The attraction of China's fledgling financial city of Shenzhen not
only lies in its prosperity of business and high technology, but
also in the urban layout and architecture designed by
internationally famous architects and urban planners.
Tourists traveling along the beaches to the east end of Shenzhen
can enjoy a south China sun bath and slick public leisure and
entertainment facilities, which were co-designed by SWA from US,
ATKINS from UK and SGD from Singapore.
Likewise, a cluster of high-rise glass buildings and other modern
architecture also carries big names in the world's architecture
circles, such as America's Murphy/Jahn and German's HPP.
As
an experimental ground for China's reform and opening up, Shenzhen
was among the first group of cities in the country to open the
urban planning market to overseas players in 1982. The design of
the "Overseas Chinese Town", a profitable site for theme miniature
gardens including "Window of the World" and "Splendid China", was
the first project in Shenzhen to recruit overseas design
concepts.
Over the past decade, renowned planning institutions, Japan's Kisho
Kurokawa, Arata Isozaki and American's SOM, have left their names
on a number of landmark buildings through design competitions and
bidding, which helped shift the earliest special economic zone in
China from an outlying fishing town into a flourishing modern city
within twenty years.
Sara Topelson Ginberg, president of the UIA, said that Shenzhen has
realized a coordinated development of society, economy and urban
construction in the past 15 years, despite its surging population
and rapid urban expansion.
The success of Shenzhen's urban construction has soon been borrowed
in other Chinese cities. Nowadays, Beijing, Shanghai, Dalian and
Xiamen owe much of their international reputation to the
contribution of international urban designers.
"International designs make urban facilities in China complex in
the demand of the future development", said John M. Y. Lee, a Hong
Kong architect, who joined the construction of the international
consultation on the core area urban design of Shenzhen in 1996.
"Now it has become a trend in our country to have international
consultation for urban development," said Zhou Ganzhi, an
academician with the China Academy of Engineering and a senior
architect consultant of the Ministry of Construction.
As
the blueprint for China's urban construction, urban planning
towards the next century will feature the combination of reasonable
use of land resources, ecological protection and creating a
comfortable human settlement environment, said Zhao Chongren,
director of Shenzhen Urban Planning and Land Administration
Bureau.
"By opening the schematic design market and introducing
architectural design concepts, China can soon get close to the
world level urban construction standard," said Chen Yixin,
registered architect with the Administration of Shenzhen city
Center Development and Construction.
He
estimates that with over 12 million sq. meters of urban
construction going on every year, Shenzhen's expenditure for urban
planning amounts to around 800 million yuan, which is calculated at
70 yuan per square meter of design paid to domestic designers.
However, the payment for overseas designers is usually double their
Chinese counterparts, said Zhao Chongren. But money is worthwhile,
as the participation of international designing companies can
accelerate the improvement of Shenzhen's urban construction
standard.
Shenzhen was honored an Abercrombie Honorable Mention for urban
planning in 1999, while Dalian City in northeast China won a UN
Habitat Award. Shenzhen will make its way to the champion contest
for the International Garden City, which is to be held in the US
this month.
With the implementation of China's strategic development of the
vast hinterland region, overseas architects are eyeing the market
in China's middle and western regions, said Wang Fuhai, vice
director of Urban Planning and Design Institute of Shenzhen.
(Xinhua 11/4/2000)