Shanghai Greenport Masterplan

Greenport Shanghai working papers no.
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Working paper 7
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TransForum
Louis Pasteurlaan 6
Better city, Better Agriculture, Better Life
2719 EE Zoetermeer
PO box 80
Greenport Shanghai
2700 AB Zoetermeer
The Netherlands
T 079 347 0910

F 079 347 0404
E [email protected]
I www.transforum.nl
Master plan
Greenport Shanghai Agropark
If you don’t reach for the stars, you will end with hands full of mud……..
Greenport Shanghai is the innovative and ambitious exploration of how Chinese metropolitan agriculture
will jump into the 21st century: circular, sustainable and profitable
Commissioned by TransForum
Shanghai Industrial Investment Corporation
Alterra Wageningen University and Research Centre
Authors: Wijnand Bruinsma

Peter Smeets Trudy van Megen
Madeleine van Mansfeld Sander Mager
Zhang Chonghua Peter Christiaens
Rik Olde Loohuis Huub Heijer
Jan Broeze
Steef Buijs Translation and mediation:
Enrico Moens Zhang Chonghua
Henk van Latesteijn Ge Lan
Marco van Steekelenburg Lu Hongmei
Leo Stumpel
Transforum | Greenport Shanghai

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Table of contents
1. Introduction 8 4. Orgware: 33
1.1 Preface 8 The planning method
1.2 Instruction for reading 9 4.1 General approach: from control planning
to development policy 33
2. The assignment: 11 4.2 Evaluation framework 33
Historical backgrounds Process oriented planning
2.1 Historical Perspectives of Agriculture in 4.3 Process oriented planning 36
China. 11 4.4 Relations between Strategic Plan,
2.2 The Politics of Agriculture in Shanghai. 12 Master Plan and Industrial Plan 36
2.3 SIIC and the Significance of Agro park Evaluation criteria for sustainability
to Shanghai. 13 4.5 Ecological footprint and ecological
Dutch interests loading capacity 39
2.4 Dutch Agriculture in the Globalization. 14 4.6 Evaluation aspects, criteria and
2.5 Wageningen University and Research. 14 indicators for sustainable development of
2.6 TransForum 15 agriculture 40
2.7 Mission Statement 15
2.8 SWOT 15 5. Spatial design: 43
Working process The reasoning
2.9 Working process 17
5.1 Introduction 43
5.2 Metropolitan agriculture 44
3. Context 20 5.3 Urban – Rural integration 45
Levels of connection The zoning structure
3.1 Six levels of connection 20 5.4 Spatial gradients - Density zoning and
Context: International main development axis 46
3 .2 International context-Delta metropolis 22 The water system
3.3 National context 24 5.5 The Water Infrastructure 49
3.4 Regional Context: Shanghai in the lower 5.5.1 Main characteristics of the Dongtan
Yangtze Delta 24 area water system 49
Transforum | Greenport Shanghai Agropark
3.5 Local context Chongming Island 27 5.5.2 Water Treatment 50

3.6 Local Context Dongtan area 27 5.5.3 Water Quality and Salinity 50
Conditions for land use 5.5.4 Water Management 51
3.7 Land use conditions 30 5.5.5 Design Principles for the water
3.7.1 Climate 31 system 52
3.7.2 Hydrology 31 5.5.6 Indicative description of
3.7.3 Water Quality 31 characteristic water systems per unit
3.7.4 Agriculture 32 block 54

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The landscape- ecological system Possible crops and foods
5.6. Ecological network and landscape 6.5 Hardware elements in the agropark:
structure 58 agro-food production chains 101
5.6.1 Principles for ecological Food safety and balance in production
networks 58 6.6 Sustainable agro-food production with
5.6.2 Macro-level (Chongming Island as focus on food safety 105
a whole) 61 6.7 Balanced dimensions of production
5.6.3 Meso-level (Dongtan and Agropark activities 106
area) 61 Scenario 1: Basic for mushrooms
5.6.4. Micro level (Agropark area) 65 Scenario 2: Large Scale
5.6.5 L andscape structure 66 Scenario 3: Pig Top breeding
5.6.6 The Ecotopes for eco-conn ection 67 Scenario 4: Dairy included
The infrastructures Illustrations of the pig and chicken farms
5.7 The infrastructural networks 70 Comparison of the scenario’s
5.7.1 The external linkages 70 6.8 Comparison of the scenarios 123
5.7.2 The internal transportation Comparison of land use and housing
network 71 6.9 The residential function and other
5.7.3 Central development axis 73 non-agrarian built up land uses 123
5.7.4 The String of Hotspots 75
5.7.5 The story lines of Agropark 7. Looking towards implementation: 128
Dongtan in five hotspots 77 business planning
5.7.6 The CPU network 81 7. 1 Business Planning 128
Integration Spatial Planning
5.8 Integration of zones and networks: the 7.2 Formal planning 131
core of the Master plan 83 The Knowledge value chain
7. 3 Knowledge management: 133
6. CPU and Agro-Industrial design: 87 7.3.1. Software 133
The demonstration park 7.3.2 Tacit knowledge 133
6.1 Introduction 87 7.3.3 The knowledge value chain 134
6.2 Demonstration park 88 7.3.4 Capacity building 136

6.3 The Agro Trade and Logistics Park 92 The knowledge network
The central processing unit 7.3.5 Building a knowledge network 136
6.4 The CPU 95 7.3.6 Research and development
6.4.1 CPU Design conditions 96 projects 137
Processes and chains 7.4 Communication 139
6.4.2 CPU processes 98
6.4.3 The CPU facilitates sustainable Colophon 142
agro-food production chains 100

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Summary
China
China is a transitional economy, a rapidly developing country with a high demand for self-sufficiency
in technologically innovative, sustainable agriculture. There is vital need for new forms of intensive
agricultural production in which food is produced near the centers of urbanization, without causing serious
environmental impact.
Agro park development in China represents a new dimension of Chinese metropolitan agriculture.
Shanghai
Shanghai in the lower Yangtze Delta, with its circa 18 million inhabitants, is a first class city in the world, and
has a speed of development that is enormous. The urbanization pressure in this lower basin and eastern
coastal area is high and therefore the need of innovative agriculture near its urban areas. There is a demand
for good food, produced in a healthy and transparent way, answering to the dire needs of sustainable
development with circular production systems and processing methods. These requirements for optimal
food production are clearly formulated by the Chinese government, as they are top priority in Dutch policy
and research for agricultural developments.
Chongming Dao
Shanghai is already the richest city in China but green space is a luxury to urban dwellers. Therefore
Shanghai government decided that the development of the present rural Chongming Island, an 80 km
long island in the fore coast of the rapidly expanding city will be developed coming years as an eco friendly
island, where sustainability issues are leading. This island will be connected in 2009 with Shanghai city
with the completion of a bridge –tunnel connection, shortening traveling to merely thirty minutes. The
pressure on land use developments is very high. As the island of Chongming is the last green space of
Shanghai, the government made it clear the role of Chongming is to be the “green lung” of Shanghai. Its
development based on the best available knowledge on sustainable development for living, working, city
building, recreation, nature, socio-economic development and agriculture.
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Assignment for metropolitan agriculture
The Shanghai Industrial Investment Corporation (SIIC) as a private company, funded by the city of Shanghai,
has been appointed to develop Dongtan, the east head of the Island with a total size of 86 km². With
the special approval of government, SIIC spearheads the first major development on Dongtan area of
Chongming as a test case for this sustainable green development. The metropolitan agriculture, showcase
of world class circular ecological agriculture in the form of an agro park in the north zone (27 km²), is one
of the four main functional zones. It is situated next to the development of a completely sustainable garden
city in the southern part (17 km²), an education and clean energy demonstration centre in the middle zone
and the natural conservation area in the east zone, safeguarding an important Ramsar wetland with a
buffer zone of freshwater wetland (24 km² ) for education and recreation purposes. To realise the policy of
innovative agropark development, its planning and a high chance of efficient and effective implementation
of the Greenport Shanghai Agropark, an international Chinese-Dutch combination initiated the Agropark
planning and development in July 2006.
The Shanghai Industrial Investment Company, TransForum and Alterra, Wageningen University and Research
worked together in a general strategic alliance, to develop an Agropark in this front garden of Shanghai,
on Chongming Dao.
Three coherent plans

To this purpose SIIC invited the Shanghai Jiao tong University to develop the Strategic Plan, the Nanjing
Agricultural University to realise the industrial Plan and Alterra Wageningen to develop the Master plan.
Within the 3 coherent plans, with its underpinning knowledge studies, new principles for peri urban or
urban rural planning are being elaborated.
Process oriented approach

The master planning, based on the latest thinking on agropark development and metropolitan agriculture
follows the approach of multi actor, multilevel and multi cultural participation, in which cooperation took
place between Chinese and Dutch government officials, Dutch Agro-entrepreneurs an international team

of 15 Dutch key specialists and Chinese researchers. Its way of working is based on the newest knowledge
of development policy as strategy for planning versus the more traditional control planning. The criteria
for evaluation of every part of the planning procedure, from master planning towards implementation and
exploitation are based on criteria and indicators for sustainable development.
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Networks, structural and optional elements
Within the master plan design principles are developed and explained with three underpinning networks,
obligatory structural elements and optional elements that are illustrated, calculated and visualized
in scenarios. The realization of the agropark will be based on the input and demands of the future
entrepreneurs and user groups, as well as on the fundamental structural elements and networks that form
the basis for sustainable development.
Demonstration, Trade, Production and Processing

Production and processing, Trade and the Demonstration of production, processes & networks form the
main functions of the Agropark. High quality training, research, living, tourism and leisure and nature are
derived from these main functions.
The main technical innovation lies in the heart of the Park, in which the Central Processing Unit combines all
flows and recycles nutrients, water, energy and biomass, and CO2 and converts the “wastes” into maximal
use of resources, cost reduction and quality improvement of through waste management and recycling of
valuable materials and energy. This CPU is the added value for the agropark environmentally and profit
wise.
Quality of the work landscape in hardware, software and orgware

The agropark finds its innovation in its large size in production potential for food and processing, in the
esthetics of the working environment, in the multifunctional approach for trade, demonstration and
production/processing, in its computerised precision production systems. As well as its planning is based
on fundamentally sound principles of landscape ecology, integrated water resources management, climate
proofing and sustainable infrastructures and the newest insights on leisure and living in a sound and
agreeable environment. As such it represents the three P’s of sustainable development, planet, people and
profit.
In the master plan development the aspects of the hardware have been paralleled with strategies towards
knowledge development and –valorisation, as well as with the organisational/ political developments
towards the complex implementation of the Greenport Shanghai Agropark. This comprises its international
and intercultural business planning and corporation building.
The time pressure on realization of this Modern Greenport Shanghai Agropark before the Expo 2010 gives
this Master plan a special load; there is decision making needed on choice of investments and investors,
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inputs and outputs of enterprises in the park that will determine the way infrastructure investments in
the park will have te be made. It asks for careful establishment of this industrial agro cluster in harmony
with the eco-city and the wetlands The low ecological footprint of the total Dongtan area can only be
established in close connection between its parts of urban spaces, agropark and nature areas.
Wageningen-Shanghai July 2007

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1. Introduction
1.1. Preface
Greenport Shanghai is a project initiated by the Shanghai Industrial Investment Company, TransForum and
Alterra, Wageningen University and Research to develop an Agropark in the front garden of Shanghai,
on Chongming Dao. The project is driven by the necessity in China to make the transition from present
agricultural practice to intensive agricultural production in its urbanizing areas, with high input, high
efficiency and high output.
The urbanization pressure in this part of the world is enormous, as is the demand for good food, produced
in a healthy and transparent way, answering to the dire needs of sustainable development with circular
production systems and processing methods. These requirements for optimal food production are clearly
formulated by the Chinese government, as they are top priority in Dutch policy and research for agricultural
developments.
The development phase for this Master plan is short termed, the first realistic implementation should start in
2008 to be realized in 2010 as a demonstration area and foothold for trade, based on the structural options
of infrastructures, networks, density zoning and central axis as described in this Master plan. The step
by step development of the production and processing area will be based on sound entrepreneurial and
political investments and gains and its linked social and urban developments. This Master plan realization
steers towards a horizon of 2015. It is continuous development and dependent on speed of realization of
the structural, non optional aspects, the successful investments and developments by all key stakeholders
and the quality in which the prescribed sustainable development can be realized.
In an agropark agricultural production and processing take place in the most sophisticated, highly
technological industrial way. The agropark “Greenport Shanghai” developed in this project can be
considered as a system innovation in the field of urban agro-food production and processing. It consists
of spatial clustering of the total chain of production, spatial clustering of different agro-productions,
spatial combination of agro-processing and non-agro functions like energy production, waste and water
management. The scale increase that is characteristic for agropark production enables the application of
principles of industrial ecology, such as mutual use of waste and by-products. Moreover it reduces transport
and veterinary risks and improves animal welfare. Greenport Shanghai is part of Ecocity Dongtan. Therefore
the balance between aspects of planet, people and profit, that forms the basic principle of sustainable
development, has been the leading principle for the design and development of this agropark.
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Planet means a shift from focus on production chains towards a focus on flows of energy and matter.
People means a shift from focus on the technical system towards a focus on organisation and knowledge
management, communication, information management, training and capacity building. It also means a
shift from hierarchical planning to governance in networks, also social and cultural.
Profit means producing a reasonable return by focusing on integral production network for improved chain
relations, cost reduction and quality management.
Production and processing within the park are combined with demonstration to meet the high demand for
recreation and education of the visiting citizens of Shanghai, the expected increase in Chinese and foreign
guests for tourist, business, recreational, educational or research purposes. Another important feature of
the park is trade and auction in raw materials and semi-processed products, necessary because the service
agriculture products that the park is aiming to deliver usually have a complex composition of which only a
part will be produced within the park itself.
The Master plan for this agropark has been based on five features: 1. Integrated network design answering
to the needs of production, processing, demonstration, trade and recreation, 2. Modern metropolitan
agriculture, 3. High tech infrastructure, 4. Sustainable development and 5. Profit.
The agropark Master plan design will step towards realization and operationalisation within 3 years from
now, to be realised as highlight for the Shanghai 2010 World Expo and the international exhibition Floriade
2012 in The Netherlands.
The ambitions of this Master plan Greenport Shanghai Agropark are high, the consortium of Shanghai
Industrial Investment Company, TransForum and Alterra Wageningen University and Research have
gathered a wide scope of specialists and experts, Dutch as well as Chinese, which have worked in close
cooperation in an integrated, interactive way. These results of the multi level (global, regional, national and
local), multi actor (government, knowledge institutes, enterprises) and multi cultural approach, to come to
the integrated design of the agropark, resulted in this 27 km² Master plan.
1.2 Instruction for reading

Chapter 1 is the introduction of this Master plan

Chapter 2 will lead you through the background reasoning for this assignment, the historical context why
Chinese and Dutch organisation work together for this Master planning and how the working process has
been done.
Chapter 3 gives you the physical and spatial context in which this Master plan Greenport Shanghai Agropark
can be situated, as connection point within the different spatial scales.
Chapter 4 explains the need and challenge of the paradigm shift in planning practice within the urban-rural
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arena of metropolitan areas, for which this Master plan forms a pilot. Here the innovation strategy is based
on the interaction and learning process between Chinese and Dutch approaches and an intensive dialogue
between current Chinese and Dutch practices. It explains the meeting the requirements of sustainable
development with regard to ‘planet’, ‘people’ and ‘profit’.
Chapter 5 shows and explains the actual integrated design of the Master planning with its basic structural
elements as density zoning, spatial gradients, central development axis, and networks. This comprises the
infrastructure, principles of integrated water management, landscape ecology, the string of functional
hotspots and routings for all target groups. This basic framework forms the matrix for the flexible options
that are described in this and the next chapter.
Chapter 6 illustrates the basic philosophy behind the demonstration park, the trade park and the agricultural
production and processing of the agropark. This chapter shows the different flexible options and elements
which can be developed in the agropark. These are described, visualized and calculated in the form of four
scenarios.
Chapter 7 looks towards implementation of joint business planning, formal planning and knowledge
development of Greenport Shanghai Agropark.
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2 The assignment:
Historical backgrounds
This chapter 2 will focus on the fit of Greenport Shanghai project within the agriculture mission of China
and Netherlands and how it answers to the goals of the key participating parties, as the Shanghai Industrial
Investment Company (SIIC), TransForum and Alterra of Wageningen UR. It gives insight into the working
process in which continuous involvement of multi parties was organised and facilitated.
2.1 Historical Perspectives of Agriculture in China.

China is the largest country in the world but the per capita arable land area is only one-quarter of the
average of the world. For that reason food security has always been on the top of the list of national
issues since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. After the opening of China in the late
1970s, China’s food security became a popular subject among agriculture economists of the world, because
the food security issue of China is directly linked with world food prices. To ensure the stability of food
production, the Chinese government created a “grain production responsibility system” that goes through
the chain of command from the government at central level to province, to city, to county, to village and
to each and every peasant family requiring a certain amount of production contributing to the public grain
reserve.
The sense of food security also created a Chinese mentality about the importance of “food self-sufficiency”
percolated from central to local level. With the liberalization of the economy and the free market system in
China starting from the 1980s, food production increased and stabilised because peasants were motivated
to produce more for more income. But nobody believes the new system is a cure to China’s food problem
because of the land pressure problem to China.
Actually the new system has its own shortfall when it is unchecked. Higher production of food is often

accompanied by the higher use of chemicals, both in the forms of fertilizer, agrocides and growth enhancing
agents that can cause pollution to the ambient environment, including water bodies and soil, and also
affects human health. While the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) has done much
on the control of point source industrial pollution, the agriculturally induced diffuse non-point source
pollution control issue has not been addressed.
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2.2 The Politics of Agriculture in Shanghai.
For Shanghai as a mega-city, it is not difficult to understand how the food self-sufficiency problem can be
a haunting issue to its leaders. An example is the issue of pork production in Shanghai, where pig farms in
the urban area are highly undesirable, because of the pollution problems. In the last twenty years, many pig
farms in Shanghai were asked to leave the city but at the same time the government of Shanghai still wants
to maintain about 50 percent self-sufficiency on pork. Another emerging urgent problem is food safety.
Motivated by profit, banned antibiotics and growth enhancing chemicals are still found in the animal food
and meats. Because these protein foods are produced by individual farmer dispersed in the country side,
so the compliance program can hardly cover all the producers. Within the perspective of the above, it is
not difficult to understand why the government of Shanghai is looking for innovative ways of achieving
more local production or higher level of self-sufficiency of food, and safer food at the same time. The
introduction of the agropark concept in the late 1990s appears to shed new light of sharing the concerns of
the government. To date there are about twenty agro parks around suburban Shanghai and most of them
are involved with the production of vegetables. Animal production is not popular because of the difficulty
of dealing with animal waste. Another concern on agroparks is its economics; high up front investment and
long pay back period.
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2.3 SIIC and the Significance of Agro park to Shanghai.
Shanghai proudly moves into the 21st century like a star city in the world. The agriculture of the city is also
setting new and ambitious targets. The innovations in agropark development are going to be instrumental
to its realization. The development of Greenport Shanghai on Chongming islands is an opportunity to
create a dream Agropark in Shanghai. SIIC is selected by the Shanghai government to be the developer of
Greenport Shanghai, and as such SIIC was entrusted with the task of building the most ecologically friendly
real-estate development on Greenport Shanghai, including the agropark. In the past year, in which the
conceptual thinking of the Dongtan agropark Master plan developed, it compelled to accomplish a number
of objectives, as follows:
• Being in line with the national strategy of Three Rural Issues Stipulated in the Eleventh Five Year Plan of
the Government and the Three Rural Issues refers to Agriculture, Countryside and Peasantry
• Increasing food production of both plants and protein at local level, thus reducing import from other
places,
• Producing safe and high-quality food,
• Creating more jobs, especially for those migrating from the rural areas,
• Developing a model of sustainable agriculture and/or circular agriculture economy, including energy
efficiency and use of renewable energy,
• Establishing coherence in the urban-rural areas,
• Offering more green space for Shanghai,
• Serving as a trade center for domestic and international agriculture produces,
• Setting standards for food quality and conducting certification,
• Creating a demonstration, research and education venue for modern agriculture, and
• Serving for the purpose of tourism and leisure, and finally but not the least
• Showing to the world a Sino-Dutch joint effort of agropark innovation in the World Expo 2010-Shang-
hai.
For Shanghai, the search of innovative and appropriate agropark model is still going on and this is also the

reason of the involvement of Alterra of Wageningen University and TransForum in the Greenport Shanghai
Agropark Master planning.
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2 The assignment: Dutch interests
2.4 Dutch Agriculture in the Globalization.
There are good reasons why the Dutch are interested to get involved in the project. The Netherlands has a
strong agro-food sector. The post-war development of knowledge was directed towards high-productivity
agriculture. While this approach was successful, it is now leading to over specialization, environmental
pressure and encroachment of public spaces. The agro-food sector is running into ecological and social
barriers; a switch to sustainable production and the maintenance of livable rural areas is urgently required.
At the same time, the Netherlands must continue to hold its own against international competition.
With the continuing development of the WTO, the Dutch must look beyond their borders. There is
the conviction that there is a market for Dutch agricultural enterprises in China and countries in Asia.
Agricultural trade is not only with respect to end-products but certainly also in relation to the production
of planting and breeding materials and knowledge. Greenport Shanghai brings Dutch agro-production into
the spotlight, revealing what it can offer, and it can therefore generate a large amount of business. In short,
for this bilateral cooperation, the Greenport Shanghai is going to be a demonstration park for China and
showcase for the Netherlands.
2.5 Wageningen University and Research.

