Teaching here in the UK, many of my students were form the Far East—China, Taiwan, Korea and Japan. Since I’ve never been to any of these countries, it’s always interesting to hear about projects my students worked on there or proposals they make. But I’ve not been a good source for them on where to look in their back yards for sustainable design examples.

So it’s interesting that some examples are starting to turn up on my radar.

One example is Treasure Hill (寶藏巖), an ecological corridor in Taipei. The Taipei City Government opened this 2,500-square-meter ecological corridor to the public recently.

Lauly Li, The China Post

The Corridor is designed to attract species from Chanchushan, a nearby mountain, and in turn increase species diversity and prevalence.

I also picked up an article (Global Times) suggesting that, on the social sustainability front, China is ramping up “elderly-friendly” design of buildings and public places.

These are of course just two small examples from a vast area. Maybe you’re reading this from someplace in the Far East–what new or lesser know examples would you suggest? Perhaps you’ve visited the regions and have some suggestions. Let us know in the comments.

And how do you handle feedback on projects where you are not familiar with the physical and cultural context?

As always, if you find these posts useful, share with colleagues.