BEIJING, Nov. 21, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) and Jiaxing Alliance Development Corp. are pleased to announce that Nanhu Country Village was awarded the inaugural Prize for Cities of the Future by the Paulson Institute and the China Center for International Economic Exchanges. SOM completed the Nanhu Country Village Master Plan in 2011 in collaboration with SWA Group, Sherwood Design Engineers, and AECOM Economics. The Prize for Cities of the Future recognizes Nanhu Country Village as a leading sustainability project in China that offers a creative and effective solution for ecological development. SOM's Plan integrates modern agricultural techniques with sustainable infrastructure for a 21st-century livable community. The Plan reorganizes farms so that the new village can increase in density without putting stress on farmland. More than 700 hectares of the 1,100 hectare site will be maintained as working farms with produce to help feed the nearly 80 million residents of the region's mega cities: Shanghai, Hangzhou and Suzhou. In addition to improving agricultural productivity, the Master Plan improves water quality by removing dead-end canals and developing a system of terraced bio-swales and wetlands that filter and cleanse wastewater. Phase 1 of the organic farm has been in operation for two years. Built with sustainable farming methods and new technologies, the farm is also running training programs for a new generation of farmers. Phase 1 housing development broke ground in September 2013.
