As the economic center of China, Shanghai has a population of twenty million. The city develops at an incredibly fast speed. The buildings are growing into the sky. Highways were built layer by layer. Studies show that, in 30 years, the tallest building will reach 1500m high. At that moment, more functions will be applied on the skyscrapers. Building complexes become what communities or entire neighbourhoods are today. People spend most of their time living and working inside (and hopefully nature can find the space to grow closer to them).
To me this development brought out the question: How will people communicate between buildings? And how will they transport efficiently in the vertical city?
Geely Sooyun is a future air taxi for Shanghai in 2060.
The concept is mainly inspired by the needs of future business travellers, who already account for one-third of the worldwide tourists today. Comparing with other groups of people, business travellers have higher requirements for efficiency and flying taxis would meet their need. Instead of taking an elevator to get to the ground and jamming in crowded traffic, Geely Sooyun offers another option, an efficient flying service between buildings.
First of all, it has an average speed of 200 km/h. Passengers can reach destinations that are as far as 60 kilometres away in only 15 minutes. An air journey like this would save time for other activities and plans.
In addition, to give people a better experience, full-size windows with electrochromic material are designed on both sides of the cabin. People can enjoy the beautiful scenery from the top of the city. With the simple touch of a button found on the armchair, the glass will shift its transparency and create a private space.
What’s more, passengers can share images and videos by connecting the electronic devices with the holographic projector inside the cabin. This produces a unique experience when communicating with other passengers during the journey.
Something very unique about this concept is that, unlike airplanes and helicopters used for air taxi nowadays, Sooyun can slide into the preparation hall before and after landing, achieving a convenient boarding and disembarking experience for passengers.
Sooyun vertiports are built on the roofs of the buildings or set next to a transportation hub, such as airports and railway stations. Similar to the subway station, vertiports can be found within 10 kilometers.
