On June 6, 2013, Ma Yansong's "Shanshui City" exhibition opened in Beijing Wuhao, a Qing Dynasty courtyard garden. More than 20 architectural models and artworks were scattered in the ancient courtyard, and under the shade of rockery, screen wall, bamboo forest, pool and sky, the scale of each other was blurred, showing a utopian future city. The exhibits ranged from small fish tanks less than 0.1 square meters to the conceptual model of Shanshui City covering millions of square meters, all expressing emotions for human nature and nature, depicting a future with Shanshui City as the social ideal. The new book Shanshui City, released at the same time as the exhibition, is an important turning point in Ma Yansong's ten years of architectural practice and thought.

He wrote in the book: "The development of cities in the future will shift from the pursuit of material civilization to the pursuit of natural civilization. This is the return of mankind after experiencing industrial civilization at the expense of the natural environment. Nature and people will rebuild an emotionally harmonious relationship in the mountain and water city." This not-so-thick booklet is the declaration of this young Chinese architect on the ideal of future human settlement. He said, "It would be a great pity if new urban civilization and ideas were not nurtured after the vigorous urbanization movement."

The famous Chinese scientist Qian Xuesen proposed the concept of "mountain and water city" in the 1980s. In response to the large-scale cement square box buildings that had just appeared in Chinese cities at that time, he proposed to establish a new urban model based on the Chinese mountain and water spirit, so that "people can leave nature and return to nature." However, this idealistic urban concept has not been truly implemented and developed. In the book, Ma Yansong expressed his recognition of Qian Lao's ideas and proposed his own inheritance. Because today's China, as the base of the world's largest manufacturing city, has a large number of soulless shelf cities due to lack of cultural preparation. He pointed out that the worship of power and capital in modern cities has led to the pursuit of the maximization of interests and utilitarianism in cities. "Buildings in cities should not become machines for living. No matter how powerful the technology and tools are, they cannot give the city a soul."

In Ma Yansong's view, landscape is not only nature, but also a human's emotional response to the world. There is a landscape in everyone's heart. Landscape city is to combine the density, function, and natural landscape of the city, hoping to build a future city with human spirit and emotion as the core.

At the opening forum of "Shanshui City", Liu Xiaochun, Li Xianting, Bao Pao, Wang Mingxian, Jin Qiuye and Ma Yansong held a roundtable dialogue. This is undoubtedly a new historical moment. Perhaps the idea of ​​a landscape city is the progress that China's urbanization should bring to the world.