These last 10 years, research institutes from Wageningen University have developed the concept of Agro
parks in the Netherlands as well as international, together with the Innovation Network and supported
by the ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality. Agro parks are not only industrial complexes for
food production but centre points of regional development, in which not only intensification but also
extensification of land use takes place which induces land use shifts for the better. This so-called “space
pump principle” induces concentration of industrial (agricultural) functions, while freeing the rural
landscape of unwanted or polluting practices and creating new space for new functions more appropriate
for the rural circumstances and wants. WUR invests together with TransForum in the further development
of Greenport Shanghai Agropark and Agroparks elsewhere in the world, based on the available integrated
knowledge and generic principles of Agropark development, knowledge on agricultural production, on
work and technical processes and on process management of complex regional developments. In itself
the working process of the multi actor/multi cultural process for agropark development is the arena for
transdisciplinary action research, which forms focus of the so-called Wageningen approach of WUR.
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2.6 TransForum
In response to the new challenges in the Netherlands on the transitions within agriculture, TransForum was
created. New ways of realizing innovations in agriculture form its goal. This calls for new alliances between
entrepreneurs, governments and researchers. TransForum brings such alliances about. In this way a new
knowledge network is established that satisfies two requirements: Close partnership between research and
practice and cooperation among divergent disciplines to come up with integrated practical solutions.
From the Dutch point of view it was also recognized that such an alliance should not be just a domestic
effort, it must also work internationally. Greenport Shanghai agropark development was identified as
a good testing case. The development of an agricultural park entails an exchange of expertise on two
sides. It is not only about the techniques and methodology used in agricultural parks, but it is also about
regional planning, about environment, about the development of international networks and new forms
of cooperation, especially those involving small and medium-sized enterprises. The goal is the development
of a knowledge value chain, by which Dutch and Chinese knowledge institutions together educate the
people who will later work in the agricultural parks and conduct research, and in doing so, generate new
demand for similar knowledge institutions. For this reason partnered with TransForum is Shanghai Industrial
Investment Company, the developer of Dongtan area. Leading in the provision of technical and knowledge
support for TransForum is Alterra Wageningen UR and its circle of experts and on the SIIC side Shanghai Jiao
tong University and Nanjing Agricultural University form the knowledge partners.
2.7 Mission Statement

Greenport Shanghai is the innovative and ambitious exploration of how Chinese metropolitan agriculture
will jump into the 21st century: circular, sustainable and profitable.
…….. If you don’t reach for the stars,

you will end with hands full of mud……..

2.8 SWOT.
To prepare the Master plan, a strategy was devised based on a jointly executed SWOT analysis within the
Chinese-Dutch working team, following the SWOT executed by Nanjing Agricultural University. This analysis
found the opportunities and threats. The approach adopted to address these opportunities and threats
show a number of strong characteristics, but also weaknesses that have to be conquered.
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2 The assignment: Working process
2.9 Working process
The Master planning to develop Greenport Shanghai Agropark was commissioned by a consortium of
three partners, SIIC, TransForum and Alterra Wageningen, in which parallel development of three main
components, Hardware, Software and Orgware [1] of the Master planning was executed.
The Master plan is not a blue print, but is being developed as a working process to answer the realisation of
wise policy aiming at sustainable development of land use, in which planet, people and profit aspects are
equally dealt with. This can only be accomplished through complying with well established rules, standards,
criteria, boundary conditions within the Chinese situation and answering to the planning principles of
participative development policy that is part of the Dutch approach. Essential in this approach is the
continuous involvement of entrepreneurial, governmental-political and knowledge partners during all
steps of the working process.
The clearly defined goal to develop a Master plan for the Agropark was reached by an open transparent,
iterative approach for design, with participation of all key players, facilitating development of commitment,
team spirit, cooperation and governance of relations within a learning attitude. Leading principles in every
step were arrangements and alignment of vital coalitions of responsible stakeholders and integration of
explicit knowledge and tacit knowledge.
The way to reach a vital consortium that will develop and realize the Master planning is by building the
network of Dutch and Chinese knowledge institutes, entrepreneurs, investors, governmental and non
governmental organisations step by step on all working levels and all phases of the process.
The working process has been designed to facilitate the interactivity of the three assigner organisations,
the design team and the reference/advisory boards to build and continuously improve and enrich the design
of the Master plan, to make it fit and realistic for future investors and entrepreneurs and for possibilities
for knowledge valorisation and exchange. The methodology that was used follows theories of the design
approach, the layer approach as design principle, the landscape dialogue, based on the use of the principles

of the knowledge spiral [2].
This participative approach as developed in Wageningen UR for Agropark development and Master
planning has been used to build the working organisation consisting of the advisory boards, steering group
and project group of key specialists in the Netherlands as well as in China. The advisory boards on both
Chinese and Dutch side were organised with participants who are embedded in formal governmental or
entrepreneurial or scientific organisations, and who meet regularly.
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The design team consisted of 16 Dutch key specialists (agriculture, production processes, hydrology,
ecology, urban and rural planning and regional planning, design and visualization, communication and
organization and business issues (hardware, software and org ware components) and their counterpart
specialists in China. To embed the results of the master planning within the Chinese context and mechanisms
on issues of system, organization, management and risk evaluation, close collaboration occurred with the
two Chinese Universities of Jiao tong and Nanjing Agricultural University, involved in the strategic and
industrial planning. The development of the three plans simultaneously and in interaction will guarantee
this complementarity of the 3 plans in this. (see chapter 4).
Entrepreneurship goes for profit
Government
Politicians go Knowledge is
for power about reputation
Knowledge
NGO’s
institutions
Fig 2 Interests of the key actors in participative planning
There are three phases to be distinguished in the development of the Agropark, with a horizon of 2015:
• Master planning (end 2006-May 2007),

• Implementation (2007-2008), in which basic infrastructures, structural elements and first entrepreneurial
investments will take place.
• Operationalization (2008-2015).
The Master planning has delivered newsletters and a brochure in which the three main parts of the Agro
park Master plan for the circular agriculture economy were described as “Bridge between cultures: from
demonstration and trade to full swing to win-win.
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The three main parts consist of:
• Demonstration park for China and showcase for the Netherlands
• Trading facility for products, facilities and processing and knowledge exchange
• Functional agricultural production and processing units with the Central Processing Unit as “The heart,
liver and kidneys” of the Agropark
The Master plan of the Agro Park (this report) is accompanied with basic knowledge studies on CPU (central
processing unit), organisational aspects, knowledge management, learning process (evaluation and
monitoring) and planning methodology.
[1] Hardware means all aspects that have to do with the physical components as infrastructure, nature, housing, industry, soil, water
etc. Orgware deals with organisational and institutional, financial and legal or procedural aspects; Software consists of knowledge
management and knowledge dissemination, dealing with intercultural aspects and management of creativity and emotions;
[2] Reference for use of the Design approach, the layer approach as design principle and working according to the principles of the
Knowledge Spiral (see Van Mansfeld 2004, Smeets 2004, Oenema 2006, Kolb, 1975, Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995)

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3. Context
This chapter explains the levels of connection and the relationships of Greenport Shanghai Agropark within
its international, national, regional and local contexts.
3.1 Six levels of connection

Greenport Shanghai Agropark can be positioned in its context on six different levels with different
significances of connection and interaction at the various levels.
1. On world level, internationally there are the links with all parts of the agricultural chain of the world,
in production, processing and trade and in relationships with knowledge centres. These links exist with
the Netherlands, but certainly not alone, as there are already Chinese, French, Italians, Japanese and
New Zealanders active in agriculture developments in Dongtan.
2. On a national level within China there are the linkages to the rest of China. Shanghai has always
strived to be an example for the rest of the country, in this case in the development of Dongtan Eco-
city and of industrial agriculture. This characteristic will not only be upheld by the agricultural park
itself, but will also be translated into quality assurance and expertise development.
3. On a regional level within the Southern Yangtze Delta in close relation to its metropolis from Shanghai
to Nanjing; there is the link to Shanghai with its 18 million potential customers for products from
Greenport Shanghai. The World Expo being organised by Shanghai for 2010, offers an excellent
opportunity to put the Dongtan eco-city and the associated agricultural park on the map.
4. On a regional/local level within Chongming Island the agricultural and recreational developments on its
east head will influence strongly the developments and planning of Dongtan. The water management
and climate risk management as well as waste management and energy flows will have to be
interconnected within the island as a total, for which the agropark can function as a accelerator. If the
development of land dependant agriculture will need more space on Chongming Island, reservation
area should be allocated within Chongming Island to keep close connection with the trade facilities
and infrastructural developments within the Dongtan area.
5. At the local level, the agropark has strong interrelations with the adjacent wetlands and tidal system,
with Dongtan Ecocity and the Olympic park in the Northwest. The agropark links with the wetland
as a source of clean filtered water, as a source of high biodiversity values and in terms of recreational
programming. The agropark area will develop the same underlying landscape ecological principles
20
that underpin the wetlands, within the gradient on Dongtan East head.
6. With Ecocity Dongtan there are many (potential) linkages, as residents of the city will work in the
agropark. This Master plan will develop cohesion between the city and the residential areas within
the agropark through the waste flows, (city waste and production and processing of agricultural raw
materials), energy flows (biomass) and water flows, that a re fitting into the integral demands of
ecological footprint and ecological loading capacity for the entire Dongtan area (86 km²). There are
also strong connections in terms of nature developments, green infrastructures within the city and
agropark and recreational facilities.
China:
Chongming Island: - High quality foodproducts
- Water infrastructure - Quality standards
- With other cities on the island - Showcase products and education
(energy, waste)
- With agricultural businesses
Shanghai Metropolis
- Expo 2010 Greenport Wetland:
- Eco connections
- Transport agrologistics
- High quality foodproducts
Shanghai - Water relations
- Processing of re -usable foodstuff Agropark - Recreation
into feed and biofuel

Dongtan Eco-City:
- Integrated spatial planning
- Joint environmental management World:
- Services exchange - Trade relationships
- Water relations - Marketing relationships
- Recreation - Knowledge relationships
Fig 3: Greenport Shanghai Agropark in connection with the world in six steps
21
3. Context: International
3 .2 International context-Delta metropolis
The world is developing into an urbanised network society. Metropolitan Areas are becoming the nodes of
globalisation. Soon the share of the world’s population living in cities is to surpass 50%. Most of the fast
growing ‘mega cities’ housing this urban population are located in fertile regions, often river deltas and
coastal plains. These fertile regions could support relatively large populations from the very beginning
of history and, as a consequence, have always shown high densities and a high degree of economic
development, expanding trade, manufacturing and services based on their healthy agricultural starting
position. For the near future, however, further urban growth with its tremendous speed is threatening
this very agricultural basis. Therefore we need, for the world in general and for China specifically where
urbanisation moves faster then anywhere else, a strategy to increase the productivity of agricultural land
in rapidly urbanizing regions and also an answer to the increasing demand for high quality food parallel
to the rising incomes of urban inhabitants. Present challenges are situated in good planning of sustainable
land use, tackling the urban-rural controversy under heavy urbanization pressure, dealing with good water
management under threat of climate change, combining land use functions of nature, infra-structure,
industry and agricultural production. These planning challenges also deal with shifting governmental
and organisational issues following the transition from traditional trade towards a service oriented and
knowledge economy.
The concept of ‘metropolitan agriculture’ can meet the agro production part of this enormous challenge.
Intensive agriculture (i.e. horticulture, livestock farming) has since long been developing around urban
areas. ICT, network-organisation and advanced production technology are driving new inventions to the
market. Reliance on the chains that provide the main fresh products is becoming of strategic importance.
The consumer is demanding high quality of food and food production methods, forcing retailers into
competition on food availability and safety, quality control and ethics. Greenport Shanghai, situated on the
east headland of Dongtan, and the Greenports in the Netherlands face the same challenge in sustainable
development of agricultural production: to evolve in a sophisticated innovative way, producing safe and
high quality food in a strongly urbanized context.
22
Population levels in developing countries, bn
3.5
3.0
2.5
2.0
Rural
1.5
1.0
Urban
0.5
0
1950 60 70 80 90 2000 10 20
Source: International Food Policy Research Institute
Fig 4: Greenport Shanghai Agropark in global context: one of the large delta-metropolitan areas
Both the lower Yangtze Delta with Shanghai, as dragon head of East-China and the North West European
Rhine delta are Delta Metropolitan regions with comparable developments and comparable challenges.
Both these delta areas, water rich, low laying lands with fertile soils have since long had important har-
bor functions and are densely populated. In the mouth of the large river system, the physical conditions,
the population pressure, the productivity, consumption patterns, its economic and ecological dynamics
and demand for sustainable land use are very comparable.

Fig 5 The lower Yangtze Delta with Shanghai, as Fig. 6 The Rhine-Meuse-Schelde Delta with Am-
dragon head of East-China sterdam, Rotterdam and Antwerp
23
3. Context: National and regional
3.3 National context
The national policy in China has brought unprecedented opportunities by the Strategy of Three Rural
Issues Stipulated in the Eleventh Five Year Plan of the Government in which these refer to Agriculture,
Countryside and Peasantry. These strategies are very comparable with those from the Netherlands
concerning sustainable Greenport development in the delta metropolitan area of the Rhine delta. These
Greenports are situated in the mixing zone of urban and rural frontlines near main ports (i.e. sea harbours
and international air hubs), with concentration of activities in transport, services, primary production, trade
and distribution of agricultural production. The Greenports form the basis for knowledge intensive agro
business. The functions and connections between chains are tuned and interdependent, the production and
processes cyclic, with use of each others rest materials and the land use planning is intensive, clustered and
clever. This all applies to the Chinese situation as well, particularly in the Southern Yangtze delta.
3.4 Regional Context: Shanghai in the lower Yangtze Delta

Few cities have been growing as fast as Shanghai[1]. Shanghai, also called in Chinese “Hu” or “Shen”,
covers an area of 6,340.5 square kilometres; it is the economic centre and the largest city in China and
one of world’s most important harbours. It is a city with nostalgic charm and modern convenience, with
eastern essence and western flavour renowned as pearl on the west coast of the Pacific Ocean. Shanghai
is leader of all cities in the Economic Zone in the Southern Yangtze River Delta. By the mid-nineteenth
century, Shanghai was hardly more than a big village, housing a few thousand inhabitants. Fifty years
later, the population was over a million already. After World War II the growth continued, with a marked
acceleration in the eighties and nineties, to the present 16.738 million [2]. For the next twenty years a
further growth to over 20 million inhabitants is expected. Per capita income in Shanghai is ¥55,153 (ca. US$
7,116) in 2006, almost four times higher than the average for China. At present growth rates, the income
will double every five or six years.
Chongming, as the largest alluvial island in China, is part of Shanghai province and covers an area of 1,041
square kilometres. It is also the third largest island in China. Chongming Island is located in the mouth
of the Yangtze River. It was, until recently, a remote place that was difficult to reach. A ferry makes the
journey, but the service is vulnerable to bad weather. From central Shanghai, the trip to Chongming Island
takes about three hours. However, this is soon to change. In 2009, a tunnel-bridge combination is due for
24
completion which will bring the island to as little as a half-hour travelling distance from Shanghai. This
out-of-the-way place might then be suddenly transformed into some of the most expensive available lands
in Shanghai.
[1] The 2000 census put the population of Shanghai Municipality, As of 2003, the officially registered population is 13.42 million;
however, more than 5 million more people work and live in Shanghai undocumented. Source: Wikipedia Shanghai Province.
[2] Shanghai Province spans an area about as large as the Dutch Province of South Holland.
Fig 7 The master panning for Chongming Island as a whole according to the federal Government (the Shang-
hai and Chongming Planning Commissions)

Fig 8 The agropark consists of 27 Km2 virginal arable lands
25
Fig 10 Chongming and Changxing Islands overall planning
In contrast to the green character of Chongming, Changxing Island
will be developed for industrial purposes (mainly ship building and
port equipment).
1. projected urban areas

2. New deep sea harbours
3. Projected forested areas for recreation and tourism
Fig 9 New infrastructural links connecting Chong- 4. future major infrastructures ( highways, light rail, railway)
ming Island to Southern and Northern Mainland
Once the new bridges connecting Chongming

Shanghai City and Jiangsu Province are in place, the
island will be very attractive for development. The
City Government, however, has decided that only
‘green’ development will be permitted. The Dongtan
Agropark is a function that fits quite well in this
green character.
26
3. Context: Chongming and Dongtan
3.5 Local context Chongming Island
The Shanghai City government has decided to link the Chongming Island to both the city on the Southern
mainland and the Jiangshu province on the Northern mainland. These links (Grand Coast Freeway) will
create vast development opportunities in which Dongtan will be situated 45km from downtown Shanghai,
with convenient transportation as planned to be ready in 2009 and only 50km away from Pudong airport.
The Shanghai planning institutions and national government however do not want the development to
take the same form as the present growth area of Pudong, but reserve the Chongming Island for ‘ecological
urbanisation’. Green functions will dominate the island, with only a moderate growth in population of
about 800.000, concentrated in a number of modest size (on average 100.000 inhabitants each) towns
of relatively low density, located along the Southern edge. Employment will follow these general green/
ecological characteristics, with emphasis on sustainable agriculture, tourism and leisure. Heavier economic
activities (such as ship building and crane manufacturing) will concentrate on the smaller island of Changxing
that will also be served by the fixed link to the Southern mainland. Accordingly, population density will
become much higher here, with a generally more urban character. Altogether according to the current
plans there should be a distinct density gradient from South to North: first the relatively high density and
degree of urbanisation and industrialization of Changxing Island, then a density already much lower in the
belt of ‘green cities’ along the southern edge of Chongming Island, next the core area of the island, partly
with traditional agriculture and partly forested, and finally the open, sparsely populated Northern edge of
the island with its adjacent offshore wetlands.
3.6 Local Context Dongtan area

The east head of Chongming Island, Dongtan (86 km²) is called the Fortress of the Island and has the
advantages of its natural resources. Chongming Island is silting-on, every year the Yangtze deposits some
150 m of silt to the front side of the island and every ten years the new area is diked. Dongtan is the

most recent of these reclaimed areas. It is rich in both terrestrial and aquatic (freshwater and seawater)
resources with great biological diversification and attractive because of abundant sunshine all year round,
cold weather and little rainfall in winter, high temperature and sufficient rain in summer. The quality of
air, deep (underground) water and soil in Dongtan is high, although the basic conditions of the soil are still
unripe (very young soils) and often highly saline. The soil is however clean with no pollutants of former
agricultural or other use and with continuous efforts; its agricultural fertility can be expected to improve
significantly, according to Chinese partners.
27
• A 24 km² area is planned for nature and recreation development (eco tourism) in the form of freshwater
wetlands within the diked area. The wetlands outside the dikes are on the United Nations’ habitat list as
a very important area for migrating birds, stepping stone between Siberia and Australia, in peak periods
providing a resting place for some 400 species of birds.
• Dongtan area will be developed partly as the eco-city of Shanghai, set to be inhabited by a couple of
hundred thousand residents [3]. In 2010, when Shanghai will host the World Expo, its eco-city must be
operating and visible, as an integral part of the international exposition.
• Within the area 27 km² has been set aside for highly technological and sustainable agricultural deve-
lopment. If the development of land dependant agriculture with the agropark area of 27 km² will need
more space on Chongming Island, reserved areas should be mainly located in Dong Wang Sha area.
[3] Ecocity” is a key concept in China. One of the strategies that the federal government is implementing to bring about a great
leap forward in its environmental policy is that every large city in China must develop an eco-city. These eco-cities are to serve as
examples of sustainable development.
These approved development plans for the Dongtan area lead to a second density gradient, from West to
East, with the rather higher intensity of land use in the core of the island, gradually declining in intensity of
land use in the wetlands reclaimed earlier and now in use for extensive agriculture, with a few residential
developments more to the East. The intensity of land use reduces more and more towards the freshwater
wetlands inside the most recent dike and the salt water wetlands outside the dike with their Ramsar status
(international wetland convention for migratory bird habitat). Along this West-East gradient as well as
along the South-North gradient the development moves from intensive to extensive, from cultural to
natural, from formal urban green areas to natural ecosystems, and especially in the West-East direction
from fresh to more saline water.
28
Fig 11 Present Master planning for a multi-functional Dongtan by
SIIC: 9 Ecological Functional Districts
1. Swamp Tour
Sightseeing area of aquatic breeding. The land use is established for fish pond production in the area.
2. Model of Ecological Agriculture
The area sits in the north of the planned extension section of Beiyan Highway where high-tech and industrialization research
shall be conducted for non-pollution ecological agriculture using the good climate and particular soil environment in the area.
District for Education, R&D
The research and development base sits in the south of the scientific education garden area comprising such functions as infor
mation technology research, software development and biological technology research and development, etc.
4. Business District in Woods
5. District for Outdoor Recreational Sports
The area sits in the far southeast of the planning area providing such high-grade outdoor leisure facilities as horse-taking center,
man-made beach, indoor golf course and forest villa, etc. for the planning area or even for the whole city dominated by natural

environment and supplemented by high quality man-made environment.
6. Experimental Ecological Community
7. District for Green Industry
8. District for Theme Park
9. New Rural Community
29
3. Context: Chongming and Dongtan: its conditions for
land use
Within this paragraph land form and land use conditions are shortly described; in chapter 5 the essential
assets for the design on aspects of the water system (5.5), landscape ecology (5.6) and infrastructure (5.7)
are further elaborated.
3.7 Land use conditions

Chongming Island is mainly flat, with no hills or mountains, but the terrain is higher in the northwest and
central parts and slightly lower in the southwest and east. The Dongtan area is one of the island’s main
deposit zones for silt runoff. After enclosure for cultivation, most of the original natural wetlands were
gradually transformed into artificial wetlands and fishponds, but a considerable amount of reed lands were
preserved.
The Dongtan project area is flat with an altitude of about 3.6 to 3.9 meters above sea level. The land mainly
consists of alluvium from the Yangtze River, with some loam and clay deposits. Due to the fact that the land
was formed relatively recently, its geological structure is quite porous. The pH of the soil varies between
about 8.0 and 9.0 which can be considered as alkaline. The salinity of the soil varies form normal salinity to
strongly saline soil which occurs in a small part of the area.
The Dongtan area is surrounded

on three sides by water: the north
side faces the terminus of the
northern branch of the Chongming
River; the southern side opens

to the Beijing (north port) water
Channel and the eastern side to
the Yangtze River seafront.
30
3.7.1 Climate
Dongtan is located along the seashore of the southern fringes of the northern subtropics and has a marine
climate. The temperature is warm and humid and the four seasons are clearly defined. In winter it is cold,
there is less rainfall and northwest winds prevail. In summer, it is hot, there is a great quantity of rainfall
and southeast winds prevail. In spring and autumn, warm and cold alternate frequently, as do dry and wet
days. The annual rainfall is 1117 mm and the annual evaporation is 600-800 mm. During summer there is
hardly a deficit because of high rainfall in this period. The summer and autumn seasons often experience
typhoons, with an average of 1.5 times per year. Influenced by the monsoon seasons in winter and summer,
the primary wind directions change in sequence, from southeast, to northwest to northeast. Due to the
alternation of winter and summer monsoons every year, the seasonal variations in wind direction patterns
are very distinct. In spring, cold and warm air fronts supersede each other frequently, producing much
cyclonic activity causing high wind speeds .In autumn the average wind speed is about 3.5 m/s. The frost
season generally runs from the beginning of November till the end of March.
3.7.2 Hydrology
Influenced by the runoff of the Yangtze River and the tides, the hydrological conditions near Dongtan
change distinctively in conjunction with seasonal shifts. The tide changes as an informal shallow-sea-half-
day tide, In general, the smallest and largest tidal change takes place in August and December, influenced
by runoff. The rich water season is from April to October and the total flow of the runoff during the
summer is about 60% of the annual runoff. The flood peak frequently takes place during this period and
the dry season is from November to the following March.
Drainage of the island takes places from the western to the eastern part of the island by the North Horizontal
Canal and the Southern Horizontal Canal which are connected to each other at several places. Several times
the system is flushed with water from the Yangtze River by opening gates of the main canal system.
3.7.3 Water Quality

