The project proposes a “self-sustaining dystopia” by critically examining the interaction between architecture, technology, capitalism, transportation, and human behaviour. The site is the Jiangnan region of China, also known as the Yangtze River Delta, with Shanghai as its core. The research methodology combines analysis of historical and contemporary regional conditions with fictional dystopian narratives informed by real-world events, particularly the Covid-19 lockdowns and associated mobility restrictions.

The design outcome is an urban masterplan composed of interconnected mini-projects, forming a self-sustaining metropolitan system. The thesis speculates on a future power shift in 2050 from state-led governance to a corporate-controlled urban model dominated by the Alibaba Group. While the megalopolis presents itself as environmentally responsible and culturally rooted through corporate greenwashing strategies, it simultaneously regulates its population through technological surveillance and controlled movement.

Drawing on traditional Jiangnan architectural language, water-based circulation, and ecological restoration, the project employs architecture as a critical medium to reveal the dystopian conditions concealed beneath a seemingly utopian urban environment.