Location:  Chengdu, Sichuan, China
Client: Municipal People’s Government of Long Quan Yi District, Chengdu

The Long Quan Yi District master plan is the winning entry of a global competition in 2005, establishing a vision for urban growth, international trade, and resource protection in the eastern district of Chengdu.

When China broadened the focus of its international trade and development policy to include and emphasize development of its Western region, the ancient city of Chengdu was singled out to become the cultural, administrative and economic capital of the west. Chengdu’s urban growth took national priority, assigning programmatic development agendas to the growth corridors radiating from the city center. Long Quan Yi district is located on the eastern edge of Chengdu’s urban core, situated strategically on the growth corridor that connects Chengdu and nearby Chongqing.

The plan transforms Long Quan Yi from an industrial suburb to a prominent international trade center that elevates the position of Chengdu in world affairs, by promoting and facilitating the activities of domestic and international business. The proposed center features a compact urban business district; a university; a research park, and the industrial base, located near each other and well connected by transportation and communication links. These would be supported by an array of cultural, entertainment, shopping, recreational and sports facilities of international standard, as well as a wide variety of high quality housing choices set in an attractive and walkable urban landscape.

Another key element of the plan is its “rural development” component. Long Quan Yi district contains extensive rich agricultural land and mountains, which the district seeks to preserve and improve in order to generate prosperous farming communities and high quality tourist and recreation amenities. The plan establishes a comprehensive strategy to take advantage of adjacent Chengdu urban markets that would increase business opportunities for local farmers and preserve Chinese agricultural traditions and scenic beauty. The plan introduced principles for regulating growth of villages, improving farmers’ services (banking, markets, education, brokers, roads and infrastructure), programming for agricultural tourism, improving key roadways into “scenic highways,” constructing scenic wetlands for natural treatment of farm run-off and village wastewater, and establishing special economic and preservation districts.

In the Long Quan Mountains, the plan calls for strategic reforestation partnered with tourism development focused around the many mountain lakes. The plan introduces a master plan for Long Quan Lake resort town, connected to the Long Quan Yi urban center by a new light rail service.