Smart and Sustainable Cities and China
Continuing on my Smart City and Sustainability artistic adventures, and in preparation for my 3-month stay in Shanghai, I have been doing an abundance of research on China.
When I first told people here in the United States that I was going to paint in China, many responses were: “What do you want to do that for?” and “Are you sure you will be safe?”
Separating myself from the naysayers—who I assumed only listened to one heavily biased news/commentary channel—I pressed on.
Both intellectually and artistically, what I discovered was truly fascinating and refreshingly delightful!
When I first started painting my Smart City Art Series, created in 2024, my main focus was on capturing cities in motion through abstract art. I didn’t realize this at the time, but what I had created was an overall, general view of a fun, dynamic city in motion.
Happy City In Motion by Dorothea Sandra. In creating this painting, I embraced the chaos and beauty of motion, infusing my canvas with the energy of a bustling cityscape. Utilizing bold acrylic strokes and an abstract expressionism style, my artwork erupts with vibrant colors and dynamic shapes that capture the perpetual movement and rhythm of urban life.
In Happy Green Cities Of The Future, also part of my Smart City Art Series and a featured painting at the 2025 Sustainability Research and Innovation International Congress in Chicago, I used vibrant swirls of color and form to reflect a vision of connectivity within urban life. Bright blues, passionate reds, and lively yellows dance together, depicting energetic city centers that are safe and welcoming and harmonize well with nature. This painting celebrates the fusion of progress and environmental stewardship, aiming to inspire a brighter, greener future in every location it graces.
"In Pretty City Art, there is a swirl of emotion and color where I channeled my deepest joy and curiosity about the urban landscape into each stroke. Utilizing acrylics, I created an abstract, expressionistic celebration of city life, capturing its rhythmic chaos and vibrant diversity. This painting bursts with energy and colors that dance together, perfect to invigorate any space with a spirit of creativity and inspiration.
In August 2025, I was awarded a 3-month artist residency at the lovely Swatch Art Peace Hotel in Shanghai, China, beginning 2026 mid-February to mid-May. After immersing myself in my initial research for this 3-month stay, I soon realized that merely going out and about in Shanghai and other locations in China and merely painting them in the abstract would never capture the reality of what was actually happening in China.
What I discovered from this research is that there is a fabulous, awesome, and historically significant technological revolution happening in China—right now!
Through smart planning and implementation, China has transformed from a manufacturing hub to a global technological leader.
It has jumped to the forefront of telecommunications, e-commerce, and smart city development.
Not only has it built a generation of tech-savvy leaders ready to drive global innovation, its smart city expertise, digital infrastructure, and AI advancements offer other nations rapid urban transformations.
“China’s approach to smart cities and technology is revolutionizing not only its own future but potentially the future of urban life around the world.” (Smart Cities, China’s Model Of Success by Eduardo Moreno L)
What I have also come to believe is that—before I paint Shanghai and certain smart and sustainable locations in China—I first want to understand these locations from a point of historical and scientific depth and knowledge.
Unlike a tourist on a week’s hurried vacation taking photographs, I don’t just want to go to China and paint its buildings and surface structures.
I want to capture, through abstract works of art, beautiful Shanghai and other locations and the smart city technology and sustainability vibrancy and life—happening right now—deep inside the soul.
In addition to scientific books about smart city technology and sustainability, my latest readings include Shanghai tourist guides, “The Yellow Emperor’s Classic Of Medicine, A New Translation Of The Neijing Suwen With Commentary by Maoshing Ni,” and “Smart Cities, China’s Model Of Success” by Eduardo Moreno L.
I am not leaving until the middle of February 2026, so if you have other recommended readings for me, I would be most grateful. Just send the titles to me at dorothea@dorotheasandra.com or contact me through my website at https://www.dorotheasandraart.com. Thank you!
Here are a few of the books I have been reading.
