21st Century (2000–present)

Zhuhai Xiangzhou Coastal Plan

2010s · China · East Asia – China · Post-industrial regeneration and waterfront urbanism · Planned by Zhuhai Planning

Site plan for the Zhuhai Xiangzhou Harbour comprehensive master plan: seafront greenways and waterfront blocks in Xiangzhou district · © Heller Manus Architects — used with credit · Heller Manus Architects — Zhuhai Xiangzhou Harbor Comprehensive Master Plan Concept Design

Core idea

Seafront greenways and TOD

Why it matters

Human-scale waterfront in PRD

Description

A coastal planning framework for Xiangzhou, the central urban district of Zhuhai on the Pearl River estuary, developed by the city's planning authorities in the 2010s. The plan reinforces Zhuhai's long seafront with continuous greenways and promenades, links waterfront open space to transit-oriented development at key nodes, and protects the low-rise, landscape-dominated character that distinguishes the city within the Pearl River Delta.

Significance

The plan is notable as an expression of Zhuhai's long-standing identity as the 'garden city' of the Pearl River Delta, prioritising human-scale waterfront public space in a region defined by industrial urbanisation. It contributes to a broader Chinese turn towards greenway planning and coastal public realm, showing how second-tier cities have used landscape quality as a competitive strategy.

What shaped it

Transit-oriented development (TOD) (1993)
The linear park / greenway (1878 / 2009 revival)
Landscape urbanism (Waldheim) (1997-2006)

Sources

Open it on the interactive timeline →

hub.toekom.st — History of Urbanism · an interactive timeline of 850 planned cities across 6,000 years.