Exploring Future Urban Public Spaces with 'Smartscape Roaming'

The 2025 Shanghai Urban Space Art Season opened its Jing'an exhibition, "Smartscape Roaming: Jing'an Shibei Future City Public Art Site," on Friday.

The show, running through December 24 at the Shibei International Science and Technology Innovation Community in Jing'an District, explores the future of city public spaces through interactive art.

The former industrial site now serves as a hub for high-tech research. Curated by academic director Jin Jiangbo and curator Zhang Chenglong, the exhibition transforms the area into a "city laboratory," inviting visitors to experience the intersection of art, technology, and history.

More than 20 works are on display, spanning public art, illustration, urban furniture, and interactive installations.

Visitors engage with pieces such as "Re:Generations – A New Prologue," where past and present dialogue through industrial relics, and "Whispers of the Magnolia," which responds to breath and gestures to bloom Shanghai's city flower digitally.

Other installations include Space O: Singular Space, The Sevenfold Superposition and Rambling Zephyr, blending technology, nature, and imagination.

A highlight of the exhibition is its collaboration with Himalaya, a major audio platform based in the neighborhood.

The partnership integrates science, technology, and art, using sound as a medium to connect online content with the offline exhibition.

The exhibition also links with five nearby technology venues that show visitors the artificial intelligence, blockchain and algorithmic technologies behind the artworks.

The final installation, hosted in the Himalaya enterprise building, converts globally collected sound data into a local interactive artwork, demonstrating how digital culture can reflect local identity.

If you go:

Dates: Through December 24

Admission: Free

Venue: Shibei International Science and Technology Innovation Community 静安国际科创社区

Address: 3201 Gonghexin Road, Jing'an District

静安区共和新路3201号