Ningbo Xiangshan People’s Square China: Integrated Urban Design International Competition

Ningbo Xiangshan People’s Square China: Integrated Urban Design International Competition

“象” (Mandarin Pronunciation: xiàng，one of the meanings is “imagination”)， is to explore a figurative image, to understand an abstract philosophy, and to wander through the land of imagination between virtuality and reality. Renowned as the “Island of Immortality”, “Penglai Island” and “Land of the Fairy”, Xiangshan lies in-between mountains and seas, and under the starry sky. Standing at the coast of the East China Sea, Xiangshan is just like a singularity of imagination in China’s cultural space-time, inspiring ancient Chinese people’s imagination of the immortal realm, the dreamed ocean, and witnessing a long history of people’s fight against the seas and mountains, the coexistence and finally seeking development from them.

In the future, Xiangshan, as a new start for space exploration, will arouse the space dream of many generations to come. Here, history and future intertwine, reality and dream collide, and the ocean and stars meet, making Xiangshan a city full of imagination.Established in the 1990s, Xiangshan People’s Square is the most important public space for Xiangshan citizens in the past thirty years. Today, we will take advantage of the development of the People’s Square Station, a major station of Ningbo-Xiangshan Suburban Railway, to introduce an exciting renovation for the entire People’s Square area.

How to create a brand-new center for this “city of imagination”?
We sincerely invite imaginative urban planners, architects, and landscape designers worldwide to jointly work out an “imagination”proposal for Xiangshan People’s Square.
Competition Name
「 HEART OF IMAGINATION 」NINGBO XIANGSHAN PEOPLE’S SQUARE TOD INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT URBAN DESIGN INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
Project Location
People’s Square, Xiangshan County, Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province, China
Project Background
Xiangshan： A City of Imagination
Xiangshan County is a unique coastal town along China’s coastline. Located in the core of China’s Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration, it belongs to Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province, winning a number of titles, such as “A Land of China’s Fishery Culture”, “National Marine Fishery Culture and Ecology Preservation Area”, “Marine Sports Center in Zhejiang, China” and so on. It’s the grand coastal garden and new city space in Ningbo modern coastal metropolis. Today, Xiangshan is focusing on the development of Ningbo State-level Marine Economy Demonstration Area, and taking advantage of the development of industrial platforms such as “The Most Beautiful Coastal Zone at 30 Degrees North Latitude”, “The Starry Film and Television Town”, “The Aerospace Science and Technology City (preparatory)” and so on, to comprehensively expand its development from cultural tourism to a scientifically-innovative and intelligent marine economy matrix, and finally to build itself into a charming, well-governed and happy maritime city.
Surrounded by mountains and seas, Xiangshan used to be a legendary landmark of ancient people’s ocean exploration but has now become a famous film and dream-making center in China, and will be a space satellite launching site in the future. Here, history and future intertwine, reality and dream collide, and the ocean and stars meet, making Xiangshan a city full of imagination. People’s Square: Heart of the Imagination CityPeople’s Square has been the most significant public activity space for Xiangshan citizens for nearly 30 years. Shortly soon, with the construction of Ningbo–Xiangshan Suburban Railway and People’s Square Station, the brand-new square will become the center and gateway of the city at the same time.

The People’s Square will also create a landmark as the new icon for the city，an active center of city life, a center of high-quality public services, and a strong point of the city’s attractiveness.Competition Contents The competition includes two sections, which are urban design, conceptual architecture and landscape design.
1） Urban design Scope：The urban design scope is about 58 hectares (see figure below). Requirements：The overall goal is to build an urban center with convenient traffic, a vibrant and friendly atmosphere, rational distribution, distinct characters, ecological friendly environment. The urban design shall be based on the functions of the People’s Square, which include suburban rail transit stations, public open space, public buildings, commercial areas, service apartment and future communities.
Contestants shall put forward a scheme that covers functional layout, architectural clusters, transportation system, land use, building quantitative index, ecological system, waterfront space, underground space and the overall city scape.
2) Conceptual architecture and landscape design Scope：Architecture and landscape design scope is located in an area of about 21 hectares on the west side of Donggu Road (see figure below). The specific design scope shall be decided by each participant according to their urban design scheme, including at least the site of People’s Square, the Xiangshan Public Fitness Activity Center, the Xiangshan Library, the City Impression Museum, and the i30 Lighthouse (city spiritual landmark). Requirements: Contestants shall propose an integrated architecture and landscape scheme with the goal of creating a cultural landmark cluster that demonstrate the spirit of Xiangshan.
The site is programed to include the following functions: People’s Square. An urban open space that provides functions such as large-scale festivals, outdoor sports, and natural recreation.
-Xiangshan Public Fitness Activity Center. It is made up of a 3,000-seat indoor arena, providing more than 20 functions including ball sports, recreational activities and so on. It will become the very healthy lifestyle destination for Xiangshan locals.
-City Impression Museum. This is a city experience center that exhibits the history and future urban plans of Xiangshan, and also serves as a destination of marine-ecology education and art exhibition. It aims to become the most important impression display interface of the city.
-Xiangshan Library. It shall accommodate more than one million books. As a new multi-purpose library, it also provides the functions such as performance-viewing, education and so on. It will become the social living room for citizens, bringing together spiritual islands, and also be an imaginative ocean of knowledge, inspiring eternal exploration of the unknown.
-“i30 Lighthouse” (City Spiritual Landmark): A Landmark that symbolizes the spirit of the maritime city, which also inspires a strong sense of belonging to the city. (*The “lighthouse” is not intended as a suggestion of architectural form.)

Schedule
Phase I: The phase for public enrollment, qualification examination, and proposal selection Early of April 2022
Official announcement
Middle April 2022
Offline kick-off meeting
Middle May 2022
The pre-qualification review that fixes the 4 open solicited units (7 in total);
The site survey Phase II:
The phase for design submission and competition review Middle May 2022 to Middle July 2022
The phase of deepening design Middle July 2022
Final review* In view of uncertainties such as the epidemic, the exact schedule is subject to official announcement and the organizers reserve the right to adjust the schedule.

Organization
Organizer: People’s Government of Xiangshan County, Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province
Contractor: Natural Resources and Planning Bureau of Xiangshan County, Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province and Xiangshan Municipal Construction Investment Group Co.,LTDCo-organizer: One-tenth Art Company

Registration
The formal registration will start in late April 2022. Interested design institutions are welcome to scan the code to submit the pre-registration information, and pay close attention to the upcoming competition information. Contact [email protected]* In case of any discrepancy between the English version and the Chinese version, the Chinese version shall prevail. * The specific requirements, agenda and schedule of this competition are subject to the officially issued competition documents by One-tenth.