The quality of Yangtze water at the intake points in the western part of the island is rather good due to

the high influence of rainfall. According to Chinese Environmental Quality standards for surface water the
water quality in the drainage system can be considered as Class I/II in the western part of the island to II/III in
the eastern part. There are rich freshwater and saltwater resources in the Dongtan area. The water flow is
slow, stable, warm and highly fertile. As the water is relatively low in pollution, there are large amounts of
fresh water fish, waterfowl, and aquatic plants. The temperate zone to subtropical zone provides a suitable
habitat for many saltwater and upstream fish, shrimp and crabs.
31
3.7.4 Agriculture
Due to the fact that Dongtan is relatively new land, having been cultivated for just a few years, and its
situation far from municipal pollution with little wastes, it is an exceptionally clean area according to Chinese
standards, with unpolluted land, water and air. Based on the results provided by the Shanghai Environmental
Academy from their recent study “research of Dongtan green Produce Park and its surrounding area”,
data shows that pollutant content of all types are lower than average levels. This opens up possibilities
for ecologically friendly (green) marine production. The environment for ecological agricultural provides
excellent conditions for the production of organic foods. Salinity of the unripe soils and of surface- and
groundwater however determines the possibilities for crop production. This is an important reason to focus
agricultural activities towards land independent activities.
32
4 Orgware: The planning method
The previous chapters showed that the development of the Agropark represents a new type of assignment:
integrated urban-rural development through ‘metropolitan agriculture, meeting the requirements of
sustainable development with regard to ‘planet’, ‘people’ and ‘profit. Such a new assignment needs a new
planning approach, not only for this Master Plan, but also in the parallel development and preparation of
the Strategic Plan and the Industrial Plan for the Dongtan area. In order to proceed to the concrete spatial
design of the Master Plan, there is need for a thorough explanation of this new planning approach, which
results from an intensive dialogue between current Chinese and Dutch practices, and is based on principles
of the Wageningen approach towards planning. This dialogue produced a ‘paradigm’ shift in the way
spatial planning of rapidly urbanizing delta areas should be undertaken. As such this Master plan forms a
pilot for learning from Chinese as well as Dutch perspective.
4.1 General approach: from control planning to development policy

The new planning paradigm is needed in the first place to ensure successful implementation of the plans
for the Dongtan Agropark. The type of planning needed is development oriented, not control oriented,
because implementation depends in the first place on entrepreneurs willing to invest in productive activities.
They will assess the possibilities to maximize returns, minimize risks, and guarantee continuity and growth.
For the entrepreneurs freedom is crucial to organize production processes as efficient as possible, to decide
on where to purchase their inputs, which types of products to select.
Traditional ‘blue print’ land use planning seldom offers sufficient freedom for entrepreneurs to make
investments attractive. This type of planning is discouraging rather than stimulating to (international)
investors. Instead, within a limited set of simple and transparent constraints that are indispensable to attain
the fundamental objectives of the Agropark, actual development should be highly flexible, offering as
much freedom to investors as possible. There is no preconceived detailed plan to which entrepreneurs have
to adjust their plans, but an open, inviting and welcoming reception of all initiatives that agree with the

basic philosophy and structural elements of the Agropark.
4.2 Evaluation framework

The necessary constraints to safeguard the basic objectives of the Agropark constitute an evaluation
framework in which the optimum freedom to act for entrepreneurs is embedded. The evaluation framework
33
directly reflects the strategic qualities of the Agropark, such as its balance and harmony between urban and
rural characteristics, its ambitions in terms of sustainable development, and the high quality of its products
and provisions.
The evaluation framework consists of three parts:
(1) Criteria and indicators to assess sustainability of development proposals, for each of the basic aspects of
people, planet and profit
(2) Design principles for the water system, landscape ecology, and the CPU with its related mix of interrelated
production and processing activities
(3) structural elements of the spatial layout: the overall density zoning, the alignment of the central
development axis, and the ‘backbones’ of the networks for water, ecology, transportation, tourism, and
the CPU.
Criteria and indicators for the sustainable development of agriculture are to be found in section 4.6 of this
chapter. Design principles for water and landscape ecology are given in the next chapter, sections 5.5 and
5.6. Design principles for the CPU and the agro-industrial mix are elaborated in chapter 6. The structural
elements of the spatial layout are again in chapter 5, section 5.4 (density zoning and main development
axis), 5.5 and 5.6 (water and ecology networks) and 5.7 (networks for transportation, tourism and CPU).
For a better understanding of the function of the various parts of the evaluation framework, both in
chapter 5 and chapter 6 illustrative examples are given of further design elaborations (e.g. 3D visualisations
of the development axis and tourist ‘hotspots’, land use schemes, ecotopes and target species, etc.). It
should be kept in mind, however, that these are for illustration only and are certainly not meant to control
the exact allocation of functions to the land, or of land to producers.
To ensure the sustainable

development of the Agropark
and the whole Dongtan district of
86km2 under SIIC management

a performance evaluation index
system should be established and
managed by an independent body.
It applies to the planning phase,
to development, preparation and
building of infrastructures and
structural elements as well as to
34
implementation and operation. This Performance Evaluation Index System needs to answer to the criteria
and indicators of people, planet and profit, the design principles for the water system, landscape ecology
and CPU and to the structural elements. The index system answers to the multi-objectives, it relates to the
different phases of development and its modular approach and answers to dynamic process control and
iterative monitoring of decisions.

35
4 Orgware:
Process oriented planning
4.3 Process oriented planning
To make the development orientation operational, what needs to be adopted is a process oriented planning
methodology. This is for two reasons: not only because of the unpredictability of actual implementation
that makes it necessary to offer maximum flexibility while at the same time safeguarding essential qualities,
but also because the concept of urban-rural integrated planning and planning for metropolitan agriculture
is new, doesn’t fit in existing legal frameworks, and asks for a ‘learning-by-doing’ approach.
With regard to this new concept of urban-rural integrated planning, it cannot be expected that the Chinese
legal context is to be changed just to accommodate a single project that falls outside normal practices.
What is needed is recognition as an experiment, which offers opportunities to learn lessons from practical
action. When successful, the experience from this project as a pilot, may well lead to a future review of
present formal regulations on peri-urban planning procedures and protocols, as a learning case; though
this is a matter to be decided within the Chinese policy making context.
In the process oriented planning, after this Master Plan is available, the next step is to use it as a ‘bid book’
to invite investors to participate in the actual development of the Agropark. Once concrete investment
initiatives come forward, these have to be evaluated for their contribution to the objectives of the Agropark
development (see evaluation index). When found positive, the following step in the planning process can
be made, adjusting the overall business mix, the necessary infrastructure, the spatial lay out, the relation
between private investment and public investment, etc. This offers a scenario that remains always fluid
and will never solidify as ever new investments, disinvestment and reinvestment initiatives will present
themselves, that may require a highly flexible environment to attain optimum returns.
These steps of bidding for investment initiatives, evaluating them and then adjusting detailed plans, need
to be repeated all the time as long as the Agropark keeps developing (see also chapter 7).
4.4 Relations between Strategic Plan, Master Plan and Industrial Plan
From the ‘development policy’ and ‘process oriented planning’ , in the preparation process of this Master
Plan the relations within and between the Strategic Plan and Industrial Plan have been explored (see
chapter 2). As a result of a coordinated effort of the three planning teams involved there is dealt with
strategic, practical and innovative-creative aspects and together the three plans meet the following
necessary preconditions:
36
• They express the three basic concepts that are crucial to the success of Greenport Shanghai Agropark: (1)
a shift from separated urban and rural development to urban-rural integration (in the form of ‘metro-
politan agriculture’), (2) a shift from control planning to development policy, and (3) a shift from focus
on economic development only towards focus on sustainable development, including aspects of profit
and also of planet and people
• They make a clear distinction between the framework of ‘hard’ structural elements on the one hand and
flexible implementation options on the other
• Between them they cover all important content matter, background information and basic knowledge
studies
• Relations between plans work always in two directions, making them interactive and fit for a process
planning approach
The following characterization defines the central focus of each plan:

The Strategic Plan contains the design for the development of the Dongtan area at a conceptual level. It
brings up the whole framework and general ideas guiding the Master Plan and the Industrial Plan. Its main
contents are strategic conception and orientation, strategies for industrial development, management,
spatial layout, landscape ecology and community building, as well as safeguarding technical quality and
performance level.
The Master Plan deals mainly with ‘hardware’, ‘software’ and ‘orgware’. The innovative hardware covers
density zoning and network design for water management, landscape ecology, transportation and
tourism infrastructure, and the central processing unit (CPU). Added to these are indicative land use
options that serve as illustrations of how the Agropark may function and how it might be experienced.
Software and orgware cover various management aspects (involvement of SIIC, technology management,
HRM, quality management, etc) as well as financial constructions, public relations, branding, and marketing
(see chapter 2).

The Industrial Plan concentrates on the actual development of production and processing activities, including
the CPU, based on a SWOT-analysis. Its main contents are the general targets of industrial development,
industrial scale and structure, detailed spatial lay out, investment pre-calculations, fund raising, etc.
The Master Plan as framework for development, is in accordance with the concepts of the Strategic Plan,
dealing with (a) relations with the outside world, (b) overall zoning according to higher-order spatial plans,
37
(c) basic structure and features of internal networks (transportation and tourism, material and energy flows,
ecological relations), (d) the overall landscape pattern, (e) criteria for the evaluation of implementation
schemes (especially the balance/mix of activities), including (f) principles for the location of specific activities,
and (g) principles for the phasing of the implementation. For the evaluation of investment initiatives,
generally speaking, in the Strategic Plan the aspects are selected. Related to these the Master Plan has
formulated criteria, and the Industrial Plan derives indicators and threshold values as planned within the
Performance Evaluation Index System.
38
4 Orgware: Process oriented planning
4.5 Ecological footprint and ecological loading capacity
An important evaluation tool, especially to decide on numbers of inhabitants that may be accommodated
by the Agropark, is to assess the ‘ecological footprint’ of various residential community sizes, according to
the various CPU-scenarios (see chapter 6) and relate this to the ecological loading capacity, both of the 86
km² Dongtan area as a whole and the 27 km² Agropark area specifically.
The concept of ecological footprint and loading capacity is set forth by the Strategic Plan, while specific
calculations belong to the Industrial Plan, based on the CPU-scenarios of the Master Plan. The overall
objective is a balance between footprint and loading capacity on the level of the whole 86 km² Dongtan
area, which means that an eventual ecological deficit of the Dongtan Eco-city has to be compensated by a
surplus generated by the Agropark.
To attain this balance between footprint and loading capacity, it is important to reduce the per capita
footprint as much as possible, for instance by minimizing the use of fossil energy (e.g. by better isolation of
buildings, or improved natural ventilation in stead of air-conditioning), or by using more efficient ways to
produce the food consumed by local residents. It is important to look at static quantities such as the number
of inhabitants, but also to adopt the more dynamic approach of flow management. The CPU concept of
the Agropark leads to closed cycles of waste and materials, with zero environmental impact, and generates
surplus electricity from biomass processing. Other options for non-fossil energy are aquifer storage, solar
boilers, solar cells and windmills. All these may be essential in counterbalancing the pressure of occupation
on the whole of Dongtan East head, as for instance in the urban area of Chen Jia Town or Yu An Farm.
Following these considerations a first estimate has been made of the maximum residential capacity of the
Agropark that still meets the requirement of compensating ecological deficits that may arise elsewhere in
the wider Dongtan area. This maximum lies around 30,000 thousand inhabitants which is enough to cover
the needs of workers, experts and managers as well as supporting personnel of the Agropark, while also
leaving some space for the settlement of ‘suburbanites’ in general (maximum 10%) (See calculations on

land use for housing in chapter 6).
More detailed footprint and flow management calculations will be assigned to the Industrial Plan, as part
of the further process of decision making and implementation. The first step could be a further elaboration
of the calculations already available for the whole region, adjusted to additional information on household
waste processing and energy use, in relation to the capacity of the CPU to produce surplus heat and
electricity. This should be followed by additional calculations, which may be based on specific flow figures
39
as follow from the mix of agro-production and processing
activities in each of the four illustrative scenarios given in
chapter 6 below. These two steps are still ‘ex ante’. Definitive
calculations can only be made once more is known of the
business mix that results from actual investment initiatives.
These calculations have to play a crucial role in the evaluation
of such initiatives and need to be followed by constant
monitoring after the investments have been implemented as
part of the sustainability evaluation system.
Fig 12 Sustainable development = Planet, People and Profit in

Balance
4.6 Evaluation aspects, criteria and indicators for sustainable development of agriculture
Concluding this chapter on the planning method for the sustainable development of agriculture, it will be
demonstrated how the relation between aspects, criteria and indicators works in practice. In general the
concept of sustainable development has been defined by the Brundtland Commission as “development
that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their
own needs”.
In order to develop criteria for the evaluation of
sustainable development it is present good use and
generally accepted to focus on three integrated
aspects: people, planet and profit, referring to the
social, environmental and economic spheres.
For each aspect different criteria can be distinguished
that are relevant to the evaluation of the performance

of an Agropark, as is represented by the table below.
In the table suggestions of possible indicators are
linked to the criteria. The indicators help to measure
performance and establish thresholds and critical
values. Within the Industrial Plan these will be further
elaborated within the Performance Evaluation Index
System.
40
4 Orgware: Evaluation criteria for sustainable
development of Agriculture
Criteria for Indicator Value/Scale/ Remarks
People Improvement level
Employment Number of employees per ha Higher than rural mean, up to industrial level The Agropark should contribute in creation
of urban jobs for rural people
Wage and Benefits Minimum wage earned and Shanghai government Higher than rural mean (to those still holding rural residency Agropark must improve living conditions
standard set for employee benefits status)
Transferred people Number of local residents unwilling to leave and not Zero No people should be re-allocated against
working at the agropark their will
Working conditions Quality of working environment All working environment should meet international standards of
Aspect people
International Labour Organisation
Residential quality Quality of housing and dormitories

Dongtan Ecocity standards exceed normal
Quality of public space Values defined by the Dongtan Ecocity concept
Shanghai standards
Quality of public services
Residential safety Safety measures against typhoons & flooding Equal to Shanghai standard
Criteria for Profit Indicator Value/Scale/ Improvement level Comment

Profitability Return on investment Production > 5% A startup period of 3 – 5 years is needed
Processing > 10% before these levels can be
Tourism > 5% reached.
Services > 5% Labour wages included.
Knowledge generation > 3% Investments costs included.
Productivity Amount of value added in relation to capital, labour and land

and knowledge
Business size: number of employees
Ownership balance between state owned enterprises, local government

owned or private enterprises
Continuity of the business: degree of flexibility and resilience to shifts in market
Public earning Taxes Normal standards on economic development zones
Amount of value added tax and corporate tax Normal standards on economic development zones
Subsidies Subsidies on agricultural products According to Chinese and Shanghai standards
Subsidies on innovative investments According to Chinese and Dutch standards
Knowledge Consultant fee According to national standards of participants

valorisation
Success fee 5% of implementation investment Structural investment: after decision to
implement the park. Flexible
investments: after
implementation of specific parts
Share 5% of shareholder value of agropark Used for funding of applied research on

agropark research question
Aspect profit
Sustainability status per enterprise: improvement in most critical social aspect

improvement in most critical environmental aspect
Sustainability status
decline in energy use and CO2 production
availability of environmental management system
Certification: ISO certification realised

High corporate governance rate

41
4 Orgware: Evaluation criteria for sustainable
development of Agriculture
Criteria for Planet Indicator Value/Scale/ Comment
Improvement level
Biodiversity Shannon index Must increase
Connectivity of robust connections macro, meso and
micro level
“Nature friendliness” of verges and embankments
Landscape Typical parcelation .

Degree of openness
Surface area of landscape plantations (lines & mass
structures
Energy efficiency Direct fossil energy use Must develop to 0
Indirect fossil energy use Minimise according to international standards energy used for production of raw
materials and production means
Direct and indirect solar, tidal and geothermal energy Must increase with every enterprise established or
growing
Agropark as energy source Must increase with every enterprise established or Sources: electricity, heat, cold,
growing energy carriers
Net gain of organic material produced Quantity of organic material As high as possible
Waste treatment Re-use, recycle or treat According to highest standard
Mineral cycling Nitrogen output as waste Must develop to 0
Phosphate output as waste Must develop to 0
Other minerals Must develop to 0
Hazardous materials Restricted use According to highest standard
Biocides and growth agents Substance use Exceptional use only to cure diseases Pesticides, herbicides, animal
medicines, growth enhancing means
Biological Control Number of ecological feedback mechanisms to Increase to high level of complexity
prevent diseases
Transport Transport distance Shift from low to high efficiency. Minimize.
Animal comfort Stress indicators for specific animals. Reduce stress wherever possible
Area use per animal Optimise according to specific animal needs

Aspect planet
Water quantity Amount of fresh water According to Chongming Standards

Groundwater and surface water
Water quality Salinity and pollution According to Chongming Standards
Soil quality Soil pollution Must remain/ be brought on lowest possible level
42
5 Spatial design:
The reasoning

5.1 Introduction
In this chapter the spatial design of the Master plan design is explained, with a distinction between design
principles and structural elements on the one hand, that are part of the evaluation framework as set forth
in chapter 4, and illustrations on the other hand that visualise the framework and clarify its meaning.
This chapter starts with the general reasoning behind the plan (sections 5.1 to 5.3) and the overall density
zoning and alignment of the central development axis (section 5.4). Then it deals with the various functions
of the park and their supporting networks: water (section 5.5), landscape ecology (5.6), infrastructures for
transportation, tourism and the Central Processing Unit (5.7). In the last section (5.8) the integration of
density zones, central development axis and networks is set out.
As stated in chapter 2 the Master plan should offer an integrated design for modern metropolitan agriculture,
based on sustainable development principles, supported by high-tech infrastructure, and guaranteeing a
profitable operation. According to chapter 3 it should fit in a multi-layered context: the development of
China in a global setting, the development of Shanghai and the Yangtze River delta as one of the major
economic regions of China, and the Chongming Island as an eco-development zone within the overall urban
development of the city of Shanghai and the neighbouring province of Jiangsu. According to chapter 4, the
Master plan needs a new approach, moving from the traditional control planning to modern development
policy. An important aspect of this move is to make the sharp distinction between structural elements* and
basic design principles* on the one hand, and flexible implementation options* on the other.
To make a clear delineation of the structural element and basic design principles, these are indicated in the
following texts of this chapter with the blue colour, the optional elements are indicated with green.

Another important aspect is to adopt the concept of process planning as an iterative activity that goes on
continuously as long as the Agropark is absorbing new activities and transforming existing ones.
This leads to the mission statement:
“Greenport Shanghai is the innovative and ambitious exploration of how Chinese metropolitan agriculture
will jump into the 21st century: Circular, Sustainable, and Profitable”
43
5.2 Metropolitan agriculture
In traditional spatial planning an area is designated as either urban or rural. Cities have to be allowed
to grow, especially when they attract vast numbers of immigrants as is the case in Shanghai, while – still
according to the traditional model – this should take the form of well ordered new residential or industrial
areas that replace entirely the existing rural functions. A number of serious problems result from this
traditional urban-rural ‘paradigm’:
• fast growing cities occupy much land, often the most fertile soils, where historically cities often develo-
ped, for that food production is seriously endangered
• farmers lose their livelihood; even if they are compensated properly they cannot always reinvest in acti-
vities that yield sufficient income in the long run; industrial employment as an alternative is not always
available, nor is it their first choice– thus many farmers having lost their land, lead a marginal existence
in the cities
• green and open areas within the city have to be planned specifically, for no other purpose than recre-
ation and leisure – Green and open spaces within cities are costly to implement and maintain, when
development pressure and land prices are high and always at risk of being marginalized.
An alternative to the traditional approach is not to separate but mix urban and rural functions in urban
expansion areas. Agriculture need not be terminated, but may be continued, also with a transition to more
intensive, high tech production; total output and income may remain at the same level or even reach higher
values. In that way the city can still grow while agriculture is maintained and farmers do not lose their
livelihood. And at the same time the resulting mosaic of urban and rural functions results in an attractive
green character for the city, at much lower costs. The green character will be further enhanced when
combined with water management (e.g. retention ponds, wetland water filtering, etcetera). Green and
water together can provide strong ecological networks that add natural functions that further enrich the
urban-rural mixed land use. In this way a new type of agriculture is introduced: metropolitan agriculture.
This type of agriculture is characterised by international state-of-the art technology, high yield of high
quality products that fetch high prices in urban markets. It adds significantly to sustainable development
(zero impact) and nature friendliness and it offers excellent opportunities for modern entrepreneurs and it
has the capability to absorb a considerable number of workers and offer these healthy working conditions
and good wages. Metropolitan agriculture helps to balance and harmonise urban and rural development
and closes the economic and social gap between city and countryside as well as lessen tensions over
agricultural land appropriation for urban expansion purposes. Next to attracting entrepreneurs both from
44
the region and from abroad, SIIC/SAC may support traditional farmers to make this transition through
research, identification of best practices, training, knowledge transfer and marketing assistance.
5.3 Urban – Rural integration

To make the new concept of urban-rural integration really work, other planning rules are necessary, not
those that support the separation of urban and rural spheres, but rules that help to maintain balance and
harmony in a mixed development. In various parts of the world methods have been devised to find this
balance, such as transferable development rights, compensation requirements, differentiated land sales
prices or lease tariffs, differentiated subsidies or levies. For the situation of Greenport Shanghai, where all
the land is owned by SIIC, land lease seems the most appropriate way to make land available to commercial
enterprises. In that case, as an example, land lease fees may be lower for users who manage to reduce the
percentage of their plots covered by buildings (by more efficiently organising the internal layout, or by
building two or more storey’s, etc). Another way to use differentiated fees is to stimulate the right mix of
production activities to ensure maximum efficiency of the CPU, resulting in effective zero environmental
impact. This will also help to ensure the availability of outputs of one activity that form crucial inputs for
another. This type of land lease rules need elaboration in the Industrial Plan. It is not only the concept
of urban-rural integration that calls for new planning rules. The same holds for the move from control
planning towards development policy and from a development that is primarily economically oriented
towards really sustainable development, balancing ‘people, planet, profit’.

