Beginning in 2006, a new urban district, Qunli New Town, in the size of 2733 Hectares, was planned to be developed at the east outskirt of Haerbin City of North China. 32 million square meters of buildings will be constructed in 13-15 years. More than one third of a million population are expected to live here. While only about 16.4% of the developable land was zoned as permeable green space, the majority of the former flat plain will be covered with impermeable concrete. While the annual rainfall of this area is 567mm and concentrated in June through August (account for 60-70% of annual precipitation). Flood and water log were frequent in history for this area. Turenscape was commissioned to design a park of 34.2Hetares, a former wetland but been surrounded at four side by roads and dense development. Water sources for this former wetland has been cut, and the wetland is under the threat of disappear. Turenscape’s strategy is to transform the dying wetland into an urban storm water park, which will provide multiple ecosystems services for the new community. The result is a great success.
