Output details

Chengdu 5th Ring Smart City Incubator

Chengdu is a rapidly expanding city in the West of China, which is the site of manufacture of many products for the West. The rapid industrialisation in Chengdu typifies the problem of rural/urban conflict seen in China as a whole and the city has a concentric structure of ‘rings’, the 4th ring is a ‘Green Ring’, the 5th is planned as a motorway. This new infrastructure and accompanying investment has the potential to be a catalyst for related projects and become a ‘Smart City Incubator’ - a test-bed and greenhouse for Smart City pilot projects (eg. Low-carbon projects).

After initial contact and testing with the chief planner of Chengdu, an installation was designed for the Chengdu Biennale 2012, researched and coordinated by Raoul Bunschoten and CHORA with TU Berlin and LMU. Aimed at a larger public, the installation consisted of a table with dice marked with components of the Taiwan Strait Smart Region toolbox (see output 1) that people could play with. On the walls next to the model two projections demonstrated what could happen if a real toolbox was applied to Chengdu as a whole and how Chinese government targets could be reached. In all 350,000 people came and played with the model over the summer. CCTV also attended, and filmed some of the actions for Chinese national television.

The dice and icons represent new technologies, pilot projects, and energy reducing strategies. Visitors/game-players can make combinations, or hybrid projects. As they do so, they see the projections on the wall showing how the introduction of their hybrid projects will affect the performance of the city. The game is a demonstration that involving local communities with decision-making enables positive change in the city, and the general public are happy knowing they are part of the planning and development process. The installation is a didactic tool, both for the general public and for city stakeholders and decision makers.