45
5 Spatial design: The zoning structure
In the following parts of this chapter the process of integrated design of the structural elements of the
Master plan will be explained and presented step by step. First the density zoning and main development
axis will be explained. In the sections that follow each of the structural elements will be dealt with
separately: water and ecological networks, transportation network, tourist routing and the CPU-network.
For all of these the internal structure will be defined as well as the ‘interfaces’ with the outside world. The
crucial step of integrating the structural elements, results in what is actually the core of the spatial design
of the Master plan.
5.4 Spatial gradients - Density zoning and main development axis

According to the higher order plans for the Chongming Island and Dongtan area as a whole, there are
the two South-North and West-East density gradients that together determine the distribution of land use
intensity of the Agropark.
The park is located between two new urban projects to its South and the open area at the North coast,
and also between the bridge head to the West and the natural reserves of the Eastern wetlands and
‘Ramsar’ foreshore zone. For the design of the Agropark itself the combination of these two gradients is
paralleled into a general zoning with relatively high density and intensity in the South-western corner via
an intermediate zone to a low density/intensity zone in the North, Northeast and East.
This three-fold density zoning, parallel to the coastline establishes the first and foremost context derived
governing principle for the Master Plan.
The second feature following from this context are the entrance points where the Agro park connects
logically to the external transportation system: one in the South, which will be the gate towards the outside
world, the first to be developed and which will remain the most important one throughout the whole
development. The other gate will be situated in the West, developing in a later phase and remaining of
a more or less secondary character. From the location of the two entrances to the Agro park follows the
alignment of the main access axis that is also the main axis for the spatial developments in time: starting
from the South, this central axis makes a left turn near the centre of the park towards the Western access.
46
Fig 13 Density gradients paralleled within the agropark

Fig 14 South-North and West-East density gradients
From South to North and from West to East the projected land use densities on Chongming Island are
decreasing. Dongtan Agropark borders on the Eastern wetlands and off shore tidal zones with their
completely natural character and high ecological value.
47
Fig 15 The overall density zoning of
Chongming Island is paralleled by the inter-
nal zoning and gradients of the Agropark
itself.
Fig 16 Density zoning: The zoning consists of high density land use
in the SW corner, fading to medium land use and building in the
middle zone to openness in NE zone.
48
5 Spatial design: The water system 1
The Agropark is connected to the outside world through external network relations for water, ecology and
transportation infrastructure. The first of the major internal networks is the water system. For water the
most important relations are to the Northwest, from where the fresh water supply is taken from an inlet
at the North-western tip of the island, and to the South where it connects to another fresh water supply
from the West. In order to have a sustainable Agropark development it is basic that the conditions of the
underlying water system are both robust and flexible, easily adjusted to change in land use decisions, but
designed as such that whatever land use, the basic water conditions will be sound.
5.5 The Water Infrastructure

Water management is essential for a good functioning of the water system. In the design of the Agropark,
principles of sustainable water management are adopted. This means that the overall design takes into
account both water quantity and water quality for surface water and ground water. The design of the water
system will also have an educational goal. Examples of the principles of sustainable water management as it
has been practiced and developed in the Netherlands will be introduced in the system.
5.5.1 Main characteristics of the Dongtan area water system

The main drainage system of the Dongtan area plays an important role in the total drainage capacity of
Chongming Island. This leads to the principle that if any changes take place in the surface water system the
loss of surface water has to be compensated elsewhere.
The water quality and land use potentials for land dependent agriculture in the Dongtan area is strongly
influenced by the salinity of the soil, which will determine the salinity of the ground water and surface
water system. The external circumstances of changes in water discharge and sediment flows of the Yangtze
river due to the building of the Three gorges dam upstream and climate change will certainly influence
the water quality, degree of salinity from invading sea waters and the present Yangtze water quality.

These influences are however very uncertain and need more thorough investigation. Based on present
circumstances of Yangtse water, all possibilities of flushing the internal water system of Chongming and
Dongtan area with Yangtze water, as presently in use, are to be included in the design to control the
salinity. The present water quality of the Dongtan area can be considered as meso-trophic. The water
quality of areas of ecological value should be improved in nitrates and phosphorus load. If water will be
used as process water the quality should be even higher.
49
On the eastern side of Dongtan a wetland with helophyte beds has been projected. The objective of this
wetland is to function as a natural purification system for the waste water from the Dongtan area. This
purification system will be included in the overall design.
5.5.2 Water Treatment

In modern high tech agriculture there is hardly any waste water flow because of the use of closed systems.
Clean rainwater is used as process water and in time of shortage, suppletion takes place from surface or
ground water of good quality that is kept in store in retention areas. Also additional techniques are used
to disinfect the water flow, within each hydrological compartment. The wetland with helophytes beds that
is being developed adjacent to the Dongtan area can be used for additional water treatment. The capacity
of this wetland for natural water cleaning, is designed is such a way that it should be able to serve the
whole Dongtan area, as soon as it is realised completely as wetland (24 Km²). Helophyte beds have proven
to be a good method for natural purification and the present water quality from the pilot area wetland is
very satisfactory. At this moment monitoring of the water quality in the wetland takes places to evaluate
the functioning of the wetland as a helophyte filter. The inflow of water to the wetland takes place in the
northern part of the wetland and the water flows through the helophytes beds to the southern part of the
wetland. After purification water can be used for suppletion in the total Dongtan area, including the Eco-
City or in times of excess, discharged to the sea.
5.5.3 Water Quality and Salinity

The water quality in the Agropark can improve in time. Besides using modern technology to prevent the
water from pollution, it is very important to change the attitude towards the use of herbicides, pesticides
and fertilizers (N, P and K) in land dependant and water dependant agricultural practices (aqua cultures).
This change in attitude by all agricultural workers is a precondition, supported by legislation, to have water
quality improved. By flushing the drainage system (see also 5.5.1), salinity can be kept at an acceptable
level for some crops already. Although the agropark has strong focus on land independent agriculture, for
land dependant agriculture focus on saline agricultural systems with (new) salt tolerant crops is feasible
(see 6. 5). During time salinity will decrease because of leaching by precipitation and the water quality will
improve. This means that in the future also crops can be produced that are more sensitive for salty water.
50
5.5.4 Water Management
The drainage system of Dongtan Area is part of the total drainage system of Chongming Island. Several
times a year the whole system is flushed with Yangtze River water to improve the water quality. At certain
times it occurs that the water depth of the drainage system drops close to zero. This makes the system very
unstable and could damage the ecosystems connected to it. This instability is a strong drawback for the
development of more natural aquatic ecosystems. With in the agropark the canals and ditches also will have
a function as transport zone to the harbours and smaller overloading points. This should be not stressed
by irregular water depths. It is recommended to control the water level between certain ranges depending
on the function of the water system and the land use and to induce a more regular flow of the main canal
system with fresh water.

51
5.5.5 Design Principles for the water system
• the existing lay out of the water infrastructure is the basis for design
• Each defined unit block has its own separate water system.
• flexible implementation for each unit block depending on the wished for land use
• collection and retention of rain water for each unit block
• water quality depending on the function
• natural water purification by helophytes/wetland
• flushing of water system to control salinity; needed for land use as land dependent agriculture that is
sensitive for unripe soils and saline conditions.
These principles have led to a schematic design of the basic unit of the water network that can be used for
each unit block, depending on the land use and the characteristics of the different unit blocks in relation
to their surroundings. This makes the implementation of the water system per unit block very flexible.
The scheme is presented in the figure schematic design. Each unit block has its own closed water system,
in which water class A, B or C is realised, respectively high, medium and low water quality. These 3 water
classes follow the Chinese system of water classifications, as indicated in the table of Chinese Environmental
Quality Standard for Surface Water.
Fig 17: Collection of clean rain water
52
Fig 18: Overall water network
Type A: CLASS Ι WATERSYSTEM
1 Collection of clean rain water
2 Retention of rain water
3 Use for agro production with clean water demand
4 Return flow to water system

Class Description of use 5 Supletion from type B water system
6 Natural purification
I Water that flows through national nature reserves
7 Regulated overflow in case of surplus to type B water system
II Source of municipal drinking water supply (first grade
conservation area); conservation areas for rare aquatic Type B: CLASS ΙΙ/ΙΙΙWATERSYSTEM
species; and areas for fish spawning 1 Natural purification of water by helophyte filter system
III Source of municipal drinking water supply with treatment

required (second grade conservation area); conservation
2 Flow through the water system
areas for common aquatic species; and areas for swimming 3 Regulated supplement to type A water system
4 Regulated overflow in case of surplus to type C water system

IV source of industrial water supply and recreational use other
than swimming (e.g., boating and fishing) Type C: CLASS ΙΙΙ WATERSYSTEM
1 In open connection with regional water system

V source of industrial cooling water, irrigation water, and
ordinary landscape Regulated suppletion to type B water system if needed
Table Chinese Environmental Quality Standard for Surface Water Table The three classes of water within the Greenport

Shanghai Agropark
53
5.5.6 Indicative description of characteristic water systems per unit block
The design principles and schematic design per basic unit as mentioned above have resulted in an optional
design for specific water infrastructure per unit block, dependent on its different land use practice, in
which each unit block has its own closed water system. As example of how the micro water system in each
unit block may be related to the intensity of land use, the character of agro production functions, and the
degree of naturalness, the following seven references are made, referring to characteristic water systems
in the Netherlands as well as to the existing typical Chinese water system that is present in the Dongtan
area. These references fit well with the intended land uses in the design of the agropark as indicated in the
scenarios (see chapter 6). Application however of these options is dependent of the chosen land uses during
the implementation phase of the Agro Park.
Water systems
1. Wieringermeer Water System
2. Veenweide Water System
3. Horst Peel Water System
4. Bergerden Water System
5. Haarlemmermeer Water System
6. Meije Water System
7. Present Dongtan Water System
8. Wetland Area
Water system for intensive dry land culture (‘The Wieringermeer’ water system)
This water system is designed for intensive dry land culture:
- Agricultural practice is leading; water management has to facilitate agriculture
- For optimal agricultural use the distance between ditches and drains to control the water level has to
be optimised within a narrow range
54
- Due to leaching of nutrients in this type of land use water quality will be negatively influenced, water
quality is less important within certain limits for salinity
- To avoid high salinity, water suppletion and flushing is needed through inlet structures
Water quality type B/C
Meadow water system ( The ‘Veenweide’ water system)

This water system is designed for dairy farming:
- Difference between water level and soil level (freeboard) near 50 cm.
- high density of drainage system and high groundwater level
- leaching of nutrients is relatively low, allowing high potent ions for water quality and ecology
- water quality type A/B
- this is a good reference for the water system of the low density, open North-eastern zone of the Agro-
park
Greenhouse water system (‘The Bergerden’ water system)

This water system is designed for greenhouses:
- collection of rainfall in shared basins to use as process water for greenhouses
- water supply from basin to each greenhouse by special infrastructure
- high demands for water quality as process water does not allow a well developed ecosystem; separation
of open water and process water by a filter system
- water quality type A
- this might be suitable for greenhouse areas belonging to the ecological link Yangtze-Agropark-North-
western wetland

55
Facility agriculture water system (The ‘Horst Peel’ water system)
This water system is designed for modern mixed dry land culture and life stock farming:
- closed nutrient cycle; dry land culture crops are used as life stock food, life stock manure is used as fer-
tilizer.
- Intensive land use leaving less room for nature
- Low nutrient leaching; clear surface water
- Low density of drainage system
- Collection of rainwater to use as process water / closed water cycle
Floating greenhouse water system (The Haarlemmermeer’ water system)

This water system is designed for floating greenhouses:
- large areas of surface water
- multiple land use, e.g. combination with recreation or aquaculture
- high ecology in ponds (plants in open areas and fish under floating greenhouses)
- low leaching of nutrients
- high storage capacity of water excess
- this water system might be appropriate for those areas that are part of the ecological link Olympic Park-
Agropark-Eco City, and also for fish pond area belonging to the link Yangtze-Agropark-North-western
wetland
56
Marshland water system (The ‘Meije’ water system)
This water system is designed for natural areas in combination with agriculture:
- High density of drainage system in combination with “old creek” water system
- High quality ecology in “natural” water extending into small ditches
- Low leaching of nutrients
- Water quality type A/B
- this water system coincides with the ecological connection between Agropark-fresh water wetland-salt
marshes and the connection between Agropark-Creek Park-Eco City
Present Dongtan water system (The Dongtan water system)

This is the existing water system in Dongtan area:
- High density of small drainage systems
- High leaching of nutrients and excess use of fertilizer
- Low ecological quality
- Water quality type B/C

57
5 Spatial design: Principles of the landscape ecological
system
5.6. Ecological network and landscape structure

In this section on landscape ecology the Agropark can fulfil its ecological objectives optimally when it
would form part of an, at present not yet well functioning landscape- ecological context. The design of the
Agropark offers a good opportunity to develop the initials for a better ecological contact for Chongming
as a whole. So in this case it is not the context that determines the Agropark, but the Agropark is setting
conditions for the context in order to maintain and improve its resilience and biodiversity. The assumption
is that the Agropark should form part of continuous networks of high quality ecological relations within
Chongming as a whole, respectively for the East head of the Island. The first part of this paragraph deals
with these context level networks first (macro and meso level) before coming down to design principles and
internal network structures for the Agropark itself (meso and micro level).
For the external connections of the Agropark in landscape ecological sense, the most important relations
are with the wetlands surrounding Chongming in the coastal zones in the East and North and South. This is
called the macro level. Within the east head of the Island, the Dongtan area, the relationships are between
the city, parks, wetlands and tidal areas of the Yangtze, the so called meso level. Relations within the
Agropark form the micro level.
5.6.1 Principles for ecological networks

The basic principles of ecological networks aim at increased cohesion between the parts of the network.
This can be established by various means: (a) improvement of the network quality, (b) enlargement of the
total network area, (c) increased network density and permeability of the surroundings for ecosystems or
species and (d) good management of existing nature.
To improve the permeability of a landscape for target species and improve the connectivity of populations
or ecotopes the spatial structure of this landscape should be modified into an ecological network in
which the core areas with high quality ecotopes are connected through patches (steppingstones) and the
quality of the surrounding landscape should be improved as for instance by improved water management
and diminished flow of excess of nutrients. To connect core areas by robust corridors is the option that
58
Local Local Local
population population population
Isolated local
populations
Local Local Local corridors
population population population
Nature core area Isolated local
New stepping stone populations
corridors
Robust ecological Nature core area
connection New stepping stone
Robust ecological
connection
Fig 19: Principals of ecological connections: dispersed local populations (plants or animals) connected via robust corridors or stepping
stones.
strengthens cohesion between local populations resulting in so called meta populations. These connections
need to be wide enough to create hiding places for species in case of calamities. For the wetlands in the
Dongtan area this means that the unpredictable environment of the water system needs to be buffered as
good as possible against high water discharges or sudden drying out.
For Chongming Island as the contextual framework of Dongtan Agropark and for the agropark itself, this
principle of connecting means:
• Increase biodiversity by connecting on macro-, meso- and micro level
• Create connections between core areas and patches of ecological value (meta-population approach)

• Extend existing networks and create new habitat patches and enlarge core areas
• Create steppingstones and develop habitat patches
• Develop robust connections via line and patch elements and create stepping stones and increase the
density of corridors
• Make abiotic conditions adequate for wanted specific habitats and target species (e.g. nature friendly
canal/ditch banks or high water quality)
59
• Use robust corridors for reintroduction programs for sturgeon, alligator, deer and indigenous fish
species.
The over all strategy can, as a metaphor, be denoted as high quality “blue green veining” through
landscaping with high water and nature quality in which eco functions with regional water retention are
combined in the aquatic core areas, stepping stones as well as the connections (canals and ditches). The
multifunctionality of this blue-green veining can be further enhanced by combining biodiversity and water
safety functions wherever possible with agriculture, recreation, and climate proofing and pest control.
Blue green veining should result in robust connections in and around Greenport Shanghai Agropark, that
consist of wet and dry ecosystems, connecting the existing wetlands, coastal zones, fishponds and canals
and rice fields, but also dry ecosystems such as the park and woodland areas in the new Eco-polis and the
adjacent areas with small forests, patches of trees and bushes, lanes, meadows and road verges. Robust
connections are distinguished at three levels: macro, meso and micro.
60
system
5.6.2 Macro-level (Chongming Island as a whole)
On the macro-level the Grand

Canal should be further
developed as the robust wet
eco-connection between the
east-south, west and north
wetlands of Chongming Island,
via the Grand Canal. This
ecological connection is also
the heart line of the Agropark
area.
The water quality of this water
Fig 20 Landscape ecological relationships Chongming island macro level Connection connection of 60-80 meter of
of the major wetlands and tidal zones within Chongming island via the main canal.
open water, with its present
instable water regime is low:
C (class II-III). Therefore this
connecting water ecosystem with shores, marshland, open water and dry edges with lanes and moist
grasslands adjacent to the water edge, has a low stability and relative low biodiversity perspective. However,
it can function very well as a corridor for the target species of avifauna and small mammals along the
shorelines (see ecotype description).

5.6.3 Meso-level (Dongtan and Agropark area)
On meso-level five robust eco-connections should be developed between natural and semi-natural core
areas in the Dongtan area, such as the freshwater wetland in development, the Dongtan Nature reserve,
the tidal fringes of the island outside the dikes, with the brackish and saltwater sands and tidal mudflats
and the parks and woodlands in development west and south of the Agropark area.
1. Main axis-Greenport Shanghai Agropark (GPS) connection from Creek park to Olympic park; this can be
61
Fig 21 Landscape ecological relationships on meso level for Dongtan
area
These are five main road eco-connections, connecting core areas of
nature. Five robust eco-connections between natural and semi natural
core areas in Dongtan: Green blue veining, micro pattern with ditches
lanes & verges with high biodiversity / landscaping
elaborated as a dry/wet ecosystem with lanes, woodland, groves and flower-rich verges in combination
with the canal and its shore line. Once established, this eco-connection will form a dry/wet corridor
consisting of the partly wooded 30% compensation zone of the infrastructural main axis of the area of
2 times 60 meter in combination with about 40 meter water of the main canal (see below 5.7.3). On the
west side of this eco-connection the main routing systems and pipeline construction will be situated
which will offer visitors a pleasant semi natural green entrance to the agropark. The eco-connection
will be built up as a gradient that goes gradually from open water, via the shorelines with nature
friendly shores to the wooded zone. This zone fades via a half open grove zone with lower bushes into
flower rich grasslands. The water quality of the canal and shore lines will be class C and coincides with
the present local water system, unstable and unpredictable. The choice of woody species and grasslands
must be made consistent with the species composition of autochthonous ecosystems that are used in
the wetland area. It should not be a gardened system with allochtonic species as is common along
infrastructural axes in China, but developed and managed as a semi natural system with its own dynamics.
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2. Olympic Park-Agropark-Eco city zone should be developed as a wet/dry connection, with retention
function for excess water during much rainfall. The zone would consist of deep and shallow water with
a high water quality, class A/B; small forests, bush lands, groves and lanes. The about 130 meter wide
zone will have 30 meter of open shallow and deep water class B/C and 100 meter of helophyte zone
with shallow water, that forms a water retention zone during calamities of high rainfall, but would
be mostly in use as helophyte zone, semi isolated from open water, producing the excess naturally
cleaned water class A/B to be used as process water in the facility agriculture or as clean surface water
around the building complexes. From west to east there will be a continuous slow flow instigated by a
pumping system in which retention time in the helophytes is about three weeks before it will be used
as process or surface water.

Fig 22 Profile D: Eco connection Helophyte filter
West canal, with the westerly wet eco connection on meso level: helophyte zone, semi isolated
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system
3. The connection between the Yangtze, the Agropark and the North-western wetland would form a wet
steppingstone between the salt marsh wetland outside the dikes and the fishponds. This connection
would be the base for the reintroduction program for sturgeon and alligator-eel-fish and would thus be
of high importance for the crucial avifauna of the Dongtan area. The micro pattern of interconnected
fishponds should have water quality B. If greenhouse systems are projected in this area, the fishponds
adjacent to these can make use of the rainwater usage cycle (water system class A). The fishponds in
semi-connection with the main canal system and with more hypertrophic conditions will be situated
more to the fringe of the outer borders of the agropark. (see 5.6.6 ecotope system)
4. The connection between the Agropark, the freshwater wetland and the salt marshes of Dongtan should
be elaborated as the direct connection to the large high quality core areas of freshwater wetland and
tidal ecosystem for which the Dongtan area is famous. This connection in which the water flow from the
Agropark goes to and from the huge helophyte function of the wetland area consists of a mosaic of wet
(fishponds and ditches) and dry ecosystems (bushes, groves and wet meadows) that offer the opportu-
nity for wetland species to migrate from wetland to Agropark. In the southern part of the Agropark the
Landscape Park will be situated with the old creek water system for natural areas in combination with
agriculture. Here water quality A/B will be the reference. The naturally purified water from the wetland
will enter the Agropark area here via the old creek structures and will flow in the fine mazed ditches
structure of this water system. These wet ecosystems and ecotopes of reed lands, marshland, shallow
and deep water will have high quality, fitting into the landscape park which will need high surface
water quality.
5. The last eco-connection Agropark-Creek park-Eco city should be situated outside the Agropark but
forms the link between the projected parks of Dongtan eco-city, the southern part of the Agropark (the
south-east landscape park compartment) and the large wetland. Its targetecotopes will be dry and wet
ecosystems, with substantial surface of open water (class A/B) and gradients towards bush and wood-
land which are in use as multi-functional parks for inhabitants of the eco-city.
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5.6.4. Micro level (Agropark area)
The north-east zone of the Agropark is designated as the low density zone, where openness and less intense
functions are allocated. In this zones so called “blue green micro veining” of the landscape is elaborated
as a fine mazed micro-pattern of water infrastructure, ditches with high quality water system (Class A) and
an intricate dense network of lanes, small patches of woodlands bushes, groves and flower rich grasslands.
This band of minimal 500 meter width, with lanes and flower rich verges would have a high biodiversity/
landscape quality and should give the feeling of accessibility and openness. The attractive small scaled
landscape pattern will have high access possibilities for visitors. The water system should allow for open
grazing land suitable for dairy production or horse keeping. The profiles of the fine maze of ditches will be
adjusted to nature friendly profiles, with wide wet-dry gradients that also have a water retention function
during high rainfall periods. The hotspot for the rural exhibition area is situated within this zone as well as
the mosaic of fish ponds from eco-connection 4.
- Wide green lanes

- Water retention
- Water retention under buildings
- Green roofs
- Wet ecological zone
- Dry ecological zone
- Blue-green veining of the landscape
- Green patch/ forests/ groves
- Canals and ditches
- Lanes and verges
Fig 23 The bird’s eye view of the park gives a very green impression, because of the green roofing system of the functional buildings

Fig 24: Ecotopes for Chongming Easthead-
Green Port Shanghai
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5.6.5 Landscape structure
The landscape structure of the total Agropark follows the Southwest-Northeast gradient moving from high
densities in land use, buildings and occupation to lower densities in land use, and more openness. This is
reflected in the positioning of functions respectively of the intensity of their land use and in a growing
degree of naturalness.
In low density, open parts of the Agropark the parcelation of the unit blocks should be based on the
present parcelation and water infrastructure. In section 5.5 these have been related to the water system
with references to comparable Dutch landscape types.
The lines and mass structures of lanes, widened banks of canals and ditches will mark and structure the
important land use functions (infrastructure axis, canals, hot spots) etc) and make these clearly visible and
recognisable within the landscape when visiting the park. Mass structures as forest patches, groves, and
flower rich meadows are indicators for leisure and recreation functions.
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5 Spatial design: The ecotopes for the landscape
ecological system
5.6.6 The Ecotopes for eco-conn ection
The ecotypes for the dry and wet ecosystems in Greenport Shanghai Agropark will consist of wet ecotopes
for the small existing and also new wetlands, for the main canals, fishponds, ditches, swamps, helophyte
filters and rice fields. The dry ecotopes will occur in patches of trees and bushes, small woodlands, lanes,
meadows, road verges and parks. The selection of key species for vegetation and fauna have been made
in concordance with key species that are defined for Dongtan International Wetland Park, with focus
on species that are relevant as feeding habitat for crucial birds and little mammals. The ecotopes of the
tidal systems have been excluded as specific ecotope for connection, because the specific brackish to salt
condition will not be realised in a stable way within the agropark.

