The Liuzhou Forest City, being built in southern China, is not only designed to house people and companies but also to help tackle the country’s ongoing air pollution crisis. The foliage is expected to absorb 57 tonnes of airborne pollutants, and produce around 900 tonnes of oxygen each year. The city is designed by Italian architect Stefano Boeri and will host a population of 30,000 people, 40,000 trees and almost 1 million plants of more than 100 species.
The announcement comes just a few months after plans for Asia’s first ‘vertical forest’ skyscrapers were approved in Nanjing city, by the same architect. The new city’s sustainability doesn´t end at improving local air quality; buildings will be cooled using geothermal energy and powered by rooftop solar panels. It is said that up to 10,000 tonnes of CO2 will be absorbed from the atmosphere every year by the city. Construction of the ‘city of trees’ is set to be complete by 2020.