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Limited developable land and a strong urge to renew underutilized spaces is leading developers and architects to site their creative ideas in unorthodox locations. In the Bao’an District of Shenzhen, both sides of the G107 highway are set for major redevelopment as neighbouring manufacturing facilities undergo substantial upgrades.
While highways serve as efficient connectors to other areas in the city by automobile, their impermeability is often viewed as a barrier to pedestrian and cyclist traffic. When situated in lively urban areas, highways can ironically be cumbersome to the free movement of a city. As development heats up in the region, the 30-kilometre-long 12-lane G107 is looking more and more out of place. It's a difficult-to-navigate obstacle that severs the city's western waterfront from the eastern mountains.
Foreign firm MLA+ alongside the China Academy of Urban Planning and Design, in partnership with Felixx Landscape Architects & Planners and the Shenzhen Municipal Design & Research Institute have won a design competition that seeks to renew the underperforming spaces surrounding this arterial road. The one- to two-kilometre section of land comprises 53 square kilometres, which will be remade into a thriving hub of mixed-use activity.
Much of the land will be converted from "utilitarian infrastructure" into uses conducive to successful urban regeneration. Artistic illustrations for the concept show a mostly mid-rise built form surrounded by greenery and water, including wetlands and canals. Human in scale, the pedestrian-focused development would include a system of promenades and wide sidewalks to enhance circulation. More details will be released over the next three years, by which time an implementation plan is expected to be delivered.
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