Fig 25: ground plan with cross sections
67
The target species consist of the typical (avi-fauna for the wetlands and softwood woodlands of Dongtan
East Headland within the groups of:
• waterfowl with ducks, geese, and swans
• upland game birds include dove and quail
• songbirds include sparrows, woodpeckers, flycatchers, swallows, jays, chickadees, wrens, thrashers, thru-
shes, vireos, warblers, blackbirds, finches, and sparrows
• marsh birds and shorebirds include cranes, herons, egrets, rails, plovers, and sandpipers
• small mammals include moles, shrews, bats, squirrels, mice, rats, and voles
• the specific fish species for lower Yangtze Delta
• “reintroduction species” for the lower Yangtze Delta as the sturgeon, eel, deer and Yangtze alligator
Fig 26: profile E: Landscape park

The dike and connecting gradient from wetland to landscape park., from levee and the eastern canal to the landscape park with
natural water systems in which demonstration area, research building (hotspot 2) and semi permanent exhibitions are situated. The
visitors centers and observatories are situated in the semi natural wetlands in the south eastern corner of the landscape park
68
5 Spatial design: The ecotope system of the Dongtan
landscape
The ecotope table indicates per habitat the required abiotic conditions and the target species (groups)
ECOTOPES Polder and meadows Dike (levee) Dry areas Sloping wet shores form Freshwater marsh Reedland Shallow open water Deep open water
Lanes and road bush and canals and ditches, and helophytes
verges woodlands (instable gradient) filter-areas
and parks
Design height in meter >0 +4 +0.75 to +1.50 0 to + 0.75 -0.15 to +0.25 -0.25 to +0.25 -0.25 to –1.50 -1,50 to -.3.50
above sea level
Mean water level Below surface Mean high water level: +0,65 m
Mean low water level : -0.10 m
Water regime Dry Dry Dry Moist: unstable water Wet-very wet Dry-very wet unstable water Very wet Very wet
regime unstable water regime
regime
Salinity Fresh <0.3g Cl/l Fresh Fresh-brackish Fresh to slightly Fresh Fresh to brackish Fresh to Brackish
<0.3g Cl/l <0.3gCl/l brackish <0.3g Cl/l 0.3-10 g Cl/l 0.3-10 g Cl/l
<0.3g Cl/l
Water quality Eutrophic –mesotrophic Mesotrophic Eutrophic- Mesotrophic Eutrophic Eutrophic-supertrophic Eutrophic-supertrophic Eutrophic-supertrophic
Nutrient status in mg P/l 0.150.30 0.080.15 mesotrophic 0.080.15 0.300.50 P>0.50 P>0.50 P>0.50
0,150.30
Water quality Eutrophic –mesotrophic Mesotrophic Eutrophic- Mesotrophic Eutrophic Eutrophic-supertrophic Eutrophic-supertrophic Eutrophic-supertrophic
Nutrient status in mg 1.5-3.0 NH3-N 0.5-1.5 NH3-N mesotrophic 0.5-1.5 NH3-N 3.0-6.0 NH3-N NH3-N>6.0 NH3-N>6.0 NH3-N>6.0
NH3-N 1.5-3.0 NH3-N
Vegetation and key Food crops and Flower and herb rich Softwoods Low sedge-rich Species rich Dominant Phragmites beds Floating open water Open water and
species grassland moist and dry with vegetation and moist marshland and vegetation and marshland floating vegetation
grassland large herbs and wet grasslands wet grasslands
Pioneer vegetations
Key plant species in Chenopodium spp Poa pratensis Salix sp Typhus sop Phragmites australis Carex sp Potamogeton sp
concordance with key Setaria sp Alopecurus littoralis Salix babylonica Care scabrifolia Typha spp Juncus sp Nymphea spp
species Amaranthus retroflexus Avena fatua Acer palmatum Carex spp Carex scabrifolia Carex spp Cyperus sp Lotus sp
in Dongtan Ambrosia artemisifolia Poa Annua Celtis sp Alisma spp Alisma spp Nymphea sp Lemna minor spp
International Wetland Chenopodium spp Diospyros spp Echinochloa Echinochloa crusgalli Lotus Najas spp
Park, (relevant as Setaria sp Morus alba crusgalli Eleocharis tuberosa Lemna minor spp Polygonum amphibium
feeding habitat for Pinus elliotti Eleocharis Polygonum spp Najas spp Potamogeton spp
crucial birds and little Populus tomentosa tuberosa Sagittaria spp Polygonum amphibium Spirodela polyrhiza
mammals). Prunus spp. Polygonum spp Scirpus sop Potamogeton spp Vallisneria spiralis
Quercus variabilis Sagittaria spp Suzanna sop Spirodela polyrhiza Wolffia arrhiza
Rhus chinensis Scirpus spp Vallisneria spiralis
Rubus parrifulias Zizania spp Wolffia arrhiza
Key species avifauna Game birds as dove and quail Waterfowl include ducks, geese, and swans marsh birds and shorebirds as Ducks Diving ducks, geese,
Small mammals Songbirds as sparrows, woodpeckers, flycatchers, swallows, jays, cranes, herons, egrets, waders, rails, plovers, and sandpipers, Gulls and swans, gulls
chickadees, wrens, thrashers, thrushes, vireos, Specific: Terns terns
warblers, blackbirds, finches, and sparrows Oriental white stork Diving ducks
Small mammals as moles, shrews, bats, squirrels, mice, rats, and voles Wistling swan
Black faced spoonbill
Armstrongs sandpiper
Hooded Crane
Small mammals as moles, shrews, bats, squirrels, mice, rats, and voles

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5 Spatial design: The infrastructures
5.7 The infrastructural networks
The network of infrastructures is aimed at all target groups: for business, production and recreation. The
functional internal network of infrastructure links up with the external highway and light rail connections
and connects with the wetland, eco-city and adjacent recreation zones. It comprises the transportation
network, tourist routing and the CPU-network.
5.7.1 The external linkages

The road transportation relations to the West and South are the most important, linking with the mainland
bridge and the two neighboring concentrations of urban development. There is a secondary relation, to
the future Olympic Park in the Northwest. For linking up to the urban public transport system there may
arise an opportunity once a light rail line has been built via the new bridge to Dongtan Ecocity; this may
later be extended to the Greenport. And for transportation over water the existing North-South main
water course may be used, with inland (barge) shipping/short sea (coaster) ports at both its Northern and
Southern ends.
A. Main road
B. Public transport/ light-rail
C. Tourist Route
D. Cargo Route
E. Workers route
F. Water transportation route

Fig 27: Transportation networks Eastern Chongming Island

The main infrastructure and road system of the Dongtan area provides existing links with the other parts of the island. New links will
be established to the two bridges, connecting the mainland to the South and the North. In the future the light-rail line will be built.
70
5.7.2 The internal transportation network
The main internal access road coincides with the main development axis as follows from the general density
zoning in combination with the location of the main entrance points. To provide a more efficient basis for
parcelling, however, the smooth turn to the west is replaced by a right angle, with secondary extensions to
the North and East. This leads to a natural focal point for the whole Greenport area, to be modelled as a
central square and emphasized by some kind of landmark. Both the Southern and Western legs of the main
road closely follow the major water courses, with a sixty meter wide green zone in between. In this zone
a central walking promenade for visiting tourists is created, shaded by a closed tree cover. From the main
road secondary roads and footpaths branch out to give access to the various functions located along the
main axis of the Greenport and to the open areas behind these functions.
Footpaths should form part of wider green zones and be accompanied by smaller water-courses. In this
way, walking will not only become more agreeable but also additional ecological link-ages will be provided.
Along the main road at regular distances parking space is located in order to keep cars from penetrating
too deeply into the area, especially in Eastern and Northern direction.
Functions that generate considerable amounts of heavy cargo traffic should be located to the West and
South of the main road where they can get independent access by a dedicated truck road. In that way they

will not affect the ‘softer’ functions located directly along the main axis and in the area to the North en
east of the axis.
71
A. Main road
B. Public transport
C. Dongtan Tourist
D. Cargo
E. Workers
F. Water transportation
G. Light rail
H. Water route for tourist
I. Internal route Greenport
K. Pedestrian park
L. Biking route
Connection to metro system
Fig 28: Internal transportation network

The internal transportation network for all target groups links up to the outside world from the main entrance in the South, where
roads and pedestrian routes begin and also the light rail starts. The westerly situated axis is mainly for cargo. The main roads follow
the development axis, crossing at the central square. The road from the South is extended to the Yangtze River harbour in the North.
72
5 Spatial design: The central development axis &
other major elements
The central axis forms the heart line of the agropark. This part of the Master plan shows visualisations of
the structural elements and offers ‘artist’s impressions’ and explanations that may help to better under-
stand the design principles involved and get a general picture of what the Greenport Shanghai may look
like.
5.7.3 Central development axis

Basis for the design of the main development axis form the existing water course and road with their
sixty meter wide green zone in between. As already said the green zone should be turned into a walking
promenade shaded by a closed tree cover. At the same time the edges of the watercourse need to be
made nature-friendly so that the green walking promenade together with the watercourse may serve as
a robust ecological connection. Beyond the central square this connection is extended in Northern and
Eastern direction, linking with the Wetland zone bordering on the Greenport.
While in this way on its Eastern side the main access

road is accompanied by the tree covered walking
promenade and nature friendly watercourse, on
its Western s ide it will be accompanied by the
overhead pipes and cables of the CPU-backbone,
roofed by the solar cell panels. In designing both
sides of he road as one indivisible whole there is
an excellent opportunity to demonstrate how
´high tech´ and ´high eco´ may be balanced and

harmonised, symbolising the unity of these to
fundamental characteristics of the Greenport. In a
later stage the road must be doubled, at its West
side; then the supports of the CPU-backbone will
find themselves in the separation between the
Fig 29: Ground plan of the main development axis
with cross sections lanes.
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Building lines along the axis will alternately jump backwards and forward: backwards where functions are
located that attract voluminous flows of visitors that ask for space in front of their entrances, and forward
where production and processing units need to be close to the CPU-backbone.
Plug-in sockets to connect production and processing units are placed at regular distances along the CPU-
backbone, as are secondary roads and footpaths/secondary ecological linkages that branch off from the
main road and walking promenade/water course respectively. Exactly how far these connecting/branching
points have to be set apart has to be established by the Industrial Plan, derived from an optimum modular
dimensioning of production and processing units.
Fig30: Profiles and birds eye view of the prominent CPU pipeline system,
as coupled with the main axis: the posititioning of the wings is flexible,
wind and weather dependant.
Fig 31: Profile A: main axis. Central axis of the Agropark with main canal with on its west side the infrastructural bundle, central
pipeline bundle CPU with solar cell roofing and on the east side of the canal the landscape ecological zone.
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5 Spatial design: The string of hotspots
5.7.4 The String of Hotspots
The hotspots are the centre points in which the most important functions of the Agropark are situated.
They function as concentration points of functions from which the zoning of the building blocks of the park
can be well understood. The hotspots and important locations of production, processing, demonstration
and trade are easily accessible via a routing system for sky train, cars, pedestrians, cyclists, even boats. The
sky train will have stops near all these important locations and specifically at the five hotspots.
Target groups
The target groups that will visit the Agropark via the hotspots have a high diversity. Depending on the
purpose of (agro) business, education, tourism, recreation or scientific interest the guests and visitors of
the area will visit different specific locations. The guests vary from residents of the Dongtan area, residents
of Chongming Island, citizens from Shanghai, national and international tourists, elderly or youngsters,
business people, traders, agro-professionals or researchers
Routing system and hotspots

A routing system has been developed that winds through the park area as a string or a necklace connecting
the hotspots, from the start of the sightseeing route, along the main axis of the Agropark. In addition to
the five hotspots the string connects a dozen other “pearls”, at various locations throughout the park.
All hotspots have a different accent and

dependant on the purpose of their visit
the different target groups will undergo
different experiences.
• The first hotspot is called This is our

world
• The second hotspot Greenport Dongtan
• The third hotspot Dongtan Trade Park
• The fourth hotspot The Central Square
• The fifth hotspot International Rural
Exhibition
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All hotspots can be visited individually. But of course it is recommended to start at Hotspot One and
from there continue by bike, car, boat or rail and experience the total park in one day. The ’pearls’ are
situated between the hotspots. They show the plants, the agricultural systems, the innovative production
or processing units or the special features of the water system or landscape. Secondary routes, starting from
the pearls or hotspots, tell specific stories for specific target groups like business people, schoolchildren,
students, tourists etc.
A. Main road
B. Public transport
C. Dongtan Tourist
D. Cargo
E. Workers
F. Water transportation
G. Light rail
H. Water route for tourist
I. Internal route Greenport
J. Hotspots
K. Pedestrian park
L. Biking route
Parking
Connection to metro system
Fig 32: The string of hotspots

Along the main axis five hotspots are located. Together they tell the whole story of world food problems, the specific situation of
China and Shanghai, and the contribution of this Agropark (or agroparks in general) to solve these problems. They are the locations
where the various activities start or are concentrated (business and trade, production and processing, living, recreation and leisure or
tell the history of the Agroparks relation to its surroundings (world-wetlands, Dongtan eco-city, etc).
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5 Spatial design: The story lines at the hotspots 1
5.7.5 The story lines of Agropark Dongtan in five hotspots
1. This is our world

Hotspot 1 is the entrance of the park, where eventually the internal light rail may start. Here the concept
of world sustainability is explained, using the keywords: “Urban, Rural and Nature”. This first Hotspot,
with the theme ‘This is our world’ can be seen as the focal point of the whole Dongtan area, where, in the
rear the Urban (the Ecocity), in front the Rural (the Agropark) and to the right Nature (Wetland park) in its
optimum form is displayed. The story line itself is that by planning intensive, closed industrial agriculture
in the way it is done in the Greenport, there is more open space available (in Dongtan, but also globally)
for nature, water, living as well as for sustainable housing. The globe built near the entrance is mascot
for a sustainable world, the sustainability index showed in changing colours and lights on the globe as a
continuously changing display of world sustainability. It is a viewing point for the total area. It is the marker
for the concept of sustainable farming, food and water quality issues. Because this is the first hotspot, a
large parking facility is situated here, routing systems start from here and relevant information about the
routing in the rest of the park can be obtained here.
2. Greenport Dongtan
This is the demonstration park in which all aspects
of the chain of agricultural production, processing,
trade and service agriculture, quality management
etc of Dongtan Greenport are shown. It is the
location of a sub-unit of the central processing unit.
This hotspot is the show window of the production
and processing units, in accessible pavilions in which

reality is demonstrated with the use of tele-screens
and webcams. Here is explained how we are able to
produce more food on less land, environmentally
sound, with care for animal welfare, with closed
cycles of water, CO2, energy and nutrients, with
Fig 33 Ground plan with the hotspots enormous care, for high certified standards in the
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use of water, soils and air. Also the links to other agro parks and Greenports worldwide can be found here.
The water system and its quality control of the park are explained here, as well as the landscape ecological
features and the connection principles between the Eco-polis, the Agropark, the wetland area and the
tidal areas. Here also the locations are situated were food products can be gathered and picked within free
roaming zones.
This hotspot is situated in the landscape park, where the recreational and educational functions for
guests are located. Permanent, semi permanent or transient exhibitions will be arranged in concentric
circles around the hotspots, for instance a satellite of the Dutch international flower and horticultural
exhibition Floriade. The landscape park has a main matrix of primary and secondary water systems with
high quality water, fed by local rainfall and received from the wetland nearby, that can be used for boating
and recreational purposes. Within its specific narrow parcelation of the land it forms the matrix in which
public activities can take place year round.
The research buildings connected with knowledge development and education purposes for the agri-
business may well be situated within or near to this hotspot.
Fig 34 Hotspot 1: This is our world Fig 35: Hotspot 2: Greenport Dongtan
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5 Spatial design: The story lines at the hotspots 2
3. Dongtan Tradepark
In this central spot all trade of agricultural products is conducted. There is a trade harbour and a large
auction place, there are trade buildings, a communication centre, a hotel and restaurant complexes. The
typhoon proof architecture of the buildings must be open, transparent and inviting to stay and do business
in a relaxed open way.
Fig 36 Hotspot 3: Dongtan Tradepark Fig 37 Hotspot 4: Central Square
4. Central Square
At the cross road of the two main axes, the central square is situated. Beside this square the main functions
of the Central Processing Unit are situated.
Here we find the Solar cell Pagoda, where visitors can view over the natural landscape and the green-port,
and can get acquainted with Chinese and Dutch culture. The solar cell Pagoda is a marker in the landscape
in connection with the overhead pipeline structure of the main axis. Here the visitors can learn about the
relation between food and health and can experience the products from the Greenport in food stalls and
restaurants. It is the building in which the urban dwellers of the Agropark communities will have their

communal functions. Leisure and residential functions are also situated here, as well as the place for
special, temporarily exhibitions and (music or agro) festivals.
79
5. International Rural Exhibition
The last hotspot forms also the exit or second entrance of the Agropark, dependant on the development of
the park. Here is situated in long linear configurations the international rural exhibition, where farms from
all over the world can be brought in and visited. The rural and reclamation history of Chongming Island
can also be explained.
Also production and processing of ‘forgotten’ foods, new agricultural products and explanation of
endangered species can be found here. It will form a world decor of past agriculture against which to show
and try out what new movements, fashions and trends of food and agriculture are developing in the 21st
century .This is the place where target groups of trend watchers of food innovations have their try-out
place, where the trendy new food products will be shown, probed and discussed.
Because Dongtan itself has a very short history at this moment, being only recently reclaimed it lacks
a cultural story of its own. By developing the new story lines of agriculture (past, present and future)
combined with the stories of the businesses situated in the park, a unique new cultural story of agri-
business can be told here.
Fig 38 Profile B: Trade zone

West side of the central axis, Trade Park zone; hotspot nr 3 with Trade center, Auction area, logistical centers, Hotels, Restaurant
and communities of local employees. Westward the product and processing areas and secondary road systems, with focus on cargo
traffic.
Fig 39 Pprofile C Central Square

Profile Central axis, hotspot 4, Central Square with Floating Pagoda, Wind catch screening and CPU pipeline system with solar cell
roofing.
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5 Spatial design: The CPU Infrastructure
5.7.6 The CPU network
The third major internal network consists of the infrastructure (pipes, cables, and conveyor belts, etcetera)
accommodating the various inputs and output flows that interconnect the different production and
processing functions of the Greenport. For several reasons this network should be constructed overhead
rather than underground. The first are practical: maintenance will be much easier, with problems coming to
light directly so that interventions may follow immediately, and connecting new production of processing
units will be much easier as well, without digging and thus disrupting traffic flows and doing damage to
road surfaces. Of course overhead construction should meet higher standards and will hence be more costly.
This will be compensated, however, by lower maintenance costs and lower costs of connecting new units,
especially when main conduits are prepared by placing ‘plug-in sockets’ at regular distances.
The second reason is more psychological and should therefore be considered even more important: the
general message the Greenport sends is its closed circuit principle. No waste or other harmful emissions
are allowed to escape from the system: everything is recycled a reused. Whatever leaves the area is truly
beneficial: healthy food produced in a sustainable way, surplus energy, and clean water. This central message
Fig 40 The network of central proces-

sing units (CPU’s) and connecting pipe
systems
The central processing unit is the heart
of the agropark. It consists of a bundle
of pipes, cables, conveyors, etc linking all
production and processing activities to
each other. It is the central installations,
where waste is treated, energy genera-
Flows
ted, compost produced etc. The network
1 CO2
has ‘plug-in’ sockets in which easy
2 Biogas
linking up is possible for new activities.

