Utah - Wuxi Partnership
UTIER is working with the City of Wuxi to build a model green city. Built 3000 years ago, the City of Wuxi was the capital of the ancient Kingdom of Wu and sits on the shores of Taihu, the third largest freshwater lake in China. Taihu is a major source of freshwater and one of the most scenic and culturally significant landmarks in China. Wuxi has experienced rapid economic development and its per capita GDP is ¥73,053 (ca. US$10,689), which is nearly twice as high as the average per capita GDP in China. In 2009, Forbes magazine ranked Wuxi as the second best city in China for business.
This rapid economic development has helped raise the standard of living for millions of people residing in the Wuxi municipal area, however, development has also resulted in unintended environmental consequences. In 2007 high levels of pollution produced algal blooms on Lake Taihu, this left millions of Wuxi residents without access to drinking water and required national crisis assistance to resolve. This event was a turning point in the Chinese government’s environmental policy and was a key factor in the establishment of UTIER.
The Wuxi Municipal Government, UTIER and the State of Utah are working together to clean up the environment in Wuxi and prevent another ecological disaster. UTIER has facilitated the licensing of a technology from the University of Utah by the city of Wuxi for land remediation. This technology is currently being used in a demonstration project, transforming a polluted industrial area into a site that is clean and safe for redevelopment.
