The designs are sleek and forward-looking, with towering, geometrical office buildings interspersed among the greenery, creating much needed space in Beijing’s otherwise crowded city streets. SOM’s green makeover for the CBD includes three new districts anchored by “signature parks” and “green boulevards”. New express commuter rail services and streetcars promote the usage of eco-safe public transportation over individual automobiles, while pedestrians and cyclists are front-and-center in the proposed business district. All the planned efforts are said to drastically reduce the area’s carbon emissions, water consumption, and landfill waste. It could spell big savings for Beijing, but would mean bigger changes for the rest of the world if the newly redesigned CBD were used as a model for other global business districts. China as a model for urban planning? It’s the new China, and her colors are leaning green.