3 Electricity
With its high visibility and superb high-
4 Cooling water
tech design the CPU-network stresses
5 Cooling water (return)
the core message of the Agropark. This
6 Hot water
is modern urban ecological agriculture
7 Steam
and service agriculture, producing top-
8 Liquid manure
quality food in an entirely sustainable
9 Dry manure
way: closed cycles of material flows and
10 Potentiaal link to urban areas
zero emissions
81
is embodied and symbolized in the infrastructure that carries all input, output and intermediate flows, with
the processing units attached to it. Therefore this infrastructure should be highly visible, following the
central development axis as a kind of ‘backbone’ and should be beautifully designed. The effect may be
further strengthened by covering the overhead pipes and cables with a roof of solar cells. This will stress
the sustainable character of the Greenport even more and will also provide extra clean energy, even in such
amounts that neighboring areas may be supplied as well. A further elaboration of the technical features of
the CPU is given in chapter 6.
82
5 Spatial design: Integration
5.8 Integration of zones and networks: the core of the Master plan
Combining the three networks, superimposing them on the zoning scheme, and then formulating rules
on how functions should be located in relation to these, yields what in fact is the core of the Master plan.
One such a location rule is that high density, energy intensive functions that attract relatively much traffic
and – the closed systems notwithstanding – pose a certain risk of residual bad smell, should be concentrated
to the West and South of the central development axis, while being excluded from the area to the North
and East due to their closer distance to the vulnerable wetlands and off-shore sedimentation plain. Nor
should these functions be located directly at the axis itself. Another such rule is that the low intensity zone
bordering directly on the wetlands should be kept free from buildings, with only some minor exceptions for
light construction directly related to tourism, recreation or nature conservation.
Yet another rule would be to keep functions that produce voluminous output flows to be processed by the
CPU close to the central axis. The same holds for functions that use substantial inputs produced by the CPU.
Also functions attracting many visitors (agro-tourists, student groups, and etcetera) should be located here.
Functions that allow for superimposing on each other (e.g. greenhouses on top of pig stables or storage
sheds) should seriously be considered to be constructed in this way because of the reduction of built up area
and energy consumption. For the Master plan these examples of setting rules for location decisions should
suffice. Further formulation of rules should be undertaken by elaborations of the Industrial Plan that are
to follow the Master plan and should strengthen the consistency between Strategic Plan, Master plan and
Industrial Plan by means of an iterative approach.

83
Density zoning overall water network
Fig 41: Integration of zones and networks

Bringing all the networks together with the basic zoning scheme we arrive at the core of the Master plan. These are the structu-
ral elements that offer the robust framework for fitting in the widest possible range of implementation options. For each activity,
according to its fundamental characteristics, the optimum location follows from the density zoning and from its most efficient
linking to the various networks.
84
Coherence between the water network and ecological internal transportation network and the string of hotspots
network
The network of central processing units (CPU’s) and

connecting pipe systems

85
Master plan Greenport Shanghai Agropark:
A possible scenario
86
6 CPU and Agro-Industrial design:
The Demonstration park
This chapter describes the Demonstration Park, the Trade Park and the Central Processing Unit. It develops
the principles for linking agro-production and processing activities and striking a balance between these,
in such a way that closed cycles can be maintained with zero emission and independence of fossil energy.
The Agropark, the Central Processing Unit, the Demonstration Park and the Trade Park are the three
indispensable structural elements for the Greenport Shanghai Agropark. As a united concept they are the
3 typical cornerstones of the park, in which production, processing, demonstration, information, research
and development, capacity building, training and leisure are all combined.
Ending this chapter illustrations of these principles are shown as optional examples. Four scenarios are
offered of the flexible outcome of entrepreneurs’ and governmental decisions to invest in production and
processing facilities that seize the opportunities offered by the CPU concept.
6.1 Introduction
The intended Dongtan agropark is a mixed agro park:
it contains various agricultural, processing, trade
and demonstration functions. The main hardware
innovation of the agropark is this demand driven
combination and integration of various agricultural
activities. The demonstration park will show novel
products and services for consumers and producers
in the broad spectrum of agro-production and if
there is a market potential for these products they
will be brought in, either by trade or by production

within the park. Production in the park is not only
primary production but also processing of these
CPU
products and of traded products that have been elevated pipelines
produced elsewhere. In this way it becomes possible Processing facility
to aim at the end of the production and trade chains

Fig 42 The elevated pipelines and processing facilities are similar
where usually most surplus value is generated. in all elaborated scenarios and have been described in chapter 5
87
6.2 Demonstration park
The Agro Park will demonstrate sustainable development of agriculture aiming at high quality safe food. It
will show intensive facility agriculture, including methods for preventing infections (and thus minimization
of chemicals use) in high-tech closed systems as greenhouses and stables. In the demonstration park these
principles of the Agropark will be shown in a small-scale laboratory set-up, i.e. for biological processes
such as fermentation, composting, and water treatment processes. This unit can also be used for research,
testing and optimization of the CPU processes. Elsewhere in the park, large scale production facilities will
be open for public, although direct contact between visitors on the one side and workers, animals and
plants on the other will be reduced to a minimum to prevent contaminations. Via webcams, connections
will be made with other excellent examples in China of agricultural production, located close by or, if need
be, thousands of kilometers away.
The demonstration function will also be connected with the agro-trade: citizens can buy products in the
Agro Park, in shops and restaurants. Through this direct branding, consumer products are related with
the Agro Park and the demonstration contributes to the high-quality image of the products. In terms of
business to business relations, the Agro Park will act as a show case for regional Chinese agribusiness, but
also for the international market
Many Chinese regard the Netherlands

as a country that supplies food
products of exceptional quality.
Greenport Shanghai will take
this qualification further: if the
Netherlands is able to produce
quality then they are also in a
position to set standards for quality.
The showing of these food quality

standards and how they are being
realized will be an important part
of the demonstration area; as for
instance a transparent food chain, a
circular and well administrated food-
production, clear food processing
Fig 43:Circular agriculture systems and insight in the service
88
agriculture system. The demonstration area will also provide a virtual link to other agricultural parks that
are being set up throughout the world. Many building structures in the demonstration park will be semi-
permanent, as they should be sufficiently flexible to put up new exhibits following new inventions, and
changes in time.
The demonstration park will also be a place for research and education as a crossroad of Chinese and Dutch
universities and centers of excellence. This is where Wageningen-UR has a special interest, because in China
its university and research institutes are well known and respected as knowledge institutions.
The agropark will function as a research laboratory and generate knowledge on sustainable development
of agriculture, on organization of industrial ecology and on facilitation in environmental approval and
compliance targeting trade, production and processing under the specific conditions of Shanghai. Education
will aim at training Chinese managers, employees and farm workers and meanwhile be a showcase of skills
for Dutch entrepreneurs while they learn about Chinese production circumstances and markets.

89
6 CPU and Agro-Industrial design: Illustrations of the
pig farm & chicken farm
Fig 44 Profile F Multilayered Pig stables and Glasshouses

The glass house complexes are single layered, double layered , being build on production units for mushrooms or on compost units.
The production units for pigs are energy saving, two layered buildings, with green roofing , with innovative heat regulation
Fig 45 Green roofed pig stables fitted carefully into the context
of the landscape
Fig 46 Profile G Production unit chicken stables The stables are designed to make a contribution to the landscape
90
Fig 47 Ground plan with cross sections Fig 48 Green roofed semi closed chicken stables fit-
ted carefully into the context of the landscape

91
6 CPU and Agro-Industrial design: The Trade park
6.3 The Agro Trade and Logistics Park
The second important function of the agropark is to engage in trade. The trade park intends to have
two functions: a business centre where business people and tradesmen meet, and a trade centre where
products, services and knowledge are being bought and sold. The trade park will be closely aligned with the
demonstration park, sharing many of its research, communication and training facilities.
The business centre will attract international business people from the agro-food sector by offering an array
of facilities. It offers access to the world. Together with the business people specialized service providers,
commercial as well as knowledge brokers, lawyers, bankers and accountants, will get commerce up and
running. It will contain the information and communication centre from The Agropark towards the world.
There are hotels, restaurants, travel agencies and retail stores and there are also government services: a
Chinese Chamber of Commerce and the much lauded one-stop window, where all the needed permits can
be arranged once someone is ready to start doing business in Dongtan or elsewhere.
The business centre has a much greater reach than the Agropark only. It should strive to be the entrance
way through which international agro-logistic business people in and around Shanghai will first come in to
set up their business.
The Agro Park will combine food production and processing with trade in which food safety and sustainable
production have high priorities. Because this production location is very close to the customers (in the city
of Shanghai), production of perishables seems most appropriate. Most suitable are those activities that
address the combination of these aspects. Moreover the most added value of any food product is generated
in the final steps, close to the consumer, such as (final) processing, packaging and wholesaling and retailing.
Therefore, we propose to include total production chains in the agropark, including end products. These
end products that are put on the market are more and more complex.
vegetable
production production of semi-
processing Trade
(greenhouse processed food
or open-field)
92
This goes not only for modern
World dairy products like light drinks but
also for semi-processed foods and
dem microwave dinners. Producing
onst
ratio
sup n
pl y such products will always be a
com
mo combination of production and
ditie
Shanghai cha s
trad
in 1 processing of some components
e
consumption
in 2
produced within the park with
CPU
cha
other components that are
on
on
ti
U uc acquired on the market. Thus
cti
CP d
pro
du
de ral extended and flexible trade
pro
mo t u
ul
ns ric will be an important part of the
tra
tio ag ing
n o c ess processing chain.
trade p r
de
tra Trade will be organised on the
basis of examples from the
Netherlands of trade parks as a
Fig 49 The agro park is an integrated design. centre for commercial and auction
transactions, real and virtual.
These trade transactions are a source of knowledge by themselves. They offer insights into the agricultural
markets of Shanghai with its 18 million consumers. As such, the marketplace and demonstration park
provide sources of mutual inspiration for each other. Trade is not restricted to agricultural products, but
deals also with knowledge about the products and about how the products can be made in a sustainable
fashion.
Focusing on top breeding (or seeds production) also fits well because it fits well with the demonstration
character of the park. Still the end product processing and trade can be incorporated in the Agro Park. In
more detail, the following trading and logistics are expected:

• Supply of feed and other primary materials to the Agro Park.
This will include commodities for feed and fertilizers.
Dependency on single suppliers outside the Agro Park may be dangerous (unless their kind of products
can be bought elsewhere with minimal extra costs).
• Trade of waste and other biomass (CPU)
• Trade of food and flower products.
93
Part of the products flows will be locally produced; others may be bought elsewhere (China or on
the international market). Transport via the Shanghai Sea harbours, airport and the new bridge/tunnel
connections to Chongming Island.
Long term tight relations with western trade centres (for instance Dutch auctions) reduce risk of supply
shortages.
The demonstration functions in the agropark combined with direct selling add extra value to the food
products. Branding and active marketing of the products will be very important for that.
• Convenience food: half prepared food products.
• This segment is fast growing. Food processing connects well with the trading activities.
• This segment will include:
-- meat products (packaged, fresh, consumer-size, prepared for cooking);
-- cut vegetable products;
-- fresh meals (such as pizza’s, Chinese meals, and other trendy meals)
-- Etc.
• Food quality and safety certification & control organisations
-- for imported products and for products produced in the agropark;
-- in the future: extend the business to agro-production elsewhere in China;
• Trading of breeding & nursing products: for production in the agropark, in neighbouring regions or
elsewhere. This activity is highly interesting for international entrepreneurs.
• Technology suppliers that have a high interest in demonstration and World Expo.
94
6 CPU and Agro-Industrial design: The Central Proces-
sing Unit (CPU)
6.4 The CPU
The integration in production and processing is powered by the Central Processing Unit (CPU): the heart of
a mixed agro park. The CPU, in return, enables sustainable innovations of the agricultural activities.
In the following sections two aspects of the CPU are addressed:
1. The main focus will be on technological design of the CPU
2. Furthermore, some attention will be paid to the CPU management.
The CPU of a mixed agro park combines and processes biomass waste flows to valuable materials and
energy. As a result, waste from one activity can be used as valuable input for an-other process. This results in
a reduction of the input needed for the activities of the Agro Park and a reduction of the amount of waste
(ecological burden). Thus, the CPU contributes to closing cyclic loops in the Agro Park.
Energy produced in the CPU can be used for heating, cooling and de-humidification. As a result, (semi-)
closed agricultural systems (stables, greenhouses) can be used instead of the usual open-field systems.
Through application of climate controlled closed systems, infection pressures can be minimized, so that use
of chemicals can be minimized. Furthermore, product quality and production yields can be increased. All
these ecological functions and characteristics of the CPU contribute to significant cost reduction and in the
case of quality control to higher returns.
The functions of CPU management are:

• Designing and developing the integration of agricultural ecological and economical chain within the
agro park,
• Interacting with all the producing and non-producing units in the agro park about their waste manage-
ment issues,

• Forming the liaising with potential parties outside of Dongtan agro park interested in joint waste
management,
• Tracking the flow of waste materials produced inside the park,
• Maximizing resource utilization through integrated waste management,
• Controlling waste discharge leaving the premises of the Agro Park.
• Reporting waste management performance to agro park management.
95
6.4.1 CPU Design conditions
The task set for the “Hardware design CPU” has been to contribute significantly to sustainable development
of agriculture and to design options for parallel combinations of production activities and chains that are
mutually linked, with the following focuses:
• Agricultural production & food processing & trade
• Linked with local and regional need (i.e. consumers in Dongtan, Chongming and Shanghai)
• Linked with CPU (waste streams, energy, water, CO2)
• Demonstration of sustainable food production and “closed cycles agriculture”
The general specifications of the assignment have been translated in the following pre conditions by the
CPU-design.
• There is a priority for ecological development, meaning the ecological burden must be lowered.
• The design should be industrialized on large scale and has to consider the needs of the population.
• The different production chains should be combined in the park for optimal closing of cyclic loops and
the system should be flexible and adaptable.
• The starting resource of any specific chain should not be dependent on limited (local) availability. Thus,
being dependent on a small amount of chicken manure available on the island would be very risky and it
would be preferred to produce it within the park. On the other hand, pig feed resources are worldwide
available commodities; dependency on external pig feed resources is not risky for the park.
• The beneficial use of agriculture waste must be encouraged by the government.
• It is not allowed to add new water bodies for aqua culture at this moment 8000 mu (5.3 km²) is available
now.
• The aim is a high-tech agro production, this means characteristic agricultural production which is glo-
bally oriented. The momentous Dutch agriculture is exemplary.

• There will be involvement of international companies and high knowledge input and continuous deve-
lopment is a critical success factor for the Agro park development.
• It is the aim to serve first China and then serve the world. Therefore food supply for China (and especially
Shanghai) is most relevant.
• All products from the agropark will be put on the market with a brand expressing high quality and food
safety. Within any group of production classes, attention will be on specialties.
96
• The Agro Park will be a showcase of modern urban agriculture and in that it should be beneficial to
attracting visitors. Functions of leisure, production and landscape ecology should be integrated and
combined.
The agropark will form an integrated design: This means an integrated approach of consumers that connects
demonstration-production-trade-consumption. All production chains are mutually connected through the
Central processing Unit. The trade centre connects Shanghai to the rest of China and the world and the
agricultural production is connected with the world market (supply commodities) as well as within the Agro
Park itself.

97
6` CPU and Agro-Industrial design: The processes and
chains
6.4.2 CPU processes
The Central Processing Unit (CPU) is the heart of the Agro Park. The CPU recycles nutrients, water, energy
and biomass and it converts “waste” into valuable materials and energy.
Various processes can be incorporated, such as:

• Biogas production with anaerobic digesters, by gasification or burning dry biomass (inputs: manure
and/or other biomass);
• Production of electricity and heat from biogas;
• Cooling using sustainable cooling methods;
• Water treatment and storage
• Mushroom compost production;
• Production of organic fertiliser and soil structure enriching materials;
• Carbon dioxide recycling
• And possibly other bio-mass and bio-energy related activities.
Short cyclic loops, where only one agricultural activity and one recycling activity are involved, are generally
technically impossible or expensive. Through connecting different large scale production chains, the
recycling becomes more feasible. Thus, the CPU should preferably be combined with a broad range of large
Fig 50 The CPU contributes to closed cyclic loops in the agro park through upgrading waste to valuable materials and energy.
98
CPU
CPU
Fig 51 The CPU is most effective when connected to various production processes.
pig growing elsewhere

pig top
breeding
protein chain
feed
pig breeding
production
consumer
pig growing slaughter food
processing
plant chain
vegetable growing
(open air, greenhouse)
vegetable
seeds or nursing
CPU vegetable growing

elsewhere
Fig 52 The CPU connects different production chains

scale agricultural and agro-industrial activities. By way of the spatial clustering of various activities in the
Agro Park, the CPU performance can be optimised. This means that low-valued voluminous waste products
are locally handled and transport is being prevented. Heat and cooling will be used locally with minimal
investments in pipes and no loss of heat. Biological CPU processes like biogas production, composting and
water treatment in general prefer a mixed input of materials.
Because of the large scale-size the central CPU will have the most optimal benefit/costs ratio.
99
6.4.3 The CPU facilitates sustainable agro-food production chains
Not only will the CPU profit from short connections to the other activities, but also the agricultural activities
can profit from the CPU. The local presence of the CPU can largely contribute to sustainable development,
of the agricultural and food production activities because “Waste” is converted to valuable materials. This
aspect of the CPU as creator of added value is a considerable asset for the whole agropark development.
The cooling and heating of agricultural production is possible (greenhouses, stables) with the locally
generated heat and electricity. As a result, a “closed climate controlled system” can be used, resulting in
• Reduced risks of infections, so that the use of chemicals can be minimised;
• Higher product quality;
• Increased productivity.
The increased supply of manure will enhance crop and vegetable production; and the processed manure
will result in reduction of emissions. Ventilated air from one activity can be used for cooling or heating
of another activity. For instance the conditioned ventilation air from mushroom production can be used
directly for greenhouses.
The CPU can also serve parties outside the ago park. For instance domestic organic waste from the Eco-
city or food waste from Shanghai restaurants can and should be used for bio-energy production; for that
purpose innovative systems are being developed in the Netherlands and can be implemented within the
regional context of the Agropark.
100
6 CPU and Agro-Industrial design: Possible crops and
foods
6.5 Hardware elements in the agropark: agro-food production chains

As stated, the choice of foodcrops for the Agropark belongs to the optional elements. The choice
depends on the entrepreneurs willing to invest and produce, depends on soil and water conditions for
land dependant agriculture and depends on the risks involved to produce land independently considering
coping with the Chongming climate and basic conditions. The CPU can function with a broad degree of
freedom in choice of crops and foodproducts, but needs a balanced dimension of production activities (see
6.7). A long-list of possible agro-food production chains in the park has been thoroughly considered. The
mentioned crops and (food) products have been screened for the contextual situation on Chongming and
for each remarks and positive/negative considerations are given (see table). This table forms the screening
tool for the implementation phase.
Basic chains Considerations

Crops - Commodity produce can be produced anywhere.
- Commodities can be easily transported; local production is not highly
relevant
- Added value low
- If not managed according to precision agriculture standards, uncontrolled
losses are high
- Vulnerable for weeds and pests
- Salinity of water and soil and unripe soils
+ Rice and rapeseed can be used for transition period in desalinisation
+ Rice: groundwater level is high
+ Straw can be used for compost production

+ Rice and rapeseed have a landscape function
+ Ecological rice: double price
101
Vegetable chains (open-field) - Difficult to distinguish from other agro parks
- Can the region support large scale processing?
- Vulnerable for weeds and pests
- Salinity of water and soil and unripe soils
+ Needed for convenience food products
+ Needed for local production
+ Needed as fashion foods and new products (experiments)
+ Needed for demonstration
+ Use of compost and minerals from CPU
+ Saline agriculture with salt modern resistent crops (Beta maritima, Salicornia
spp and Aster maritima)
Vegetable chains (closed + High-tech systems already exist; we must take care of complementarily
greenhouse) + Groundwater (aquifer) cannot be used for cooling.
+ River water can be used for cooling; Chinese researchers concluded that
greenhouses are useful under Shanghai climate conditions.
+ Utilise ventilation air from another activity to reduce energy use.
+ Overcomes seasonality in production
Aquatic vegetables - Vulnerable for weeds and pests
+ Traditional production , availability of market for products.
+ Use of ‘endemic’ aquatic plants well adapted to saline or brackish water
conditions
+ Production of algae for fish production
+ Lotus and other aquatic plants can add to the landscape value
+ Contribution to water quality
Greenhouses: ornamental plants Flowers, pot plants, bonsai, …
- there will be a strong competition because there are many glasshouse
producers.
+ specialize to breeding material, tissue culture, etc.
Pigs - Need cooling (when kept in closed stables)
+ Pig manure is useful in CPU

+ Pigs are fed with remainders from food processing
+ Pork is most consumed meat in China with a growing demand
+ Use connection with harbour for import of feed materials
+ Top breeding is a no-regret option
+ Reduction of inner chain transports reduces veterinary risks and increases
animal welfare.
102
Poultry - Migratory birds pass Chongming Island
Chicken, goose, turkey, pheasant, - Chicken is politically sensitive
duck. - The added value of end products is not very high
+ China needs demonstration of save (closed) system
+ Poultry is very common in China
+ Poultry manure is very suitable for mushroom compost production.
Dairy - Competition from existing developed (Bright) chain
- High methane production
+ Most efficient way of existent protein production
+ Inclusion of non digestible food crops (grass) as raw materials
+ Growing (huge) demand
+ Existing knowledge on high value added processing of basic dairy food
+ Transition to functional and health foods
+ Grasslands on salty meadows for dairy farming
Beef - High methane production
+ Enables grazing of non digestible food crops as raw materials on more or less
brackish meadows
+ Efficient management of buffer zones and natural landscape elements
Reptiles Snakes, turtles, Yangtze alligator,etc
+ High added value
+ Reptile production in facilities needs low quality heat which is available from
the CPU
+ Good knowledge of reptiles production available in China.
Insects Grasshopper, rain worms, snails, maggots, ants, scorpions, …
- Danger of escape and invading species
- It might disturb the natural system
- The commercial aspect is not yet obvious
+ Can be a very distinguished attraction
+ Protein production by insects is very efficient
+ Potential as animal feed under mass production, especially for poultry
+ It should be developed as facility agriculture

