By Peiwen Yu “Really, tactical urbanism is how most cities are built. Especially in developing nations,” Mike Lydon says. “It’s step-by-step, piece-by-piece.” In many fast urbanizing regions, the presence of various temporary open spaces is crucial to meeting the overwhelming needs of public parks in dense urban core; although often constructed with modest budget and […]

What kinds of public spaces contribute the most to building memorable and attractive cities? As landscape architects, a large portion of our practice focuses on ecology, natural processes, and material performances. The global urban age is happening at a dizzying pace and scale, and with a diversity and complexity that challenges traditional design paradigms. Weaving

On November 18th, Nanshan District’s new leadership group – Party Secretary Jiang Jianjun and Mayor Wang Qiang met with SWA design team, brainstorming on visions and ideas of Shenzhen Bay Shekou Promenade. Last month, the city was excited to see groundbreaking of Shekou promenade’s initial phase, which kicked off the implementation of this 6KM along

As the Nation’s first testing ground of China’s Open Door Policy, Economic Reform and Capitalism Operation, Shekou Industrial Zone was established even before the SEZ (Shenzhen Special Economic Zone), in 1979. The great visionary Deng Xiaoping once said – “A little more power was granted to it so the Shekou Industrial Zone may develop faster

Completed in 2011, this 9 kilometers long coastal Long Park is the first phase of Shenzhen Bay Waterfront Competition Winning Proposal in 2005, implementing a strong concept of coastal ecological restoration with 13 programmed park places for recreation and celebration. In the effort of accommodating diverse urban outdoor events in the 13 park nodes, program

By Peiwen Yu Shekou Memorial Terrace Proposal tackled an urban space upgrading solution for a waterfront tourism spot – the light house and captain bar of Shekou Peninsula. Located at the Shenzhen Bay Shekou Waterfront, the place is adjacent to a high rise residential complex and a trendy retail development that’s currently undergoing construction –

A Conceptual Landscape Master Plan Proposal was newly prepared for Dalian Coastal Scenic Road Upgrading Project – revitalizing this scenic area with fresh recreational places and attracting more Ren Chi. The study area involves a 30KM long scenic Binhai road located on the South Coast of Dalian, China. Once a famous tourism destination of Dalian, Binhai road

How is Houston’s walkability improved over years? While the public transit in the city made significant progress compared to 10 years ago, the parks and squares in Houston’s urban area have been growing in terms of quantity and quality. The population centers of Uptown and Mid Town have been transformed to reach new level of

There has been a lot of academic debates on high-end gated communities in today’s mega cities in how segregated they’re from surrounding urban context. While studying the landscape for this Italian and French style villa project developed by China Resources Land Developer, Peiwen intended to try a fresher design vocabulary for the model unit courtyard landscape, different from the

The narrative is an attempt to decode the future open space needs in booming suburban developments under the large picture of Egyptian dream. What it means for master planned communities, and specifically how to advance the landscape place making to be stronger in supporting these projects to achieve economic success, sustainability, cultural authenticity, and a

Awards ceremony took place on Thursday October 15th during ULI’s Fall meeting in San Francisco. Among 6 finalists, Thousand Lantern Lake Park was announced as one of the two winners of ULI’s prestigious  Urban Open Space award. This is the first time this award is open to international projects.  For 15 years, design team at SWA has

As one of the cultural landmarks of Shenzhen Bay, Shekou’s fishing harbor, with over 100 years of history, has witnessed the dramatic city transformation of Shenzhen. This natural deep-water port hosts hundreds of fishing boats and functions as a seafood storage and wholesale center. During many project site visits, the author was impressed by the