ABSTRACT
The highly successful 2010 Shanghai World Expo is now over. Its theme, “Better City, Better Life”, has catalyzed the concept of ‘eco-city’, a human settlement that enables its residents to attain a high standard of living, while minimizing expenditure of natural resources. 1 For many rapidly developing cities, it is important for governors, planners, builders and inhabitants to understand the core philosophy of the eco-city, that is, to rebuild or improve existing cities to attain a balance with nature based on principles for long-term ecological sustainability, cultural vitality and the health of the Earth’s biosphere. This concept has to be embodied in many aspects of the city management: the buildings, the transport system, industry, the economy, cultural vitality, the state of the urban natural environment and biodiversity.
