A new city near Beijing featuring wooden apartment blocks, rooftop farms and renewable energy is being designed with drone-friendly terraces and ample space from which to work at home in case of future pandemic outbreaks, its chief architect said.
Barcelona-based Guallart Architects last month won a contest to design a community in Xiong’an, a new city promoted by Chinese President Xi Jinping as “a new standard in the post-Covid era” that can also be applied elsewhere.
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China is building a new ‘smart’ city that is COVID-proof as well as designed to prevent any future Pandemics.
The apartment blocks in the city of Xiong’an, to be built outside Beijing, will be such that residents will be able to continue their activities even during the lockdown.
Each flat will have a large balcony that will provide outdoor access and the office areas will be large enough to maintain social distance.
China will scale up measures to spur the growth of the digital economy to inject new impetus into the economy and foster high-quality development, said officials at a major forum during the weekend.
Xiao Yaqing, minister of industry and information technology, said on Saturday the ministry will make a big push to promote digital industrialization and industrial digitalization in the next step.
A few years ago, “smart city” was a new concept in Hong Kong. However, in recent years, it has become widely known as more people join in the discussions and practices. There are many good examples: the Common Operational Picture developed by the Civil Engineering and Development Department facilitates government departments to formulate emergency plans with maps on various aspects integrated with the latest information to monitor the situation when a typhoon hits Hong Kong. The interactive map dashboard which tracks local COVID-19 epidemic and presents the latest information in a one-stop manner is also a good illustration. It enables the citizens to get the information at a glance. Since its launch in early February this year, the number of visits by the public has exceeded 30 million, showing a wide acceptance.
Read more: CN: Hong Kong: How Environmental Protection Department uses smart technology
A health code developed in this province for epidemic control amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the Suishen code, now has a new role as the city is promoting it in more life scenarios including commuting, medical services, government services, employment and fitness, Shanghai authorities announced.
Supported by big data technology, the code is carried by Suishenban, the mobile end of the city’s one-stop online-offline services. In some scenarios, it is now used as proof of personal identification.
Read more: CN: Shanghai: ‘Suishen code’ big help in fitness, employment