China to build first 'forest city' to tackle air pollution
China is to build its first "forest city" in Liuzhou by 2020, with 1 million plants and 40,000 trees, to tackle air pollution. It was designed by Italian architect Stefani Boeri, who was the creator of vertical skyscraper forests in Milan. The idea behind the southern China city is to challenge the thought that urban living worsens air pollution, by making a blueprint for a city that integrates plants into its construction to take CO2 and fine dust out of the atmosphere and emit oxygen into it. The city is expected to have about 30,000 inhabitants and is planned to run on green energy.
M ore than a million people die every year from air pollution in China, but now the country is fighting back with innovative solutions.

This is Italian architect Stefano Boeri’s colossal ‘forest city’ scheme - a newly built metropolis that will ‘eat’ its own toxic smog with one million plants and 40,000 trees.

The idea is to challenge preconceptions that urban density intensifies air pollution, by creating a new blueprint for city design that integrates plants into its construction.

100 different species of plants are planned to grow on balconies and roofs of the city’s skyscrapers, lining 175 hectares along the Liujiang River in Southern China.

Stefano Boeri Architetti

Once completed, the shrubs will breathe in fine dust from the air, catching and soaking up pollutants from the toxic environment.

When the city is fully grown, it will be able to absorb almost 10,000 tons of CO2, 57 tons of pollutants per year and produce approximately 900 tons of oxygen annually.

The new green city in Liuzhou will reportedly host 30,000 people, with hospitals, schools and fast electic rail services all part of the construction.

The project was commissioned by the Liuzhou Municipality Urban Planning and will be constructed in the north of Liuzhou along the Liujiang river.

The construction of the green-city-in-the-making is currently underway and will be finished by 2020.

Stefano Boeri Architetti

Occupying 432 acres, the Liuzhou Forest City will be roughly half of the size of the Central Park in New York.

There are also plans to fit geothermal and solar energy resources, so the city runs on a green and self-sustainable power source.

Stefano Boeri Architetti

Boeri, who has previously designed two vertical skyscraper ‘forests’ in Milan, said: “The diffusion of plants, not only in the parks and gardens or along the streets, but also over building facades, will allow the energy self-sufficient city to contribute to improve the air quality (absorbing both CO2 and fine dust of 57 tons per year), to decrease the average air temperature, to create noise barriers and to improve the biodiversity of living species, generating the habitat for birds, insects and small animals that inhabit the Liuzhou territory.”

If successful, the forest city could be a blueprint for other countries where air pollution is an issue.

There may also be a second forest city' in the works, reports The Guardian, this time in northern China near Shijiazhuang - one of the most polluted regions in the country.