Italian sci-fi writer sees SZ as testing ground for 'solarpunk' future

Italian sci-fi writer Francesco Verso, who was in Shekou for the Chinese/Italian Artists Exchange Program, said he sees Shenzhen not only as a fast-moving tech hub, but also as a unique laboratory for imagining and testing future-facing, climate-resilient urban life.

Verso was among a group of Italian artists, including illustrators, scholars, and art festival directors, who attended the sci-fi and fantasy-focused exchange program, which was hosted by the Nanshan District Foreign Affairs Bureau and the Shekou Subdistrict Office.

“What I love about Shenzhen is its tropical weather,” Verso told Shenzhen Daily during an interview on the sidelines of the launch ceremony at Baoneng All City mall Saturday afternoon. “Shenzhen, being on the seaside, is in a very interesting position to try to address the issues of climate change.”

Francesco Verso (R) introduces works of Italian artists on display at the Chinese/Italian Sci-Fi and Fantasy Exhibition at the Baoneng All City mall in Shekou on Saturday.

He pointed to the city’s exposure to Pacific storms as a prompt for adaptation. “Will it have means and strategies to mitigate the effect of climate change? Maybe in the way you build houses, or maybe in the way you let rivers flow to the ocean.”

Verso, a long-time advocate for broadening global imaginaries of the future, framed his observations through the lens of “solarpunk” — a cultural and design movement that envisions optimistic, sustainable futures driven by technology that is open, participatory, and integrated with nature.

Although this is Verso’s third visit to Shenzhen, he found the city very futuristic the first time he arrived eight years ago. He noted its rapid economic and urban development and role as a laboratory for smart-city projects, driven by the high density of high-tech companies.

He said that the elements of “solarpunk” he had envisioned — rooftop orchards on skyscrapers, drones sharing food with neighbors, and 3D printing to repair rather than discard household items — are already emerging in Shenzhen, underscoring the social and environmental benefits of maker culture. He argued that Shenzhen’s dense ecology of startups, hardware manufacturers, and maker communities has made the city “a place to make solarpunk into reality.”

A long-time translator and publisher of Chinese sci-fi, Verso said his work is part of what he calls “decolonizing the future.” He has translated and published more than 90 Chinese sci-fi stories across 18 books, aiming to broaden Western readers’ exposure to alternative cultural visions.