This sketch represents the continuation of the joint competition-winning urban design project of January 2008 by AAUPC and Canton Urban Design Institute (GZPI). The project is located 30km to the west of Canton, in the Sanshan district of the City of Foshan.
The project proposes to create a large canal to the north of the river as a means of calming one arm of the river which can then be devoted to a series of urban activities while the canal is used for the transport of goods.
The project for the riverbank which we have developed here is the main urban element of the new town which addresses the river. The places which are created should be developed in line with the different districts in order to offer places to both residents and tourists that meet both their needs and their desires.
Our project finely articulates and defines a series of different ways of remodelling the river bank – from the most urban to the most natural: Commercial activities, spaces for leisure, ecological reserves and finally, in the centre of the city, a large island at the heart of urban life which is home to a huge urban park, an ecological water garden and a wide cultural quayside.
The combination of these various approaches will enable the City of Sanshan to define a place with a village scale yet a regional and even national attractiveness. The solution created by the urban project and the remodelling of the riverbank should be completed by the building of a series of public, sporting and commercial facilities as a means of realising a truly ambitious urban project.
