THE results of an international design competition for a coastal town under planning in western Shenzhen have recently been released, with design team Dennis Frenchman Urban Design LLC winning first place, the Shenzhen Evening News reported.

A united team consisting of China Academy of Urban Planning & Design, Ramboll Studio Dreiseitl (Beijing) and Urbanus Architecture & Design took second place, and the Shanghai subsidiary of AECOM came in third.

The coastal new town, known as “Ocean New Town,” with a planned area of about 7.44 square kilometers, is the next strategic development area in Shenzhen following Qianhai.

It is located to the northwest of the airport area, stretching from the estuary of the Maozhou River in the north to the first-phase project of the Bao’an District port area in the south, and from the new convention and exhibition center in the east to Jiaoyi Bay in the west.

Sponsored by the city’s urban planning, land & resources commission, the consultation activity was launched this March and was open to design agencies around the world. A total of 140 design agencies and teams signed up for the event and six entries were shortlisted for the final round May 11.

According to the report, the winning team proposed that the main urban development area be located on the main axis centered on Jiaoyiwan Boulevard, introducing water to invigorate the coastline and ecology while extending the activity space from the convention and exhibition center to the western coast.

Wang Jianguo, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and chairman of the jury, said the international competition has helped the organizer clarify its positioning and objectives for the town’s planning, as well as gain a better understanding of its spatial strategy and marine ecology.

The commission said the highlights of the six finalists will be selected in the next stage. After rounds of expert consultation, an integrated scheme will be formulated to speed up the construction of the coastal town.

(Zhang Yu)