Inside China’s Plan For A Massive Forest-Covered City
Architect Stefano Boeri designed tree-covered skyscrapers in Milan. Now he’s doing a lot more in Liuzhou, China.
Liuzhou, an industrial city in southern China, looks like a typical modern Chinese metropolis, filled with concrete high-rises and often shrouded in smog. But the city’s newest district, in planning now, will be different: Every building, from schools to office and apartment towers, will be covered in trees and plants.
Called “Forest City,” the area–roughly half the size of Central Park–will be home to 30,000 people, 40,000 trees, and nearly 1 million plants. It’s similar to a design first realized in Milan–where the project’s architect, Stefano Boeri, completed two tree-covered skyscrapers in 2014–but at a much larger scale.
The design also helps fight climate change close to a source of pollution. Cities are responsible for around three-quarters of the world’s carbon emissions. “Forests are absorbing 35-40% of that CO2,” says Boeri. “So the idea to move forests inside the city…it’s a way to meet the enemy in its field.”
Chez Froggie 