Shanghai summer school explores historic waterfront

A summer school, which brought together more than 150 students and faculty members from China's Tongji University and Spain's Polytechnic University of Catalonia in Shanghai for two weeks to explore new ideas for Shanghai's Fuxing Island, a historic waterfront area known for its industrial heritage, closed on Friday.

Involving more than 100 students and teachers from Spain, one of the largest educational exchange groups from Spain to China in recent years, the event concluded with awards recognizing the most innovative proposals, which focused on digital technology, creative design, and cultural continuity, respectively.

Under the theme "Quantum City", nine interdisciplinary teams composed of students and teachers from both countries had proposed diverse concepts during the summer school jointly hosted by Shanghai's Yangpu district government, the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Planning and Natural Resources, Tongji University, and UPC.

Experts commented that many of their ideas focused on the continuity of history and culture, attempting to connect the past, present and future of Fuxing Island. While emphasizing on maintaining the identity of the island itself, their plans also strengthened the communication between Fuxing Island and Pudong, a district east of the Huangpu River, as well as Puxi, on the west, playing its role in the overall urban structure of Shanghai.

Antonio Romero Sánchez, an engineering student specializing in industrial design and product development from UPC, said his team envisioned Fuxing Island as "clean, user-centered and known by people." He explained that their proposal aimed to provide reasons for tourists and other visitors to come to the island, beyond simply building houses and infrastructure.

Peng Rui, a first-year master's student of architecture at Tongji University, collaborated with five Spanish teammates to design a comprehensive digital platform enabling real-time data collection, transport management and smart facility booking. 

"Working with peers from Barcelona was inspiring. They were always patient and supportive, which rendered me confident in engaging in international environments."

Yang Jinlong, president of Tongji University, said: "We are delighted to see young people from China and Spain working together with innovative thinking to propose solutions for the development of Fuxing Island. We hope their efforts will contribute to building a better city and a more harmonious world". 

Sun Shan, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Planning and Natural Resources, said the authorities will transform these golden ideas into physical results. 

Adrián Gutiérrez, head of the science and technology department at the Embassy of Spain in China, said, "The program was more than an academic exchange. It was a cross-cultural dialogue that offered solutions to global challenges". 

Zhang Yifan contributed to this story.