Green Shanghai: a Sustainable Urban Model

Shanghai is a major industrial and commercial city in China, famous for being the global center of technology and culture. However, Shanghai is also famous for being World's leading city in Greenhouse gas emissions due to high reliance on fossil fuels. It releases about 275 million metric tons of Greenhouse gases yearly, causing severe air pollution. Shanghai also struggles with over population with people depending on natural resources. The intense urban sprawl and deforestation amplifies even more environmental pollution. All of these factors are leading to the degradation of Shanghai's biodiversity and natural landscape.

My project aimed to solve these major environmental crises in Shanghai by providing a vision for Shanghai as a sustainable city for the future. By creating an architectural model, I re-imagined and displayed what communities can transform into through sustainable solutions.

Through projects like this, I hope that city planners, architects and young students like me get inspired to adopt sustainable solutions and reduce pollution to create a healthier world.

1. Paper
2. Toothpicks
3. Glue
4. Ruler
5. Acrylic Paint
6. Tape
7. Markers
8. Cardboard
9. Any other materials you want to include on your city

Choose a site in the world with severe environmental problems. In my case, I chose Shanghai since it emits the highest amount of Greenhouse gases daily. If it is hard to choose one, it is okay to create your own site.

When you are choosing your site, think about the geography, environmental problems, their culture, and other important details that suit your vision for a sustainable city.

Imagine what solutions can be used to solve the problems. Think about how the site currently uses energy, water, food, housing, and transportation.. etc. and brainstorm ways to improve those factors. It's more practical if you research the actual problems of the site and real solutions that can be used.

As you brainstorm, sketch your ideas on paper, either if it's the view of your sustainable city from above or the type of buildings you want to build and more. For mine, I sketched out a blueprint of what my city is going to look like.

Start making the model first by creating a base. Use cardboard as a base, paint it and if your site has topographic features, stack cardboard and glue them together to create dimensions. Since Shanghai is relatively flat all throughout, I just added a single cardboard on the base. After you attach all cardboard with glue, paint them to make them look more like the site.

If you finished your base, you have to put something on it. Sustainable cities include green buildings, vegetation belts, renewable energy plants, water reservoirs, eco-friendly transportation and more. There are many ways to build these elements, but I mainly made mine with paper. most buildings were built like rectangular prisms with some special sustainable features. For example, I made a building with PV dyed solar panel facades that are transparent so it serves as both a renewable energy source and a commercial building. For transportation, I built elevated electric railways throughout the whole city to provide approachable and sustainable transportation for people. However, some buildings or structures might be too hard to make with just paper. So I used Tinkercad to model a windmill and 3d printed them. If you have the same problem, using programs like Tinkercad might help you too.

Here are some of the elements I included for Shanghai:

1. Windmills along the shoreline for renewable energy
2. Buildings with carbon sequestration devices on the walls
3. Green buildings with plants/trees attached on the facades or rooftops
4. Water reservoir that filters groundwater instead of using the water from Yangtze river
5. Agricultural towers for food

and there are many more.

It is also important to include nature in your model to preserve native species and promote a healthy city environment. I placed a lot of red dawn wood trees made with toothpicks and paper throughout the city to help with carbon sequestration.

Finally, use your imagination to give some variations to your designs. It doesn't necessarily have to be a design or a technology that exists. I incorporated many designs that are not just rectangular and boring. This will make your model appear more fun and engaging. Making an iconic building or monument like the Oriental pearl tower in Shanghai is a good idea too.

After you are done with making all your elements, attach them to the base with glue. Strategically placing the elements can be beneficial. For example, I put a lot of my trees near the Yangtze river and the buildings away from natural preserves so that the environment is protected and away from human activities. If you finished with attaching everything, you finished making your model.

By making your sustainable city model, you learned the importance of preserving nature and sustainable solutions for the future. You can take pictures and notes about your model and publish your work online or to a competition like me or show your model to your family to teach them about forming a better world for the future. Enjoy!