If, like me, you ever played SimCity games, you know the adrenaline rush that comes from building an entire city from scratch. Well, architect Alejandro Gutierrez got to play SimCity lifesize style! The name of the city? Dongtan, a green metropolis built from scratch on the outskirsts of bustling Shanghai.
The aim of the developpers, Arup, is to make this city with a capacity of 50,000 people completely self-sustainable and carbon neutral - focusing on zero energy building, recycling, alternative energy and mass transportation systems, to name but a few of the innovative methods it incorporates. And this is only the first out of a total of 4 such eco-cities Arup has planned to build in China. It carries a price tag of US$ 1.3 billion.
It's good news but no surprise that China has chosen to go down this path, because as its economy shows no signs of slowing down in the near future, the environment will inevitably be the first victim of this unprecedented boom. Of course, a project of this magnitude is also only possible in a highly controlled environment where the government can impose its vision where it wishes (the SimMayor's dream).
