Alibaba Jiangnan Megalopolis: A Sustainable Dystopia

Abstract

In what ways can a culturally sustainable, eco-friendly and life-convenient city be dystopian, owing to corporate power and movement control? This thesis is an investigation of controlled societies, and of concepts of utopia, dystopia, and the dialectical relation between them. It proposes a design for a “self-sustaining dystopia” by manipulating the relationship between architecture, technology, capitalism, transportation, and people. The proposed site is the Shanghai region of China, more broadly known as the Jiangnan region (Yangtze River Delta). The research approach includes analysing the historical and current issues of the region, and scripting fictional dystopian stories based on real-life events, especially lockdowns and movement control during the Covid pandemic. It concludes with a design for an urban masterplan comprising several mini-projects, to demonstrate a self-sustaining dystopian metropolitan area in line with local Chinese stylistic characteristics and the traditional use of waterway/canal circulation. I re-imagine the power structure of the Jiangnan region of China in 2050, and how it might evolve from a more traditional CCP (Chinese Communist Party) government to become more controlled by a giant private corporation, the Alibaba Group. I imagine a city in which Alibaba builds a dystopian megalopolis that appears utopian through corporate greenwashing approaches, but controls its populace through movement regulation. Each of the mini-projects here is an architectural exploration of existing social issues in China to a greater or lesser extent, with user populations of all ages and the use of smart tech to improve the convenience and efficiency of people’s lives. At the same time, the traditional Jiangnan design language and the design logic of restoring the ecosystem are used in urban planning and architectural design to achieve both cultural and ecological sustainability. However, within this seemingly culturally sustainable, eco-friendly and life-convenient utopian city lies a social critique of corporate over-reach, technological over-reliance and class inequality. There is a Chinese saying, “ 金玉其外, 败絮其中 ”, which means “A rotten interior beneath a golden exterior”. This Alibaba Jiangnan Megalopolis is in fact a dystopia of social systems existing under a nice exterior. The project is inspired by the Shanghai Lockdown at the beginning of 2022, which had spread throughout the country until the end of the year. Therefore, the project is not a pure architectural design for the future but an exploration that uses architecture as a medium to make a social critique of the contemporary world.