Shenzhen Master Plan 2035
Core idea
Quality urban spaces, innovation corridors
Why it matters
From speed to quality urbanism
Description
The Shenzhen Master Plan 2035, prepared from 2018 by the city's planning and natural resources bureau, is the territorial spatial plan guiding the metropolis's development within firm ecological and land constraints. Marking a shift 'from speed to quality', it emphasises innovation corridors, liveable public space, urban renewal of existing fabric and coordination within the Greater Bay Area, rather than the extensive greenfield growth of earlier decades. It integrates land-use, ecological and marine planning in line with China's reformed territorial planning system.
Significance
The plan is significant as a statement of the post-growth phase of China's paradigmatic instant city: with developable land largely exhausted, Shenzhen must plan through regeneration, intensification and quality of place. It is widely studied as an indicator of how Chinese planning is evolving from quantitative expansion towards innovation-led, ecologically bounded urbanism.
What shaped it
- Shenzhen Special Economic Zone (1980)
- Transit-oriented development (TOD) (1993)
- New Urban Agenda (2016)
- The compact city (1973-1990s)
Plans it influenced
Sources
- https://en.planning.org.cn/nua/view?id=1559
- https://english.www.gov.cn/policies/latestreleases/202409/30/content_WS66fa5310c6d0868f4e8eb6c9.