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Low Carbon City

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Shenzhen Center for Design. ALCCA parallel research Grant. China. Team: Ming Tang, Chris Auffrey, Xinhao Wang, Mingming Lu, Zhou Yan. Students: Desai Sagar, Reinersman Michael, Davis Seth, Block Olga. 2015

Low Carbon City. Shenzhen Center for Design. ALCCA parallel research Grant. China. RMB 50,000 ($8,069) PI: Tang.  Co-PI: Auffrey, C., Wang, X., Lu, M. 2015

This academic research project is organized by the Shenzhen Center for Design and conducted in parallel to the Alternatives for Low Carbon City and Architecture (ALCCA) planning and design competition. This research project brings together professors, researchers, and students from multiple international universities from the region and around the world: Shenzhen University, University of Hong Kong, Columbia University, University of Cincinnati, the University of Syracuse, and Harvard University. Each research team is tasked to produce one ‘User’s Manual’ about specific topics involved in the planning, design, and implementation of low-carbon urban development. These ‘Manuals’ aim to provide substantiated knowledge and innovative ideas for the discussion of the environmental, economic, social, and cultural issues surrounding low carbon projects in Shenzhen and the rest of the world.

Web Applications

  • Energy summary
  • Transportation CO2 Emission
  •  Building C02 Emission

The goal of this research is to construct a relational model allowing developers to better understand the complex relationships among various urban parameters such as population, density, carbon emission, car usage, development intensity, zoning, and energy consumption. The use of dynamic/parametric modeling has allowed us to compare the advantages and disadvantages of underground, surface, and vertical development, as well as different transportation and building densities and coverages, and to propose an optimal strategy for new infrastructure development and land use. We believe the great challenge for the PINGDI1.1 project is to create evaluation systems that can quantify various parameters of the urban built environment, and ensure a low carbon lifestyle for all residents through various scenarios including iterative proposals on urban infrastructure, land use, building programs, waste management, renewable energy and transportation systems.

Step 1: Construct measurable Low carbon indicators
Low carbon indicators from various aspects were proposed. These indicators will be very helpful in establishing an eco-city performance monitoring system for the low-carbon city. Step 2: Construct Assumptions
Quantifiable Relationships were established based on the following assumptions of the PINGDI low carbon city starting zone.

  • Population density
  • Industrial space requirement
  • Carbon emission per employee by industry (ton/person) 
  • Energy consumption rates per area by industry sector (J/sq.m.)
  • Commercial/office space requirement (square meters per employee):
    • Residential
    • Energy consumption rate per residential area (J/sq.m.)
    • Carbon emission rate per residential area (ton/sq.m)
    • Water consumption
    • Wastewater generation
    • Municipal waste generation
  • Stormwater runoff
      • Proportion impervious area
  • Automobile carbon emission rate (ton/km)
    • Assumption of surface parking
  • Transit carbon emission rate (ton/km)
  • Percentage by travel modes
  • Total distance traveled per person (km)
  • Carbon sequestration rates (ton/sq.m)

Step 3: Construct site database

A digital model of the PINGDI site is constructed using advanced parametric modeling tools, which include block and building.  Street network, Land use type by block, FAR, Building height, Building use type, and other parameters will be coded into the database allowing further computing. Three scenarios named high-density development, mid-density development, and low-density development were constructed.

4. Scenario-based analysis

We offer a brief discussion of each concept below along with example illustrations of their application. The parametric modeling results are analyzed based on low-carbon city criteria related to various services including school, healthcare, recreation, commercial, and parks.

Conclusion

The conclusions are made based on the analysis of various scenarios based on the GIS scenario 360 program in the relation to the low carbon planning methods. Final Report 

The project is also featured in my book chapter. 
Tang, M.  Innovative Tools. Data-Driven Landscapes. Edited by Jonathon Anderson, Daniel Ortega. Innovations in Landscape Architecture. Routledge. ISBN: 1072954 UK. 2016.

Milan 2030

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TYA Design proposal for Milan 2030 was exhibited in Milan 17-30 June 2010. Besides my firm, totally 15 well-known international design firms including MAD ( China), Guglielmo Mozzoni Architetto, Degli Esposti Architetti, AZ studio di, Rojkind Arcquitectos, BplusU, Ian + , Congoritme, NuMi Studio, Michele Moreno Architetto, Studio Shift, Void_7, Fraschini-Melgrati-Tonoli, Mystic Brain Region were invited to join this great design team organized by AUFO and PGT 2010.

Our Proposal was exhibited in Milan 17-30 June 2010. Besides my firm, totally 15 well-known international design firms such as MAD, Guglielmo Mozzoni Architetto, Degli Esposti Architetti, AZ studio di, Rojkind Arcquitectos, BplusU, Ian + , Congoritme, NuMi Studio, Michele Moreno Architetto, Studio Shift, Void_7, Fraschini-Melgrati-Tonoli, Mystic Brain Region were invited to join this great design team organized by AUFO and PGT 2010.

Urban Paleontology

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Book:  Urban Paleontology: Evolution of Urban Forms

This book grew out of my graduate thesis at Tsinghua University, under the guidance of Professor Zhu Wenyi in 1997-2000. I am especially grateful for the influence of Mario Gandelsonas and his book Urban Text (1992), which helped shape the early thinking behind this work.

The book introduces Urban Paleontology, an interdisciplinary approach to studying urban form by examining the “remains” of cities—what we describe as “urban fossils.” It brings together ideas from architecture, urban design, and computer-aided spatial analysis to better understand how cities evolve.

Through case studies in Beijing and Savannah, the research explores how this perspective can help us read urban history and inform future development.

Co-authored with Dihua Yang. Published by Universal-Publishers, Boca Raton, Florida, 2008

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Cites with Soul

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The first place, Cities with Soul – The Urban Design Competition, British Council, U.K. 1998

This “Baita Temple neighborhood design” project was developed during my architecture graduate studies at Tsinghua University in 1998, in collaboration with a talented team of fellow students, including Li Fu, Fu Xin, Yali Song, Christoph, and others, under the guidance of Professors Zhang Jie and Wang Lifang.

We were deeply honored to receive this recognition through a program associated with the British Council, and to have the opportunity to engage with international exchanges in the UK.

Looking back, this project marked an early exploration across both architectural and urban design scales, with a focus on sustainability and cultural preservation—an experience that has continued to inform my work ever since.

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair presented the First Prize to Ming Tang, Beijing, China, 1998.