+ The climate is very suitable
+ This is a typical example of demo à trade à production.
+ Food waste from eco-city may serve as food for the insects.
Fresh water protein production Eel, Baby crab breeding, shrimps, crayfish, abalone, atun, shells, etc, the total
spectrum of present aquacultures
+ High added value
+ Needs low quality heat which is available from the CPU
+ Good knowledge of these types of production available in China
+ Existing production is seasonal; year-round production would create added
value.
103
Horse breeding - Lack of knowledge on economic perspective.
- Leisure and esthetical function in the integrated high-tech agropark not yet
acknowledged?
- The climate (may be) too hot in the summer.
+ Popularity of horse rises with growing economy.
+ Source for the horse leisure centre.
+ It’s a fashion product.
+ Can be used in landscape management.
+ Can be used as tourist attraction.
+ Horse manure fits very well in composting.
Trees nursery - There are many producers around and after Olympic games in Beijing and
Shanghai 2010 market may decline?
+ Trees needed for landscaping and nature management
Mushrooms + White button mushrooms can use the rice straw as basic material
+ Fits very well in the CPU concept
+ Mushrooms in its present Chinese variety have potency in pharmaceutical
production.
Fruits - New varieties are needed: with sweeter taste.
blueberry, oranges, pomegranates, + High added value
melons, grapes, apricots, green + Decorative value , for demonstration and leisure purposes
plum, …
Pharmaceutical plants and + Can be grown in closed greenhouse
fragrant oil producing plants - Many of pharmaceutical plants are only effective when produced in their
natural habitat
+ This production does not need the metropolitan environment
+ Very suitable for demonstration and research project
Biodiversity + Use of endemic species for production purposes
+ (Re)breeding of (migratory) species
+ Fish, shells, abalone and crustaceans, birds, higher plants, algue and
seaweeds, insects, endemic species as Yangtze Alligator, Chinese Deer etc
104
6 CPU and Agro-Industrial design: Food safety and ba-
lance in production
6.6 Sustainable agro-food production with focus on food safety

In the perspective of sustainable development of agriculture, the use of chemicals, antibiotics and other
products that require high energy use in production and of which the waste is potentially harmful, should
be minimized. The productivity should be maintained or increased compared to existing production systems.
Therefore, systems that prevent contamination should replace the conventional methods.
The CPU is an enabler for such safety measures, since the CPU as a “centralized system” is very suited for
product tracing and safety control, ISO- certified. Electricity and heat produced by the CPU is needed for
heating, cooling and dehumidification. Because the heat is produced and transported effeiciently within
the system, it minimizes fossil fuel input and is available at a relatively low price.
consumer
vegetable
greenhouse processing
heating waste
& cooling
waste manure
agro-trade CPU

pig farming
Fig 53 Waste from various food processing industries and manure from pig farming are used for energy production. This energy
serves for heating and cooling of the greenhouse. The CPU discharges treated remainders of waste in stable form that can be
reused, such as soil conditioners.
105
6.7 Balanced dimensions of production activities
Most of the CPU inputs and outputs are voluminous streams. At most a small part of that can be traded
with parties outside the Agro Park. The scale of waste streams from Eco city and Shanghai itself are trade
offs that are brought in the present scenarios in a balanced way. Thus, matching inputs and outputs of the
CPU will be a key driver for balanced dimensioning of the various production activities in the Agro Park.
When developing the Agro Park, the dimensioning of the individual activities will be mainly determined by
business developments by entrepreneurs. Their first driver will be their primary market.
At the same time however, the CPU will influence the potential added value creation by the business, since
the CPU can process waste products at a reduced price and supplies energy and other valuable products
with minimal costs for transportation. Matching inputs and output of the CPU will result in best possible
cyclic loops. This creation of added value forms a major asset for the whole agropark development.
In the adjacent tables some rules for matching inputs and outputs have been indicated matching heat
production capacity, electricity production or compost production. Other design rules are the scale size for
profitable business per activity or maximum heat storage capacities.
Some rules for matching inputs and outputs:
Matching heat production capacity and use:
Supply to CPU manure and other biomass

Size of supply number and production cycle of manure producing
determined by animals
CPU process biogas production, combined heat & power station
CPU output heat (for greenhouses, stables, freshwater
production, drying manure residue)
Amount needed area of greenhouses, stables, amount of manure
determined by residue
Heat can also be stored in the ground or in larger freshwater bodies.

CPU output electricity (main use: cooling greenhouses and

stables)
Amount needed area of greenhouses and stables
determined by
106
Size of
CPU supply
process numberproduction,
biogas and production cycle heat
combined of manure producing
& power station
CPU output heat (for greenhouses, stables, freshwater
CPU process biogas production,
production, combined
drying manure heat & power station
residue)
CPU output
Amount needed heat of
area (forgreenhouses,
greenhouses,stables,
stables, freshwater
amount of manure
determined by production,
residue drying manure residue)
Amount needed area of greenhouses, stables, amount of manure
determined
Matching by productionresidue
electricity and use:

Supply to CPU
determined by manure and other biomass
animals
Size of
CPU supply
process numberproduction,
biogas and production cycle heat
combined of manure producing
& power station
CPU output electricity (main use: cooling greenhouses and
stables)
CPU output
Amount needed electricity
area (main use: and
of greenhouses cooling greenhouses and
stables
determined by stables)
Amount needed area of greenhouses and stables
Note that surplus of electricity can be easily transported, sold.
determined by
High efficiency cooling will be possible by using water from the river.
Supply to CPU layer chicken manure straw

Matching compost production for white button mushrooms
Size of supply number of layer chicken
Supply to CPU layer chicken manure straw
determined by
Size of
CPU supply
process number of layer chicken
Composting
determined by
CPU output mushroom compost
CPU process Composting
Amount needed total mushroom production capacity
CPU output by
determined mushroom compost
Amount needed total mushroom production capacity
determined by

107
6 CPU and Agro-Industrial design: Scenario 1 Basic for
mushrooms
Based on the design rules mentioned in the previous paragraphs and chapters four scenarios have been
developed:
In this ‘Basic for mushrooms’ the built up area is relatively small, due to a modest scale of productive activities
and a limited number of residents involved in Agropark activities (manual workers, service personnel,
knowledge workers, managers). Also the number of suburbanites from Shanghai city is supposed to be
small in this scenario. This might well be the picture the Agropark is offering in a relatively early stage of
its development.
Already well developed is the Landscape Park with the Entrance hot spot and the Demo Centre. The Trade
Centre is already there, be it at a moderate size. For production and processing of products there is a full-
size mushroom operation near the central CPU-unit, with related pig and chicken stables close by. There is
a limited area of greenhouse and closed freshwater production. Finally there are the ‘world farms’ along
the western part of the main axis and a small residential settlement near the Central Square, sharing its
community facilities with visitors and tourists. Because of its location near the square sewage and household
waste of the residents can be easily treated by the central CPU-unit.
In this scenario there is not yet a need for the separate cargo road, for doubling the number of lanes of the
main axis roads, nor for the solar cell roofing over the main axis, the central pagoda, etcetera. There is no
need either for building harbour facilities.
Ecological relations and landscaping need not wait for further development but should as non optional
elements be implemented in this stage already.
Note: the balanced sizes of the activities were determined with ‘best available’ estimations for CPU process yields and cooling and
heating capacity needs. The suggestion is to update the results with better data in the next phase of the project.
108
Scenario 1. Basic for mushrooms
Activities Pigs, chicken, greenhouses, mushrooms, fish and open -field agriculture
Leading design criterions minimum scale size for profitable mushroom compost production
match energy production and need for heating and cooling
Intensive farming activities :
pigs keep 50,000 pigs (150,000 slaughters per year) 12 ha
broil 1 million chicken (12,000 ton chicken per year) 8 ha
layer 1 million chicken (250 million eggs per year) 17 ha
gree 9,000 tons vegetables per year 15 ha
mus 6,000 tons per year 3 ha
fish not quantified
Open field farming vegetables, rice, etc. (areas will depend on need from market)
Main agropark inputs and output
Main agropark inputs

Pig feed 51,500 ton/y
Chicken (broilers) feed 32,400 ton/y
Chicken (layers ) feed 36,500 ton/y
Main CPU inputs

1 World Farms
manure (broiler chicken ) 11,000 ton/y
2 Central square
manure (pigs and layer chicken) 81,100 ton/y 3 Landscape park
co -substrates 81,100 ton/y 4 Chicken production
(from food industry in the park; Shanghai restaurant waste; etc. ) 5 Pig production
6 Reserve production
straw 14,165 ton/y
7 Mushroom production
cooling water (from Yangtze river) 3,502,407 ton/y 8 Reserve Bussiness Support
9 Greenhouses
Main CPU outputs 10 Tradecentre phase 1

11 Tradecenter phase 2
heat ( for heating greenhouses , …) 119,217,000 MJ/y
12 Fishponds
electricity (for cooling ) 29,961,944 kWh/y 13 Existing
mushroom compost 47,218 ton/y 14 Demo Center
digestate (organic fertilizer) 145,980 ton/y 15 Existing
16 Service Agriculture
17 Housing
Main agropark outputs (except open -field 18 Dairy Farming
agriculture)
19 Harbor
slaughter pigs 150,000 / year
pig meat 12,000 ton/y
chicken slaughtered 12,000 ton/y 109
eggs 250,000,000 eggs /y
vegetables from greenhouse 9,000 ton/y
Mushrooms 6,111 ton/y
layer 1 million chicken (250 million eggs per year) 17 ha
gree 9,000 tons vegetables per year 15 ha
mus 6,000 tons per year 3 ha
fish not quantified

Main CPU inputs

manure (pigs and layer chicken) 81,100 ton/y
co -substrates 81,100 ton/y
(from food industry in the park; Shanghai restaurant waste; etc. )
straw 14,165 ton/y
cooling water (from Yangtze river) 3,502,407 ton/y
Main CPU outputs

electricity (for cooling ) 29,961,944 kWh/y
mushroom compost 47,218 ton/y
digestate (organic fertilizer) 145,980 ton/y
Main agropark outputs (except open -field

agriculture)
slaughter pigs 150,000 / year
chicken slaughtered 12,000 ton/y
eggs 250,000,000 eggs /y

Champost (soil structure enriching
material) 18,054 ton/y
net electricity surplus -889,105 kWh/y
110
Scenario 1 Basic
Scenario 1 Basic for mushrooms
for mushrooms

Open field Drainage Building with green roofing
Green zone Entrance building Harbour
Squares Business center/ solar cell Pagoda Demonstration farms
Small hotspot ‘pearl’ Trade centre Housing
Demonstration area Greenhouses Road
Bulb Fields Multilayered Green houses Touristic route
Water Stables green roofing Light Rail
Wetland Stables glass roofing CPU route
Helophyte filters Stables CPU and Water purification
111
6 CPU and Agro-Industrial design: Scenario 2 Large
scale
In many ways the ‘Large scale’ scenario is the opposite of the previous one. Here there is a large production
facilities of pigs, chicken and mushroom combined with large areas of greenhouse and freshwater
production. Land use efficiency is improved by building stables in two levels and building greenhouses
on top of stables and the Trade Centre. The Trade Centre itself is much further developed, with ample
space for a second expansion phase. With the Trade Centre goes a fully functional third hot spot, including
communication and information centers. Part of the fish ponds is transformed into modern closed systems,
again with greenhouses on top. Where no greenhouses are built on top of other activities, flat roofs will
be covered with grass, to improve isolation, retard water run off, contribute to ecological linkages, and
generally create more attractiveness.
In this scenario there is much more need for infrastructure and for residential space. The harbour facilities
should be in place, both in the North and in the centre. The special cargo road needs to be constructed, with
links to internal roads in such a way that a separation between ‘clean’ and ‘dirty’ trucks can be maintained.
The main axis road needs doubling. The solar cell panels all should be there as well as the central pagoda.
The central CPU-unit will need a much higher capacity here and fulfill more functions, while there is also
need for secondary units connected to the CPU-network in other places.
There is more space for service agriculture, for business support, for hotels, for restaurants and other tourist
facilities. An important issue is to accompany all infrastructure elements by ‘blue/green veining’ ecological
links as structural elements. An other important issue is the realisation of enough parking spaces, that
has to be found at each of the hot spots as well as near the major production and processing activities or
connected with the airbus stations
With the much larger amount of space needed for residential purposes goes a more decentralized occupation
pattern: the main settlement still near the Central Square (close to the central CPU-unit), but also secondary
settlements in various other parts of the Agropark.
112
Scenario 2. Large scale
Activities Pigs, chicken, greenhouses, mushrooms, fish and open field agric
agriculture
Leading design criterions minimum scale size for profitable pig meat packaging plant
pigs keep 1 million pigs (3 million slaughters per year) 232 ha
broiler chicken 5 million chicken (60,000 ton chicken per year) 42 ha
layer chicken 2 million chicken (500 million eggs per year) 33 ha
greenhouses 240,000 tons vegetables per year 400 ha
mushrooms 30,000 tons per year 13 ha
fish not quantified
1 World Farms
2 Central square
3 Landscape park
4 Chicken production
5 Pig production
8 Reserve Business Support
9 Greenhouses
10 Trade centre phase 1

11 Trade center phase 2
12 Fishponds
13 Existing
14 Demo Center
15 Existing
17 Housing
18 Dairy Farming
19 Harbor
113

Pig feed 1,030,000 ton/y
Main CPU inputs

manure (pigs and layer chicken) 1,693,500 ton/y
co -substrates 1,693,500 ton/y
straw 70,826 ton/y
Main CPU outputs

heat ( for heating greenhouses , …) 2,489,445,000 MJ/y
mushroom compost 236,088 ton/y
digestate (organic fertilizer) 3,048,300 ton/y

agriculture)
slaughter pigs 3,000,000 / year
chicken slaughtered 60,000 ton/y
eggs 500,000,000 eggs /y

material) 90,269 ton/y
net electricity surplus 259,533,750 kWh/y
114
Scenario 2 Large
Scenario 1 Basic scale
for mushrooms

115
6 CPU and Agro-Industrial design: Scenario 3 Pig top
breeding
The overall intensity of this ‘Pig top breeding’ scenario is somewhere between the previous two, but the
mix of activities is quite different with its emphasis on pig breeding. With it go chicken stables, green-
houses, mushrooms, fishponds (also partly closed), and open field agriculture. Flat roofs should again be
covered either by greenhouses or by grass roofings and all infrastructures are accompanied by blue-green
veining.
To keep more reserved areas for later developments, the whole Northern part of the Agropark is kept more
or less empty in this scenario, including deferring the world farms to a later phase. For residential purposes
the concentration near the Central Square will suffice.
116
Scenario 3. Pig top breeding
Activities Pigs top breeding, chicken, greenhouses, mushrooms, fish and ope
open
field agriculture
Leading design criterions substantial market penetration (top breeding)
no button mushroom production because of shortage of broiler
chicken manure or other suitable basic bio -materials.
pigs 1 million piglets per year 40 ha
broiler chicken --
greenhouses 50,000 tons vegetables per year 80 ha
mushrooms --
fish not quantified
1 World Farms
2 Central square
3 Landscape park
5 Pig production
8 Reserve Business Support
9 Greenhouses
10 Trade centre phase 1

11 Trade center phase 2
12 Fishponds
13 Existing
14 Demo Center
15 Existing
17 Housing
18 Dairy Farming
19 Harbor
117

Chicken (broilers) feed 0 ton/y
Main CPU inputs

manure (broiler chicken ) 0 ton/y
manure (pigs and layer chicken) 312,500 ton/y
co -substrates 312,500 ton/y
straw 0 ton/y
Main CPU outputs

mushroom compost 0 ton/y
digestate (organic fertilizer) 562,500 ton/y

agriculture)
piglets 1,050,000 year
chicken slaughtered 0 ton/y
eggs 750,000,000 eggs /y
Mushrooms 0 ton/y

material) 0 ton/y
net electricity surplus 52,417,093 kWh/y
118
Scenario 3 Pig
Scenario 1 Basic fortop breeding
mushrooms

119
6 6 CPU and Agro-Industrial design: Scenario 4 Dairy
included
This ‘Dairy included’ scenario is an in-between scenario for its general intensity, but due to the introduction
of dairy farming, the proportion of open land is markedly higher. The entire northern part of the Agropark
is occupied by dairy farms and grazing land.
For the remainder this scenario is much similar to the first scenario.
120
Scenario 4. Basic with dairy
Activities Pigs, chicken, greenhouses, mushrooms, fish, dairy and open -field
agriculture
Leading design criterions based on the ‘Basic for mushrooms scenario ’
add dairy industry (that annually processes 100,000 tons milk fofor a
specialty like ice -cream production); half of the milk will be produced in
the agropark, and the rest will be collected in the neighbourhood .
because of the large amount of electricity and heat available frfrom
the cow manure, a large -scale glasshouse will be possible
pigs keep 50,000 pigs (75,000 slaughters per year) 6 ha
broiler chicken 1 million chicken (12,000 ton chicken per year) 8 ha
green houses 24,000 tons vegetables per year 40 ha
mushrooms 6,000 tons per year 3 ha
cattle Keep 8,000 cows (6,250 kg milk per cow per year) 10 ha (stables)
+/ -1000 ha (grassland )
fish not quantified
1 World Farms
2 Central square
3 Landscape park
5 Pig production
8 Reserve Bussiness Support
9 Greenhouses
10 Tradecentre phase 1

11 Tradecenter phase 2
12 Fishponds
13 Existing
14 Demo Center
15 Existing
17 Workers Village
18 Dairy Farming
19 Harbor
121
Scenario 4 Dairy
Scenario 1 Basic included
for mushrooms

122
6 CPU and Agro-Industrial design: Comparison of the
scenarios
6.8 Comparison of the scenarios
Scenarios enable the comparison of different explorations of possible business lay outs.
When comparing the four scenarios, based on the comparisons of quantities of of pigs, chickens, cows,
vegetables and mushrooms, the numbers speak for themselves.
Scenario 2 with 7 million chicken en 1 milion pigs, has the largest built up area (22.5% plus 6.8 %), uses but
also gaines a very large surplus of power via de CPU.
Scenario 2, 3 and 4 all gain energy, a throrough balancing of the ecological laoding capacity for the eco city
and for the ecologicalk footprint for Dongtan Area. Hereby it can be stressed again that the starting point
for the design of the Agro Park in all scenarios was, no input of fossil fuel for agricultural production.
6.9 The residential function and other non-agrarian built up land uses
Because of the sensitivity of urban functions and built up area within his urban rural planning situation,
an estimation has been made of the population, the housing and the built up areas for the different
agricultural functions and its workers.
For each of the scenarios an estimate has been made of the number of workers, experts and managers
that may need to be housed in the Agropark. This number is highest for the ‘large scale’ scenario, where it
amounts to 25,000. When this scenario is seen as fully developed, leaving hardly any more space for further
settlement of production, processing and trade functions, then the remaining capacity for housing may be
turned over to residents that have no direct economic relation to the Agropark but are just looking for a
very comfortable green place to live. Based on a total residential capacity according to present ecological
footprint calculations of 25,000 this space for suburban dwellers may turn out at around 2,500.
In other scenarios the number of residents with a direct economic relation to the Agropark lies lower: 4,000

in the ‘basic for mushrooms’ scenario, 12,000 in the ‘top pig breeding’ scenario, and 6,000 in the ‘diary
included’ scenario. This doesn’t mean, however, that the remaining capacity can be simply given over to
suburbanization because these are all scenarios that leave space for further development of production,
processing and trade functions (most so in the ‘basic for mushrooms’ scenario). It seems wise to reserve at
least a large part of the remaining capacity for such future expansion.
123
1: Basic mushroom 2: Large Scale 3: Pig top breeding 4: Dairy included
2,356 2,522
Open Area 2,542 ha (94.1%) 1,908 ha (70.7%)
(87.3%) (93.4%)
93 ha 608 ha 233 ha 107 ha
Built up facility agriculture
(3.4%) (22.5%) (8.6%) (4.0%)
65 ha 184 ha 111 71 ha
Built up non agriculture
(2.4%) (6.8%) (4.1%) (2.6%)
Internal use of power (kWh/y) 29 mln 625 mln 115 mln 120 mln
Surplus of power (kWh/y) - 0.9 mln 260 mln 52 mln 80 mln
Internal use of heat (MY/y) 119 mln 2,490 mln 459 mln 477 mln
Nr of pigs 50.000 1 mln 1 mln (piglets) 50,000

Nr of chicken 2 mln 7 mln 3 mln 2 mln
Nr of cows 0 0 0 8,000
Vegetables (tons/y) 9,000 240,000 50,000 24,000
Mushrooms (tons/y) 6,000 30,000 0 6,000
Inhabitants 4,000 25,000 12,000 6,000
Table: Comparison of the 4 scenario’s, production within agro food chains, human population, built up areas, and energy consump-
tion or production.
All of this needs more precise calculations, based on information of what activities will actually settle in the
Agropark, which is a task for further elaboration of the Industrial Plan.
The table on the next page gives an example how to calculate land use for housing. The calculation is based
on the following elements:
A rough estimate of the number of workers needed in each scenario based as output figures and labour
productivity parameters; with addition for other activities such as education, hotel, restaurants, etc.
• A distinction between types of workers (manual labour, knowledge, managerial) with an estimated
distribution.
• A distinction between single workers and workers with family; a family is supposed to consist mostly of
two workers, with or without a child, with or without other family members (e.g. grandparents) living
in. Average family size is set at 3.2.
• Typical spatial requirements for each type of worker/family.
• Not all workers living in the Agropark will have a job in the park, or on the other hand, not all jobs will
be occupied by workers living in the park; for the calculation these are set off against each other.
• A modest allowance has been made for suburban residents
• The outcome (ha for housing) is entered in the comparison of land uses for the four scenarios
124
6 CPU and Agro-Industrial design: Comparison of land
use and housing
Now that we have also dealt with residential land use, we can make a final assessment of the proportion of
non-agrarian built up functions as related to the total area of the Agropark. This is an important indicator
for the sustainability of rural development according to present Chinese planning practice.
The assessment is made in the table below:
As may be seen, the proportion of built-up area for non-agricultural (or non-direct agricultural) functions
varies between 2.4% and 6.8%. Even though the Agropark is an example of fully developed urban-rural
integrated development through typical metropolitan agriculture, this percentage is still quite low,
safeguarding the overall green aspect of the park and also creating optimum conditions for the park’s
recreational and ecological functions. This still holds when also built-up agricultural area is taken into
account: even in the large scale intensive production and trade scenario 2 the open area (green and water)
remains at over 70%.
scenario 1 scenario 2 scenario 3 scenario 4
green/water ha (open) 2542 1908 2356 2522
percentage open area 94.10% 70.70% 87.30% 93.40%
World farm buildings (ha ) 3 3 3 3
Greenhouses (ha) 23 250 80 23
Pig stables, chickens, mushrooms (ha) 32 232 90 46
Trade centre (warehousing function)(ha ) 35 123 60 35
subtotal built-up
- direct agrifunction(ha ) 93 608 233 107
percentage 3.40% 22.50% 8.60% 4.00%
Trade centre (other functions) (ha) 15 43 25 15

