may be considered identical.
Smart cities are strongly related with technological aspects in all the cit-
ies’ functional areas: transport, energy and water service utilities, waste
management, buildings, and communication systems (Anthopoulos, 2017).
However, Giffinger with his team describe it including six areas: smart econ-
omy, smart people, smart governance, smart mobility, smart environment,
smart living (Giffinger, 2007, p. 10).
Summarizing the terminological aspects of the abovementioned terms,
we can highlight key word or phrase of each of them as follows:
• green city by “reducing impact on environment”,
• eco-city by “healthy by appropriate system of consuming”,
• sustainable city by “rational supply of natural resources”,
• smart city by “technological improvement”.
All the mentioned types of new cities are being created all over the world.
These projects are encouraged by international organization (the United
Nations Human Settlements Programme and the United Nations Environ-
ment Programme by Sustainable Cities Programme), regional integration
group (the European Union by European Green Capital initiative), policy of
governments (Singapore, China, South Korea), local authorities, and local ini-
tiatives.
Summarizing, it should be highlighted that the discussed terms, with ref-
erence to the practice of their implementation, can be presented as succes-
sive steps on the path to reduction of human pressure on the natural environ-
ment in order to achieve the most desired effect in the form of the green city.
This is the most appropriate form of the urbanization processes in the con-
text of human impact on the environment. And this may be improved by tech-
nological solutions, which allow formation of smart green cities. Figure 1
presents development of mentioned terms related to city, taking into account
historical genesis and aspect of progress in creating really green urban space.

sustainable city green city

eco-city smart green city

Figure 1. Phase of reaching the green city

Source: author’s own work.
EKONOMIA I ŚRODOWISKO 2 (69) • 2019 Studies and materials 121
An overview of the literature

The literature on the mentioned issue includes a wide selection of

detailed thematic scope. Primarily, authors take into consideration the term
of the green city and its relation to other ones, such as: sustainable, eco-,
low-carbon, and smart city (Kankaala et al., 2018). These considerations are
strongly related to the concept of sustainable development (Leźnicki,
Lewandowska, 2016). And that is why there are terms such as sustainable
urbanization.
Some green cities are old ones, which were or are subjected to the pro-
cess of green modernization called “transformation towards eco-city” (Hu et
al., 2016). Some of them are new ones, which are currently under construc-
tion or are to be constructed. Literature presents a wide selection of case
studies, mainly in Asia – such those in Pearl River Delta in China (Wang et al.,
2018), Europe – Freiburg in Germany (Freytag et al., 2014), or North America
– New York City in the USA (Sánchez et al., 2018), but also in South America
– Curitiba in Brasil (What are ‘green cities’?) or Africa – Sub-Saharian Cities
(Lindley et al., 2018).
Another issue in the area of the green city is related to socio-economic
aspects. Articles take into consideration the role of such cities for various
stakeholder groups and for shaping city branding (Fok, Yi, 2018). The role of
governmental projects and policies, the relationship between eco-city building
and local economic development, is also important (Lin, 2018).
Next area of researchers’ interest is related to attributes of the green city.
They point out to aspects of planning and organizing space. Particularly
important elements affect organization of spatial order through creation of
urban green spaces (Ye et al., 2018), green spaces (Anguluri, Narayanan,
2017), or green zones and city forests (Fan et al., 2019). In the last case, the
author undertakes the problem of forestation in relation to natural condi-
tions of cities’ location, which determine high temperature and specific
microclimate. This is a reason to create conditions aimed at improving living
quality (Fan et al., 2019) i.e. by cooling effect of urban green spaces. Not only
do the authors take into consideration the role of trees, but they also make
research in line with methodology which allows to diagnose results of forest-
ation in different urban form of cities (Masoudi, 2019). Then they describe
multifunctionality of green infrastructure (Hansen et al., 2019) through its
ecosystem services (urban ecosystem services, Lindley et al., 2018, p. 328-
329), or creation of green open spaces. The problem of adaptation to the cli-
mate change by promoting urban green spaces is also important (Sánchez et
al., 2018).
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Next element refers to development of sustainable transport: organiza-

