World Alum Mining Town Core Area Planning

Cangnan County Government, Fanshan Town Government, Wenzhou Alum Mining Culture and Tourism Group, Guizhou Zhongshun Stone Development Co.

Lead Landscape Architect: Tom Leader
Project Managers: Huan Zheng and Mengyao Xing
Lead Designer: Jiawen Chen
Design Team: Shanshan Bai, Yushan Li, Wei Fan, Zhuo Jiang, Yang Yu, Jingwen Han
Tourism & Business Analysis: Cushman & Wakefield
Architecture Design: PURE Architects

This project reimagines an abandoned underground mine system left by resource depletion as a catalyst for social, cultural, and economic renewal, transforming it into public infrastructure for town revitalization. Through phased, low-impact interventions and operational-readiness controls, a three-criteria evaluation— structural stability, location accessibility, and spatial openness-establishes an actionable opening sequence. Public circulation and heritage interpretation start at the entrance and stable core zones, then expand into deeper chambers for cultural and artistic activities, study tours and education, research experiments, and ecological production spaces. In a safe, incremental, and replicable manner, the proposal converts industrial remnants from a closed production system into shared public assets, creating opportunities for employment, education, and cultural exchange, and guiding post-extractive communities from decline toward resilience long-term. 

The Challenge of Post-Extraction 

Once a mining-driven industrial community, Fanshan now faces economic decline following the depletion of its mineral resources. The abandoned mine cave network, as a remnant of the extractive economy, once sustained local identity and livelihoods, yet today it remains physically isolated and disconnected from everyday civic life. 

A Framework for Transition 

To respond to this challenge, the project advances three interrelated strategic moves. First, by improving safety conditions and organizing circulation systems, the mine shifts from a closed production space into a public environment accessible for collective experience. Second, the cave system is repositioned as a regional connective structure, linking mountains, communities, heritage nodes, and transportation networks, transforming it from an isolated relic into a framework that organizes relationships between the town and its landscape. As accessibility and operational capacity increase, new programs are gradually introduced: cultural and artistic activities, education, research, and ecological production unfold in sequence, guiding the local economy toward diversification and long-term resilience. 

Phasing 

This transformation is not immediate. Formed through centuries of extraction, the cave network is defined by nonlinear geometry, layered spatial sequences, and dramatic shifts in scale-conditions that demand incremental occupation. Progress therefore relies on continuous calibration of spatial readiness. A comprehensive digital survey and Field exploration, translated into three-dimensional models, makes this complexity legible and supports evidence-based decision-making. By evaluating structural stability, accessibility, and openness, the proposal establishes priority zones and a phased sequence extending from the entrance toward deeper chambers. Within this structure, cavern environments assume differentiated civic roles. Entrance areas provide orientation and heritage interpretation, while stable, appropriately scaled spaces support exhibitions and educational programs. Controlled cultivation systems—including fungi and aeroponic laboratories enabled by the cave’ s stable climate-convert historic extraction into contemporary knowledge production and a green economy. The project preserves the mine‘ s authenticity, allowing darkness and uncertainty to drive the spatial narrative. By introducing diverse experiences-cultural exhibitions, ecological experiments, and immersive interactions-it transforms the underground from a singular industrial relic into a multifaceted pubic space that integrates culture, science, and nature. Through these experiences, visitors gradually perceive the value of mining civilization and the unique character of the cave system. 

A Model Beyond Fanshan 

Through alignment between spatial readiness and operational capacity, the abandoned mine becomes adaptive public infrastructure and a long-term engine for urban regeneration. More importantly, the project establishes a transferable framework that moves from risk containment to civic activation, and from industrial legacy to new productivity. It redefines post-extractive landscapes-not as preserved remnants of the past, but as evolving systems capable of generating social, cultural, and economic futures.