Service agriculture/food processing industries 10 30 20 10
CPU (ha) 6 6 6 6
Demonstration park /science buildings(ha ) 20 30 25 20
Residential/social 14 75 35 20
subtotal built-up
- non (direct) agricultural 65 184 111 71
percentage 2.40% 6.80% 4.10% 2.60%
total area (100%) 2700 2700 2700 2700
125
m2/ m2/ Person/ Fam
Table: Land use for housing, per scenario Person fam ha /ha
(parcel)
Workers
Single 35% Dormitories 20 500 1050
Handworkers (70%)*
with Family 35% Workers cottages 40 250 1050
Knowledge workers with Family 20% Nice appartments, small

(20%) villas 80 125 600
local with Family 5% Large villas 200 50 150
Managers (10%) Single 3% Hotel suite 50 200 90
expat
with Family 2% Large villas 200 50 60
subtotal economically bound

3000
suburbanites with Family Large villas 200 50 600
total 3600
*40% Manual labour (production/processing)

30% Personal services (Hotel business)
126
Scenario1 Scenario 2 Scenario 3 Scenario 4
Families Persons ha Workers Families Persons ha Workers Families Persons ha Workers Families Persons ha
1050 2.0 7000 7000 14.0 2625 2625 5.0 1575 1575 3.0
525 1680 2.0 7000 3500 11200 14.0 2625 1300 4200 5.5 1575 800 2520 3.0
300 960 2.5 4000 2000 6400 16.0 1500 750 2400 6.0 900 450 1440 3.5
75 240 1.5 1000 500 1600 10.0 375 190 600 4.0 225 110 360 2.0
90 0.5 600 600 3.0 225 225 1.0 135 135 0.5
30 96 0.5 400 200 640 4.0 150 75 240 1.5 90 45 145 1.0
930 4116 9.0 20000 6200 27440 61.0 7500 2315 10290 23.0 4500 1405 6175 13.0
300 960 6.0 1500 750 2400 15.0 1200 600 800 12.0 900 450 600 9.0
1230 5076 15.0 21500 6950 29840 76.0 8700 2915 11090 35.0 5400 1855 6775 22.0

127
7 Looking towards implementation:
Business planning
The second phase, which will be entered after completion of the Master plan, is the development phase.
The combination of strategic plan, Master plan and industrial plan produced in the previous phase, should
be the beginning of an active development of Greenport Shanghai, rather than executing the blue print
plan. A probably even more important deliverable of the Master plan phase is the multi-actor network
of entrepreneurs, governmental and knowledge organisations, that as a whole must continue to attract
businesses and develop the services and facilities needed by these companies. This development phase
ought to become an ongoing process. Even when businesses are already in operation, new businesses need
to be attracted and selected and the network and infrastructure within which these businesses operate
need to be adapted and developed.
In order to have the Agropark implemented, four development processes can be distinguished. These are
described in this final chapter of the Master plan:
• The business planning for which entrepreneurs are primarily responsible

• The process of development policy, that ensures the ongoing formal legislation and planning procedures
for which the government is primary responsible.
• Knowledge development managed by the knowledge institutes
• Communication, internal and external, to non-governmental organisations and to the public
• Although these processes can be distinguished they should develop in a highly integrated and iterative
way. Intermediate parties will guard this integration process.
Although these processes can be distinguished they should develop in a highly integrated and iterative way.
Intermediate parties will guard this integration process.
7. 1 Business Planning
The key message of the orgware development process is: Structure follows Strategy.
The Strategic Plan, the Master plan and the Industrial Plan together will determine the strategy of Greenport
Shanghai. After the strategy is determined, the entrepreneurs and investors can be attracted.
128
Fig 54:. Integrated and iterative progress of four
stakeholders and intermediate parties during
implementation.
These entrepreneurs will determine the structure needed for their business. Thus the infrastructure follows
the requirements of the entrepreneurs and not only the plan of the designer, within the boundaries of the
non optional principles of the Master plan.
The change in the working process towards development planning, has major implications for the
organisation. First of all, a clear distinction is made between designers, park management and entrepreneurs.
In the traditional process, the designer partly took the role of the entrepreneur. However, in the new
process, the designer has only his own role. He does not determine what kind of business should take place
in the park. Rather he designs a strategy and thereafter fills in the detailed infrastructure based on the
specifications of the entrepreneur. Furthermore, the park management has its own specific role, to develop
and manage the Agropark. They are responsible for facilitating the entrepreneurs and improving the
prospects of circular agricultural economy. In this development planning the entrepreneur is entrepreneur
again and not a stand holder. He determines the type of business set up in the park and the needed
investments.

One of the main assets of Greenport Shanghai will then be the entrepreneurial skills. The businesses in the
park are set up and managed by entrepreneurs rather than by employees. These entrepreneurs will join the
park only if they see opportunities to set up a profitable business. If needed, these entrepreneurs will change
the business when the market changes. Furthermore, the park management is not based on state-ownership,
but uses the combined skills of the individual entrepreneurs as a platform for its own performance. The park
management will be an business on its own. It should react at changing circumstances in order to facilitate
129
the entrepreneurs and realize the aims of the circular economy and sustainable development. Together
the entrepreneurs and an agile park management will create a dynamic Agropark that adapts to changing
market situations and new technological conditions, all within the boundaries of the sustainability criteria
Conditions needed for the success of GPS

However, to realise a profitable Greenport Shanghai that improves the prosperity of circular economy and is
able to react at changing situations, it is a necessity to adhere to some conditions. These conditions are:
• The businesses have to be set up based on international and Chinese experience. This will secure optimal
use of entrepreneurial skills. As mentioned the business infrastructure should follow the demands of the
entrepreneur. The entrepreneurs need to decide what kind of business, demonstration or trade should
take place in the Agropark. Furthermore, they have the experience and knowledge on how the business
should be formed in order to make it profitable.
• The international entrepreneurs will need Chinese partners to operate fruitfully and vice versa . The
international entrepreneurs lack knowledge of doing efficient business in China and probably they do
not have the business relations in China to be successful.
• This asks for development of a intercultural network, in which understanding of each others codes and
languages is very important.
• Sufficient risk capital must be available for the further development of the Agropark and to set up the
businesses in the park.
• Public and business infrastructure have to take into account the empirical knowledge of the participa-
ting entrepreneurs. As mentioned before, structure follows strategy.
• The entrepreneurs need a competent agropark management to facilitate their businesses, adapted to
the specific Chinese conditions for entrepreneurship. The park management should enable the entre-
preneurs to do business by providing them services like training facilities, education & research facility,
quality control, energy saving, waste management, legal services, investment support, trading facilities
and many more. The park management should have the knowledge and experience to provide these
services. These services need to result in more profitable businesses of the entrepreneurs and realise the
ecological sustainability.
• Continuous improvement and development of the Agropark is crucial. A dynamic agropark that adapts
to changing market and technological conditions will be extremely attractive to entrepreneurs and
investors. The continuous development, combined with management and facility services will greatly
improve the profitability of the entrepreneurs and the park management. This development of the
Agropark never stops.
130
7 Looking towards implementation: Formal Planning
To turn the Master plan of Greenport Shanghai into an inspiring and profitable Agropark, a joint, multiple
and international strategic approach is needed. Therefore an Agropark development and management
company is needed and can be set up directly after the Master plan has been adopted as development
strategy.
7.2 Formal planning

The formal planning needs to apply principles of development policy as an experiment in future formal
planning. Following these principles , the first step, which is directly at hand now, is to take two related
decisions. One is to decide on the three plans (Strategic Plan, Master plan, Industrial Plan) as one package.
In this decision the relations between the plans, together with the specific role of each separate plan, need
as clear a definition as possible. Two is to decide on an institutional framework to deal with the necessary
experimental status of the project.
For this institutional framework a good solution might be the establishment of a small permanent
committee of evaluators that will continuously follow the project over the coming years, and will provide
additional guidelines whenever necessary. This committee needs a good grasp on the way entrepreneurs/
investors do their thinking and make their decisions and in doing so react at the environment offered by
the public authorities. The committee must be able to ‘speak the language’ of the commercial investor. It
might even be an option to invite a business representative to join the committee. What needs permanent
attention in the committee’s work is the interaction between further elaboration of public plans (especially
the Industrial Plan, but also feedbacks to the Master plan) and emerging business plans, both on the level
of the management of the Agropark as a whole and on the level of individual entrepreneurs. All this
should result in a public planning framework that is always up-to-date, always ready to serve as a basis for
a smooth and speedy process of granting the necessary permits, licenses etcetera. At the same time this
experimental approach itself needs permanent evaluation as well, eventually leading to further reaching

conclusions for adjustments to the Chinese planning and licensing system in general.
131
Greenport
Knowledge Governmental
Development SIIC
Organisations Organisations
Company
Shares in Greenport Shanghai Project Development Inc.
Orgware and Director
Agropark management enterprise
Project Development Greenport Shanghai Inc implements the Agropark

Agropa
Enterprises in Enterprises in
Enterprises in
Demonstration Production and
Trade Park
Park Processing Park
Fig.55: Proposed organisation structure of stakeholders
during implementation
The relation between governmental and entrepreneurial investments

As a second step there is an important question with regard to the investing role of SIIC in relation to
the role of the park management organisation (and in fact also in relation to the role of individual
entrepreneurial investors). Is SIIC willing to make a ‘sunken fund’ investment in general infrastructure,
in order to give the Agropark a flying start and not to deter entrepreneurial investors by having them
shoulder this type of investment as well? Is SIIC willing to make risk sharing investments? And if so in
the park management only? Or also in individual enterprises? Or is SIIC even willing to invest in all these
together? As far as may be judged now, at least part of the necessary general infrastructure investments
need to be made beforehand by SIIC (or some other public organisation) on a sunken fund basis, otherwise
the burden of this kind of investment will ‘suffocate’ each and all emerging entrepreneurial initiatives.
This is particularly true of investment in water systems,
ecological linkages, and landscaping, which for a successful
start of the implementation should not be deferred to later

stages. It might also be true for the major transportation
infrastructure and parts of the CPU.
But it seems not a good idea to also make this kind of public
investment in buildings such as stables or greenhouses. These
should always remain the responsibility of entrepreneurial
investors. Their willingness to make these investments is the
ultimate test of the economic viability of the Agropark.
132
7 Looking towards implementation: The Knowledge
value chain
7. 3 Knowledge management:
7.3.1. Software
Knowledge is a crucial production factor in the Greenport Shanghai Dongtan Agropark. This agropark
is based on state-of-the-art knowledge. A metaphor for knowledge management would be software,
embedding all necessary knowledge for the development, implementation and management of the
Greenport Shanghai Dongtan Agropark.
It is essential to stress that ‘knowledge’ is both explicit, codified knowledge and tacit knowledge. The
software for agropark development has also a strong transdisciplinary character because it connects multi-
and interdisciplinary knowledge from scientists with the tacit knowledge of entrepreneurs, developers,
government and citizen/consumer-organisations. Software is therefore described as the full cluster of
‘know what’ (facts), ‘know why’ (science), ‘know-how’ (tacit knowledge) and ‘know who’ (networking).
Only general aspects of knowledge management have to be separately treated in the Master plan. As will
be obvious the formal planning procedures as well as the development of business plans need specific data
as input and knowledge to be dealt with. For the CPU, the integrated water management and integrated
regional management of the non optional functions, as well as for the agropark management to function
properly specific software will have to be developed and information exchange be set up. The same goes
for every individual enterprise.
More general aspects of knowledge management concern the development of a knowledge value chain,
the human resource management, the set up of a general knowledge network and general research and
development activities.

7.3.2 Tacit knowledge
In the development of the Dongtan Agropark tacit knowledge is a crucial aspect. The combination of tacit
knowledge of Dutch entrepreneurs of how to produce high-end products against very low environmental
costs, with the tacit knowledge of Chinese entrepreneurs and workmen of local conditions, markets and
cultures is one of the key-factors for the success of the Dongtan Agropark.
133
Tacit knowledge has been found to be a crucial input to the innovation process. A society’s ability to innovate
depends on its level of tacit knowledge of how to innovate. By definition, tacit knowledge is knowledge
that people carry in their minds and is, therefore, difficult to access. Tacit knowledge is considered more
valuable because it provides context for people, places, ideas, and experiences. Effective transfer of tacit
knowledge generally requires extensive personal contact and trust.
The tacit aspects of knowledge are those that cannot be codified, but can only be transmitted via training
or gained through personal experience. Alternatively, tacit knowledge can be understood to be knowledge
that is embedded in a culture (for instance a regional culture, organisational culture or social culture) and
is difficult to share with people not embedded in that culture. It involves learning and skill but not in a way
that can be written down.
7.3.3 The knowledge value chain

The implementation of an agropark requires transfer of knowledge. Learning and education in the countries
and regions where an agropark is being implemented must deliver the know-how to use and develop them
in a sustainable way, adapted to the local conditions. The continuous participation of knowledge institutes
like Wageningen UR and Chinese universities in a joint venture will be an asset, not only for them to earn
revenues on the invested knowledge but also to develop this knowledge on
the basis of scientific monitoring and evaluation of the agropark practice that, used in this way turn into
laboratories and is the basis for new innovations in the agropark production and processing but also in
the way the government is dealing with these systems. This new knowledge on its turn will be transferred
to students, some of whom will be the future managers and workers in the Agropark. In doing so the
knowledge institutes implement the whole knowledge value chain. The transdisciplinary approach that is
characteristic for the agropark knowledge expands the knowledge value chain to the integrated level of
the other stakeholders involved (entrepreneurs and government employees and NGO’s ) that put in their
tacit knowledge.
134
Fig 56: The knowledge value chain inte-
grating explicit knowledge from know-
ledge institutes with tacit knowledge of
government and entrepreneurs.

135
7 Looking towards implementation: The Knowledge
network
7.3.4 Capacity building

The crucial phase of the knowledge value chain is the application of knowledge. To realise this in the
Dongtan Agropark training facilities for the employees are
essential. The ambition is to realize a joint Centre for Agropark Training, Education and Research (CATER)
on the Dongtan Agropark. This centre will provide tailor-made trainings for the various employees (ranging
from technical production skills to logistic and managerial skills), will provide grass-root research facilities
and will focus on major software questions regarding agropark development and management.
7.3.5. Building a knowledge network

To be able to respond quickly to new questions on the knowledge agenda of the Greenport Shanghai
Dongtan Agropark, efforts will be aimed at developing an international knowledge network. The basis
of this network has already been established during the Master planning of Greenport Shanghai. The
co-operation between Fudan University, Jiaotong University, Nanjing Agriculture University, Tongji
University, Wageningen University and Research Centre, TransForum, SIIC and several governmental and
business representatives has proven to be very fruitful.
Within the Netherlands the Greenports Development Corporation, TransForum, Wageningen UR and the
Dutch Innovation Network are currently setting up an International Association on Sustainable Agroparks.
This Association as an intermediary body, will be an important catalyst in realising and expanding the
concept of sustainable agro-industrial symbiosis in an organic and stepwise manner by:
• Sharing and disseminating knowledge
• Creating societal support

• Emphasising triple P opportunities
• Developing further enthusiasm for the concept
• Making the right combinations between partners
• Raising dedicated venture capital
• Realising pilot projects
• Producing scientific and practical evidence
• Implementing the criteria for sustainability
136
This international association can also be a very helpful instrument for the further development of
the Greenport Shanghai Agropark. All stakeholders can join this association to share and develop new
knowledge.
Fig 57: Greenport Venlo the Netherlands
7.3.6. Research and development projects

Directly after the finishing of the Master plan, the existing knowledge network of co-operating universities
will finish the five already undertaken knowledge studies on:
• Modular development of the Central Processing Unit. This study will be taken further and is currently
being put forward for an so called 86-3 subsidy from the national Chinese government.
• Assembling basic facts and figures for business planning, a further elaboration of the background of
chapter 7.1
• Knowledge management issues, a further elaboration of the background of chapter 7.3
• An evaluation of the learning process during the Master plan Phase, based on the individual experience
of the participants.
• A further elaboration of the planning methodology issues as described in Chapter 4.

137
Fig 58: Agro parks in the world
138
7 Looking towards implementation: Communication
7.4 Communication
Dongtan Ecocity offers a unique opportunity to be a model of how the world’s great metropolitan
areas can transform themselves into sustainable organisms. It should demonstrate that in a densely
populated area people can live, work, produce and play without exhausting the basic resources.
Greenport Shanghai, next to eco-cities and eco-tourism, forms the agricultural production part of this
concept.
The Mission statement of Greenport Shanghai is:
Greenport Shanghai
is the innovative and ambitious exploration
of how Chinese metropolitan agriculture
will jump into the 21st century:
Circular, Sustainable and Profitable
In such a way it will not only catch up with the most advanced agricultural techniques, but ultimately
aspires to be leading in this field.
Each one of the three stages in the development of Greenport Shanghai will need a tightly coordinated
communications plan and address a varying field of target groups and - consequently - of strategies and
media. Moreover: to avoid mistakes we need to communicate at each stage, while keeping in mind what
we intend to do in the following stages.
Phase 1 of this project is “the drawing board”. It means that we have to describe and - more importantly -
to sketch where we want to get to. From the first moment on we need to be very clear and undivided on
what our Mission and our Vision are. Those need to be shared by every member of the Team working on
the Plan. So the first thing we need to do in this stage is give substance to this Vision, which is best done by

visualising it. And verbalising what isn’t totally clear from the visualisation.
Following the presentation of the Master plan that carries out this description and visualisation,
communication on the Master plan can be undertaken in the following three steps:
139
1. We should start realising our vision in virtual reality. This is an ideal - low cost - way to align every team
member’s views and expectations. We can test our ambitions as to the utilisation of the available resour-
ces, the architectural implications and the ideal choices to be made between “make or buy”. We can
easily change as we go and we can use the input of all stakeholders
2. We should start building a brand. At the end of the day we see our ready made products
being bought by people looking for high quality food. Meanwhile we offer a demonstration
site on circular agricultural production, a trading centre, a commodity exchange and an auc-
tion for agricultural produce, one or more processing units and their logistical extensions.
By branding our project, right in the Planning Stage, we are setting our claims as to our unique posi-
tion, to the ownership of the Concept and the opportunity to create pride and likeability all over.
If we build our brand right, this brand should not only stand for the physical side of Greenport Shanghai,
it could and should also have the power to stand as the brand for fast moving, high quality, packaged
consumer goods.
3. We should immediately go public. By publicising the project we make it real and accessible to all sta-
keholders. We invite them to become part of the project at the earliest stage possible. Thereby we can
work incrementally and improve as we go. By going public it will be much easier to find natural partners
for our communication efforts. The media to use in this stage are:
IV. a website
V. Second Life?
VI. interviews, documentary programs, press junkets, press releases for tv, printed financial,
trade and general audience media
VII. exhibitions
VIII. commercials
IX. a (digital and analog) newsletter for all stakeholders.
140
141 Transforum | Greenport Shanghai
Colophon
Master plan Greenport Shanghai.
Better City, Better Agriculture, Better Life.
Zoetermeer October 2007
More information:
Peter Smeets
[email protected]
Madeleine van Mansfeld
[email protected]
Chonghua Zhang
[email protected]
Better city
Better Agriculture
Better Life
142
The Chinese team Xu Bao Shu Cai Yi Man Ge Lan
Ma Cheng Liang Li Qiang Shi Xing Rong Marco van Steekelenburg
Lu Shen Che Sheng Quan Zhou Wen Han Leo Stumpel
Lu Keng Bian Xin Min Li Sheng Wijnand Bruinsma
Yang Zhong Jin Qiao Jian Ming Yu Tao Geert Duysters
Gao Gui Hua Zhi Jian Jiang He Wen Jia Trudy van Megen
Shi Yu Qian Gao Wen Ling Song Zhi Zhou Sander Mager
Shi Xing Zhong Peng Wu Hou Peter Christiaens
Li Zhi Wei Lai Fu Lin The Dutch team Huub Heijer
Zhang Hao Dong Shan Feng Peter Smeets Lu Hongmei

Chen Xiu Yao Anne-Marie Gribrau Madeleine van Mansfeld Tiehan Zhang
Lin Zhong Qin Li Zhi Hong Chonghua Zhang Rinus van der Waart
Dong Xiao Ming Li Dong Hong Rik Olde Loohuis Franky Tai Tin Woei
Zhou Pei Zheng Wei Jan Broeze Henk van Duyn
Tang ke Xuan Qiu Zhong Hong Steef Buijs
Chen Jie Yan Gang Enrico Moens
Huang Guozhen Xing Jia Quan Henk van Latesteijn
143
144
Greenport Shanghai working papers no. 7
Working paper 7
6
TransForum
Louis Pasteurlaan 6
Better city, Better Agriculture, Better Life
2719 EE Zoetermeer
PO box 80
Greenport Shanghai
2700 AB Zoetermeer
The Netherlands
T 079 347 0910

F 079 347 0404
E [email protected]
I www.transforum.nl

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Greenport Shanghai working papers no.

T 079 347 0910

Authors: Wijnand Bruinsma

Transforum | Greenport Shanghai

3.5 Local context Chongming Island 27 5.5.2 Water Treatment 50

Transforum | Greenport Shanghai

Three coherent plans

Process oriented approach

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Demonstration, Trade, Production and Processing

Quality of the work landscape in hardware, software and orgware

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1.2 Instruction for reading

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2.1 Historical Perspectives of Agriculture in China.

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2.5 Wageningen University and Research.

2.7 Mission Statement

…….. If you don’t reach for the stars,

Transforum | Greenport Shanghai

Transforum | Greenport Shanghai

Entrepreneurship goes for profit

Fig 2 Interests of the key actors in participative planning

• Master planning (end 2006-May 2007),

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3.1 Six levels of connection

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3.4 Regional Context: Shanghai in the lower Yangtze Delta

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1. projected urban areas

Once the new bridges connecting Chongming

3.6 Local Context Dongtan area

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examples of sustainable development.

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3.7 Land use conditions

The Dongtan area is surrounded

River; the southern side opens

3.7.3 Water Quality

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4.1 General approach: from control planning to development policy

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4.2 Evaluation framework

To ensure the sustainable

86km2 under SIIC management

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The following characterization defines the central focus of each plan:

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Transforum | Greenport Shanghai

Fig 12 Sustainable development = Planet, People and Profit in

that are relevant to the evaluation of the performance

International Labour Organisation

Residential quality Quality of housing and dormitories

Criteria for Profit Indicator Value/Scale/ Improvement level Comment

Productivity Amount of value added in relation to capital, labour and land

Business size: number of employees

Ownership balance between state owned enterprises, local government