tion of public transport, which should be more environmentally friendly, as
well as creating a model to enable route planning for green vehicles (Pamučar
et al., 2016).
Transport issue is related with the “green logistic”, which is defined as
“an integrated management of all activities required to move the product along
the supply chain to meet the expectations of customers at minimum global cost
including also the external costs related to, among others, climate change, air
pollution, noise, vibration and accidents” (Jedliński, 2014). Another important
problem for the green city is appropriate energy system, e.g. one based on
solar energy (Freytag et al., 2014), and its construction and implementation.
No less important is the question of water for the inhabitants of the green
city. There are papers which describe the role of quality of ground water and
appropriate system of its management. Scientists make research to elaborate
instruments for measurement of groundwater sustainability (Tirupathi et al.,
2019). Authors also describe the problem of flood risk and adequate adapta-
tion policies to address plausible impacts of climate change (Chan et al.,
2018).
There is a need for innovation in creation of appropriate building con-
struction, water and energy systems, waste management systems, green
spaces, and green infrastructure (Murzyn, Szyja, 2015). For example, Fei et al.
point out to the role of innovation and classify it into three types: green tech-
nological innovation, green institutional innovation and green busi-
ness-model innovation (Fei et al., 2016).
In polish literature there are no publications which would describe the
specificity of development of the green city in Asia, distinguishing between
those that are created from scratch and those that are subject to green trans-
formations (with socio-economic aspects of them taken into account). The
aim of this paper is to present three cities in three different countries of Asia:
Tianjin (China), Singapore, and Songdo (South Korea), to analyse the idea of
the green city of varying genesis, government policy and praxis, as well as to
analyse and categorize the term of the green city.

Research methods

The research method applied to solve the abovementioned gap in

research, which is related to presentation and explanation features of green
cities in Asia in terms of their genesis. Therefore author has carried out the
analysis on the basis of literature review, considering the problem of termi-
nology, the issue of green cities development progress in Asia, conditions of
EKONOMIA I ŚRODOWISKO 2 (69) • 2019 Studies and materials 123
development, the role of governmental programming, sources of funds for
these kind of endeavours, and researchers’ opinions. The opportunity to
complete a study visit in Singapore together with a seminar and meetings in
selected institutions was also important.

Transformation to the green city – example of Singapore

The issue of the green city is very well know in Asia, which is evidenced
not only by the number of activities or related projects, but also that of papers
and science publication, and by high positions in the rankings of sustainable
cities. As for the latter, Asian cities rank as follows in the 2018 Sustainable
Cities Index: 4th (Singapore), 9th (Hong Kong), 13th (Seoul), 24th (Taipei),
41st (Macao), 66th (Shenzhen), 67th (Kuala Lumpur), 73rd (Bejing), 74th
(Guangzhou), 76th (Shanghai), 80th (Bangkok), 83rd (Tianjin), 87th (Wuhan),
88th (Chennai), 89th (New Delhi), 90th (Chengdu), 91st (Bengalure), 93rd
(Mumbai), 94th (Jakarta), 95th (Manila), 98th (Hanoi), and 100th (Kolkata)
(Arcadis, 2018, p.11). As for the rankings of green cities in Asia and Pacific, 10
best cities in 2011 were: Tokyo, Seoul, Melbourne, Singapore, Osaka, Sydney,
Auckland, Busan, Taipei, and Hong Kong (Solidiance, 2011, p. 4). Comparing
2011 and 2018, we can point out that Singapore scored high in both rankings,
regardless of the passage of time. This is de facto a city-state called Asia’s
greenest city. Singapore started its transition to the sustainable city after
gaining independence in 1965. The most problematic issue for the new coun-
try was a dramatic pollution of land, waters and air. “Keeping Singapore clean
was thus one of the foremost challenges that government had to tackle (…). It
was a challenge born out of necessity. Moreover, during the early days of nation-
hood, a clean living environment was seen as a boost to the national morale
and civic pride of a nascent state, helping to motivate the people to strive for
higher standards of performance” (Soon et al., 2009, p. 51). Activities were
properly planned and coordinated. All the work related to four components
– “providing good and reliable public cleansing services and collecting refuse
daily; educating the public on the need to keep the environment clean; strict
law enforcement; and investing in infrastructural improvements” (Soon et al.,
2009, p. 51). Over time, the issue of improving the environmental conditions
has become important for one more reason, namely creating friendly condi-
tions for foreign investments (Soon et al., 2009, p. xxiv). Ghesquiere, who
writes about “an ecologically sustainable growth” (Ghesquiere, 2007, p. 18;
Szyja, 2016, p. 97). Currently, the most significant element of Singapore’s
image are gardens: the Botanic Gardens (figure 2), the Gardens by the Bay
(figure 3), the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, the East Coast Park, the Sungei
124 Studies and materials EKONOMIA I ŚRODOWISKO 2 (69) • 2019

Buloh Wetland Reserve, the West Coast Park, the Hort Park, the Pasir Ris
Park, and the Changi Beach Park (10 best green spaces in Singapore...).

