Yang Shuhan (middle) poses for a group with two foreign guests at the 2018 Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC). [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Residence blocks built on programming, parks equipped with IoT (internet of things) based monitoring devices, transportation tools connected by data, goods delivered via unmanned delivery services and access to medical treatment without going to hospital……

This is the vision of what a future smart city will look like in the eyes of Yang Shuhan, an 11-year-old student from Zhoushan, East China's Zhejiang province, as she depicted at the 2018 Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC) recently held in Barcelona, Spain. 

The creative design, as well as the city model she made with three classmates, impressed many foreign guests at the expo, including city mayors from Spain, Canada and Britain. 

As the youngest guest invited, Yang was also the first student exhibitor ever seen in the history of the expo, and the first exhibitor who brought a handmade exhibit.

Born in Jiangxi province, Yang came to Zhoushan with her parents at nearly 1 year old, and is currently a grade six student at the Zhoushan Bilingual School of ASTEM, a bilingual school co-established by the Education Bureau of Putuo district and the education company China Future Education. 

Under the guidance of her teacher, Yang and her classmates made the model based on many scientific and cultural studies, as well as field surveys of the city. The model features various kinds of shells and colors of blue and white, reflecting the marine culture of the city. 

"We integrate medical care, education, entertainment and catering in our design, so that people can enjoy a smart life driven by technologies at home," said Yang, adding that various sustainable energy solutions are included in the design.        

In Yang's view, current cities are possessed with smart technology that people in the past dreamed about, and it is her dream that her design for a smart city may also come true in the future. 

SCEWC, initiated in 2011 in Barcelona, has been held for eight years. Focusing on intelligent technologies and sustainable development, it has become a high-end exchange platform for companies, public institutions and research organizations in the world.

The 2018 Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC) recently held in Barcelona, Spain [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Yang Shuhan (right) explains her design to foreign guests at the expo. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]