China to create world’s first city of trees

BEIJING (Feb 15): An Italian architect has developed a novel idea for dealing with the country’s pollution and smog problems with plans to build the first “forest city”.

According to the Daily Mail, the Liuzhou Forest City will be home to 30,000 people once completed in a few years’ time.

Offices, houses, hotels, hospitals and schools will be covered by one million plants of 100 species and 40,000 trees will be planted. They will absorb almost 10,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide and 57 tonnes of pollutants per year and produce around 900 tonnes of oxygen. 

The city will be built in the north of Liuzhou in the mountainous area of Guangxi, south China, in an area that covers 175ha along the Liujiang river.

It will connect to Liuzhou with a rail line and roads for electric cars.

There will be various residential areas, commercial and recreational spaces, two schools and a hospital, said the British newspaper.

Houses will have air-conditioning powered by geothermal energy and solar-panelled roofs.

The project commissioned by Liuzhou Municipality Urban Planning is designed by Stefano Boeri Architetti.

Plants and trees will decrease the average air temperature and create noise barriers. Building begins in 2020.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on Feb 15, 2018.

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