Figure 2. The Botanic Gardens

Source: author’s own work.

Figure 3. Gardens by the Bay

Source: author’s own work.
EKONOMIA I ŚRODOWISKO 2 (69) • 2019 Studies and materials 125
What is really remarkable, Singapore’s surface is only 720 km2 and we
can still find there so many green spaces. What is more, it should be high-
lighted that the idea of urban farming is strongly developed in this city, espe-
cially in housing estates, schools, or offices (Zachariah, 2017). At the begin-
ning, the idea was aimed at integrating the society, especially elderly people,
but also to yield crops, due to no agriculture in Singapore and the need to
import food. Over time, it began to stimulate cultivation of balconies and
roofs of residential buildings. Such activities have one more result: green
space which is building’s natural isolation. It is possible due to natural condi-
tions. Nowadays, we can observe progress in farming space in Singapore, due
to high-tech solutions, i.e. those based on aquaponics methods.
Singapore has also achieved a great progress in the process of “water
production”, which is based on four facilities in which water is being cleaned
(by using membrane technique and UV) and then supplied for the industry.
2% of processed water is enriched to be fit for consumption. In the area of
water supply in Singapore, a huge progress has been made since 1965 as for
infrastructure development: there are 17 water reservoirs; sanitary condi-
tions have been improved; a dam aimed at recreation and flood protection, as
well as being a reservoir of water, has been constructed; the seawater desali-
nation plant has been opened (Szyja, 2016, p. 106-108).
Energy production from renewable energy sources in next element of
transition to sustainability. The Building and Construction Authority is
engaged in modernization of a building to make it a “zero energy building”,
and Singapore is the current regional leader as for technical solutions (BCA).
Knowledge and experience gained by scientist and engineers from gov-
ernmental agencies, research institutes and also the National University of
Singapore have impact on sustainable transition in other countries of Asia,
particularly in China with its Tianjin City being constructed.
Contemporary Singapore may be called a green city due to two reasons.
First is related to the development of green spaces, and second to the devel-
opment of rational management of water, land and space, as well as using
renewable sources in energy system and lowering emissions (through a spe-
cial regulation system, well-developed public transport system, and high
costs of buying a car for private purposes). A problem for Singapore is grow-
ing waste production. The Semakau Landfill is an island near the main part of
Singapore, which should allow trash storage until 2045. “But with the use of
disposable products growing at a rapid rate, the ministry’s most recent esti-
mates show that Semakau could be full a decade earlier” (Geddie, 2018).
At the beginning of Singapore’s way to sustainable development, all activ-
ities were concentrated on improving living conditions. Then, further goals
and increasing level of living conditions set the new directions of activities, as
126 Studies and materials EKONOMIA I ŚRODOWISKO 2 (69) • 2019

a result of which improvements were achieved. Nowadays, emphasis should

be put on the role of technology (e.g. in water production or zero-energy
building construction) and export of knowledge and experience in the men-
tioned area. In this way Singapore may be called a smart green city.

Eco-city Tianjin – building a green city from scratch

The project of Eco-city Tianjin is being constructed next to (40 km dis-

tance) industrial and port centre of Tianjin (115 km to the southeast of Bei-
jing). It is an example of cooperation of two governments: the Chinese and
the Singapore (Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City, https). Such type of endeav-
our in this part of China is dictated by the fact that the region has been chosen
as a test area for many economic experiments. It is also related to the fact that
the eastern coast of this country has always been more developed than other
regions. It was here where the first special economic zones were created. The
contribution of Singapore is related with the state authorities’ experience in
creating special sustainable policy (commented above) and knowledge of
experts, i.e. those of the Building and Construction Authority. The choice of
location was dictated by the need to meet two key conditions: land not suita-
ble for agricultural cultivation and water shortages. The first criterion is to
prevent takeover of land suitable for cultivation, and the second – to create a
special infrastructure from scratch.
The Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City is based on appropriate sustainable
spatial planning, with the following principles:
• areas separated by their functions (housing estates, service centres, light
industry),
• each district should have specific service and institutional facilities,
• the distance between housing estates and workplaces should not be too
large for walking or cycling,
• creation of an extensive network of pavements, bicycle paths, and public
transport infrastructure,
• designing a large amount of green space,
• connection to main water reservoirs to increase water circulation,
• construction of 75-acre park [to restore] stormwater retention in order
to clean the river, cool the Central Business District and provide refuge
for residents and visitors among native plants, trees and walking paths
(Karlenzig, 2015),
• introduction of specific waste management rules,
EKONOMIA I ŚRODOWISKO 2 (69) • 2019 Studies and materials 127
• modern energy system based on environmental friendly solutions: solar
power, wind power and EV charging centers and a national smart grid
pilot (Karlenzig, 2015),
• development of ecological construction,
• locating in the city only plants which are related mainly to the IT sector,
• the obligation for the residents to comply with certain standards in the
scope of limiting the negative impact on the natural environment.
Eco-city Tianjin is a politically initiated project, realized in cooperation of
two governments. Furthermore, it is ecologically justified, also due to ecolog-
ical problem of the city of Tianjin (chemical industry).

