On the southern coast of Guangdong Province, Shenzhen, a metropolis of more than 17 million people, is often introduced to the world through the lens of speed—its rapid rise from a fishing village to a global innovation hub in roughly 40 years has come to symbolize China’s feat of modernization. Towering skyscrapers, bustling tech parks and a thriving manufacturing environment have long defined the city’s public image. Yet behind this well-known image of hyper-growth lies another, quieter transformation.

Over the past two decades, China has built an increasingly comprehensive policy framework that links carbon emissions reduction with economic restructuring, energy security and technological upgrading. Complementing it are targeted initiatives that include emissions trading pilots, renewable energy quotas and rapidly expanding investment in green technology solutions such as electric vehicles, rechargeable batteries and the generation of renewable energy.

As the country steps up its climate governance ambitions, Shenzhen has emerged as a major testing ground for low-carbon urban development. Its pilot near-zero carbon emissions projects showcase a different side of this metropolis—one where sustainability, technological innovation and environmental stewardship are becoming just as central to its identity as entrepreneurial speed.

A community in bloom

In 2021, Dameisha Community in Yantian District was the first in Shenzhen to become a near-zero carbon community. A near-zero carbon community is a place where energy use is highly efficient and emissions from daily life and industrial processes are significantly reduced or eliminated, often through the use of renewable energy sources like solar panels.

Before starting the transformation, Dameisha Community conducted a baseline assessment, which showed per-capita carbon emissions of 680 kg per year. The community then set an ambitious target: to reduce this figure to 400 kg within three years, meaning each individual living or working there would be limited to just 1.1 kg of carbon emissions per day by 2024. To achieve this steep cut, Dameisha Community has adopted a multi-pronged approach.

Inside Vanke Center in Dameisha Community, headquarters of Vanke Co. Ltd., a leading real estate developer in China, there’s a distinctive food waste processing station.

Instead of noisy machines or unpleasant odors, the station is filled with rows of neatly arranged breeding cabinets filled with black soldier fly larvae. The larvae are part of an organic recycling system mainly based on biological treatment methods to achieve complete on-site resource recovery of the community’s kitchen waste. By integrating composting technologies, the system enables efficient recycling of organic matter, significantly reducing carbon emissions and enhancing soil carbon sequestration.

The tiny larvae thrive on kitchen scraps: Starting at just a millimeter long, they can grow dramatically in only eight days and devour food waste far heavier than themselves. The facility handles around 200 kg of food waste each day.

The breeding cycle starts with adult flies laying eggs, which hatch into larvae. After kitchen waste is sorted, drained and crushed, it’s placed into a black soldier fly processing pit. The larvae then get to work, turning organic waste into protein, fats, bio-fertilizer and other useful biomass. Their value doesn’t stop there. While the larvae take care of the food waste, they themselves become a resource. Their frass, mixed with fallen leaves and allowed to ferment, becomes a nutrient-rich fertilizer for landscape plants. The larvae themselves serve as a high-quality protein source for poultry, livestock, pets and aquaculture. Even the pupal shells contain chitin, which can be used in pharmaceuticals.

Benefiting from Shenzhen’s abundant sunlight, the buildings in the community feature rooftops?designed as an integration of solar photovoltaic systems and rooftop gardens. Among these innovations, the eco-roof is especially notable: Guided by principles of low maintenance and natural self-growth, it provides year-round greenery, moderates the microclimate and helps retain rainwater. These spaces not only create ideal habitats for insects and birds but also offer residents an accessible platform for learning about biodiversity.

At the same time, through the adoption of photovoltaic power generation with storage, new energy-efficient building materials and smart energy management platforms, the community has increased the share of “green electricity” it uses while reducing overall energy consumption.

As the “green, low-carbon” ethos continues to spread, a quiet shift toward a “zero-waste” way of living is taking hold in the community. Many residents have gradually developed an interest in practices such as creative reuse, food preservation and cultivating small home gardens.

In 2022, Dameisha Community was presented as a case study at a side event during the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, showcasing China’s practice of ecological protection and climate governance.

Green above all

On top of the nearly 40-year-old building of the Shenzhen Futian Power Supply Bureau, the agency is putting national priorities into action. The rooftop garden is covered with lush green grass, while light-transmitting thin-film photovoltaic modules installed above continuously convert solar energy into electricity. In the building’s office area, integrated active and passive energy-saving technologies along with intelligent monitoring systems automatically regulate electrical equipment based on occupancy, temperature and lighting conditions, enabling more systematic and refined energy management. On the first-floor parking level, bidirectional charging piles are arranged in orderly sequence. Once regarded as an aging facility, the building now aligns with the bureau’s mission to bring greater energy efficiency through innovation.

The renovation adopted technologies such as PEDF (the abbreviations of four technologies, namely, distributed photovoltaic power generation, energy storage systems, direct current power supply and flexible power consumption), vehicle-to-grid interaction, ultra-fast charging and carbon emissions monitoring and management. They have added new green attributes to the old building, saving 420,000 kilowatt-hours (kwh) of electricity annually and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 189 tons, which is equivalent to planting 10,000 trees.

The solar station

Even in high-traffic public spaces, Shenzhen is experimenting with low carbon solutions. Travelers passing through the eastern and western squares of Shenzhen North Railway Station will notice a uniquely shaped “photovoltaic sunflower.” This installation is in fact a mobile, adjustable photovoltaic energy-storage system that automatically tracks the sun’s movement, boosting power-generation efficiency by up to 40 percent. The “sunflowers” are part of a larger integrated solar storage demonstration project underway at the railway station.

The project leverages clean energy, intelligent environmental control and smart lighting technologies as key measures for achieving near-zero carbon emissions. The railway station consumes approximately 90,000 kwh of electricity daily and since the launch of the project, an average of 10,000 kwh per day comes from green sources.

As of 2024, Shenzhen had designated 113 pilot near-zero carbon emissions projects in areas including public facilities, industrial parks, communities and campus spaces. Altogether, these projects reduce carbon emissions by 50 percent, or 570,000 tons, annually. Step by step, the city is demonstrating how ambitious climate goals can be integrated with enjoyable and productive urban life.