The Chinese government commissioned Cradle-to-Cradle's founders to develop housing for half a billion Chinese people in the coming 12 years. China is in the midst of the greatest urban migration in human history. The population of China's cities and new towns will increase by 350-400 million people in the coming two and a half decades. The design and development pattern of these new towns and their use of materials, energy and water as well as their impacts on farmland, habitat and the quality of the environment will have a profound impact on the future of China and the entire planet.

At the moment seven Cradle-to-Cradle cities are being developed in which new archtiecture and urban developments are applied. The designs for the new towns comprise the following:

• Maximize social engagement and community
• Treat water as a precious resource;
• Restore habitat and biodiversity;
• Effectively leverage the scarce land available for development;
• Promote alternative technologies through the economy of scale available in China;
• Create an urban structure that promotes walking and healthy activities;
• Improve the quality of storm water leaving the site;
• Use biological resources to build and restore soil quality;
• Optimize the use of the sun and wind as primary fuel sources;
• Respect the qualities of the land in each unique place.

 China can set an example to the rest of the world. McDonough: "If China could use its ability to mass-produce things at very low cost, then allow local communities to access their abundance or resources in healthy, delightful ways, that's a gift that China can give the rest of us, and we'll be very happy to outsource the production."

For more information about Cradle-to-Cradle projects in architecture and urban development, http://www.mcdonoughpartners.com/