People Fixing The World Folgen

Could we build cities using solar panels instead of walls? That’s the dream that Huang Ming, a wealthy entrepreneur in China’s Shandong province, has had since the 1980s. He’s become known as the ‘Sun King’ after building a vast solar park, including a showcase hotel, to prove a new kind of solar architecture is possible. So why hasn’t it caught on? We check into a room in the solar hotel and examine the vision and sometimes unfulfilled dreams of solar architecture in China. Plus, why do bins in Copenhagen have shelves built into them? Clue: it helps the city’s poorest people.Presenter: Mukul Devichand Reporters: Emma Wilson and Harriet Noble(Image: Huang Ming and his solar hotel, Credit: BBC)

An innovative housing project in Amsterdam is attempting a new way of integrating refugees into the local population. In prefab flats, refugees from the Syrian war live next door to young people in need of cheap rent. They eat together, learn language together, and develop the networks that researchers say are critical to successful integration.Presenter: Charlotte Pritchard Reporter: Jo MathysImage: Young people living in the Startblok / Credit: BBC

Air pollution is a huge problem for China, but did you know it’s actually getting better? The Air Quality Index in several cities is improving, because of a variety of experimental projects that are being rolled out. In this special edition of World Hacks as part of the #SoICanBreathe season, we are in Beijing to gather together some of the thinkers and entrepreneurs leading China’s efforts to clean its air. We work through their ideas with an audience of students and entrepreneurs, as well as hearing reports about clever pollution solutions from around the country.Presented by Mukul Devichand and Vincent Ni. Additional reporting by Emma Wilson and Ruhua Xianyu.Image: A woman wearing a face mask in central Beijing / Image credit: BBC