CONSTRUCTION of a greenways network will be initiated at eight sites on Tree-Planting Day, which falls on March 12. The first-phase project demonstration section is expected to open in time for the May Day holiday.
The city will spend 500 million yuan ($73.2 million) this year building 300km of regional, urban and community greenways featuring ecological, field and urban types, it was announced at a greenway network conference last Tuesday.
The goal is “basically completed within one year, functionally useful within the second year and matured within the third year,” a spokesperson said.
The 300km greenway will include the 80km No1 and No4 Provincial Greenway Zhuhai sections and 220km urban, district and community greenways. The planning of the provincial, urban, district and industrial zones greenways will be completed by the end of this month while the overall plan of the city’s greenway network must be finished by the end of May.
The city will be responsible for construction of provincial greenways while the districts will construct urban and community greenways.
A leadership group is responsible for preparation, guidance and supervision of the construction.
According to the preliminary scheme, No1 and No4 Regional Greenway Zhuhai sections will pass through mountain, river, scenic, park, field and water town areas.
The No1 Regional Greenway Zhuhai Section will run along the Viewing Macao Platform in Gongbei, Lovers Avenue, GoTone Building, Jiuzhou Port, Haibin Beach, Zhuhai Fisher Maiden, Yeli Island, Haitian Park, Yinkeng, Sun Yat-sen University Zhuhai Campus, Shikeng Hill reclamation area, Old Tangjia Town, Gangwan Avenue, Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT) Zhuhai Campus floodway, Guangzhou-Zhuhai Intercity MRT Jintang Station, Beijing Normal University Zhuhai Campus, Huitong Village, Qiguan Road, Big Jinding Park, Zhongzhu Channel, Xiazha Checkpoint and others.
South section of the line, mainly on Lovers Avenue, will connect 17 urban zones such as Jiangjun Mountain Park, Haibin Park, Haitian Park, Fenghuang Mountain and Banzhang Mountain whereas the north section will access 16 urban zones including historical sites, plus scientific and technological parks in Tangjiawan.
The No4 Regional Greenway Zhuhai Section will service Imperial Hot Springs in Doumen District, Doumen Village, Huangyang Avenue, Doumen No1 Middle School, Baijiao Town and Xili Bridge. The line will feature mountainous, filed and riverside slow ways highlighting natural landscape such as Huangyang Mountain, Huangyang River, waterside town, fish ponds, farmland, suburbs and villages.
The 4km No1 Greenway demonstration section from Haitian Park to Yeli Island is to come under construction this month. Apart from the slow-way system, support service facilities initially named Haitian Station equipped with toilet, shop, information centre, bicycle stall and so on will be built. In addition, trees will be planted to enrich the green corridor.
Greenway refers to an interconnected network of off-road human transportation corridors. It is known that Guangdong will take three years to construct six regional greenways up to 1,678km, and two will be located in Zhuhai with a total length of 77km.
The 298km No1 Greenway from Zhaoqing to the Viewing Macao Platform in Gongbei via Foshan, Guangzhou and Zhongshan will serve a population of 5.81 million.
The 216km No4 Greenway from Guangzhou to Imperial Hot Spring in Doumen via Foshan and Zhongshan, will serve 5.65 million.
2010 is the first year for the Pearl River Delta (PRD) to start construction of a greenways network. Guangdong will take three years to construct 1,690km of six regional greenways, two of which will pass through Zhuhai and the other three leading to Shenzhen and other cities in the province.
The No2 Regional Greenway from Zengcheng to Bao’an District in Shenzhen will have a total length of 470km on the east bank of Pearl River.
The No3 Regional Greenway from Guangzhou to Huizhou will run across the Pearl River Delta with total length reaching 360km.
The north-south No5 Regional Greenway from Huizhou to Shenzhen will run 50km in the eastern part of the PRD.
A spokesperson said construction of the six regional greenways in the Pearl River Delta is a key project that the provincial government hopes to expand the market demand in Guangdong and to build the region into a more-liveable community.
Greenways
According to dgtoday.com.cn, a greenway is a long, narrow piece of land, often used for recreation, pedestrian and bicycle traffic and sometimes includes multiple transportation (streetcars, light rail) or retail uses. The land may be newly developed, but usually it is redeveloped, having been formerly occupied by a railroad, highway, or other transportation route. Many greenways in urban centres or developed areas are linear parks. Greenways often are defined by municipal governments as having the following characteristics: vegetated, linear, and multi-purpose.
(ZD News)
