The Future Is (Literally) Green -- China Is Building The World’s First Forest City

China is about to turn the concrete jungle on its head with the world's first "Forest City."

As reported in Futurism, the city is currently under construction in Liuzhou, Guangxi Province.

The city will soon be home to more than 30,000 people and nearly one million plants, including a covering canopy of trees. The Liuzhou Forest City will be a fully functional community, complete with apartments, two schools, public parks, and a hospital.

With more than 100 species of plants and 40,000 trees, it is estimated that the forest will absorb 10,000 tons of carbon dioxide and 57 tons of pollutants per year while producing nearly 900 tons of oxygen.

"We have been asked to design an entire city where you don't only have one tall building but you have 100 or 200 buildings of different sizes, all with trees and plants on the facades," said Stefano Boeri, lead architect of the project, in an interview with the Guardian. "I think they will start to build at the end of this year."

Snaking along the Liujiang River, Liuzhou Forest City will not only help to improve local air quality and decrease the average air temperature, but it will generate new habitats and create noise barriers.

Architect Boeri's website describes the city as an "innovative urban settlement will combine the challenge for energy self-sufficiency and for the use of renewable energy with the challenge to increase biodiversity and to effectively reduce air pollution in urban areas."

The design team is expected to finish the city by 2020. As for the future, Boeri says there may be more forest cities to come.

"We think -- and we hope -- that this idea of vertical forests can be replicated everywhere. I absolutely have no problem if there are people who are copying or replicating. I hope that what we have done can be useful for other kinds of experiments."