Songdo – The South Korean „smart green city”

The Songdo International Business District is, according to M. L. Clifford,

“a smart city built from scratch (…). More than 40 percent of its area is reserved
for green space, and all of its major buildings meet or exceed LEED expecta-
tions” (Clifford, 2015, p. 81). The city is located 64 km from Seoul and is con-
nected to Incheon International Airport with a 12 km long bridge. The pro-
ject is intended for implementation in the period of 2003-2020 and the
assumed costs of the endeavour are estimated at USD 40 billion. The project
is a joint venture of the City of Incheon, Gale International (61%), POSCO E&C
(30%), and Morgan Stanley Real Estate (9%) (South Korea Conceptualizes…).
Investments in the city include those aimed at creating technologically
modern and sustainable solution, including appropriate construction of
building (certification in the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in
Energy Efficiency and Design system), a central pneumatic waste disposal
system to eliminate the need of garbage collection (South Korea Conceptual-
izes…), cycling routes, digitally advanced apartments, and remote solutions
(White, 2018). However, despite the mentioned solutions, Songdo has only
70,000 residents while the planned number is 300,000. The problem is
related to high costs of apartments and living. There are attempts to find buy-
ers for both apartments and commercial spaces. In the first case, the target
group are the Koreans living in the USA (White, 2018).
To sum up, Songdo is an example of the green city built from scratch, with
smart solutions included. However, a currently highlighted problem is the
cost of living there, which is a major obstacle for potential residents. In
author’s opinion, this results from too much pressure on technological solu-
tions which are expensive. In addition, one can ask whether such technologi-
cal advancement really serves the environment.
128 Studies and materials EKONOMIA I ŚRODOWISKO 2 (69) • 2019

According to the three cases mentioned and presented above, some

important issues should be highlighted:
1. Impressiveness of the quality and also quantitative level of green cities
development in Asia, with those built from scratch taken into account.
2. An important role of government in green cities planning.
3. Technological progress in development of waste and water systems
based on cooperation between countries.
4. Activities aimed at people integration.
5. New approach to the specificity of the term of the green city, which allows
its categorization on a basis of case studies (figure 4).

Green cities in Asia

existing greening cities creation of green cities from scratch

- green infrastructure, - green infrastructure,
- heating and cooling systems, - heating and cooling systems,
- development of sustainable transport, - development of sustainable
transport,

Features
- zoning plans, - entire city is one green zone,
- green zones,
- appropriate politics and investment programming by - appropriate politics and
local authorities, investment programming by
central government,
- encouraging people to green up their city. - subordinating people to
imposed green rules.

Figure 4. Categorization of the term of the green city, according to examples in Asia
Source: author’s own work.

Conclusions

The issue of the green city is a very important aspect of development due
to economical, social, and environmental aspects, which are highlighted in
the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. Actions aimed at
transforming cities to sustainability are undertaken all over the world.
Although countries differ in terms of the level of transformation, some of
them try to achieve a more advanced level. We can pointed on green cities
and appropriate categorization of them, included sustainable cities which
change into green and some created from scratch. This opposition occurs in
EKONOMIA I ŚRODOWISKO 2 (69) • 2019 Studies and materials 129
presentation and analysis of the case studies from Asia: Singapore, Tianjin,
and Songdo. Singapore began its transformation, stimulated by governmen-
tal policy, in 1965. Nowadays, it is called the greenest city in Asia; progress
has been achieved in improvement of living quality, including ecological
aspects and greening up the space, and technological aspects of water man-
agement system. In turn, Tianjin is a green city building from scratch, on the
basis of cooperation between two governments, one with knowledge and
experience (Singapore), and the other with willingness to introduce new
urban solution due to ecological problems of an industrial city. Songdo is an
example of a smart green city, also constructed from scratch. However, its
distinctive feature is the use of technology in every functional aspect of living
in the green city.
This approach may help to understand progress in transition to the green
city. This is very important in relation to Polish cities, where emphasis is put
on more environmental friendly solutions in a process aimed at formation of
sustainable cities.

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