Honor Award

The Transformation of Shen Nan Boulevard

Shenzhen, China

SWA Group

Lead Landscape Architect: Zhaojie Jack Wu

Client: Shenzhen Greening Management Administration

Over 4.6 million people living and working along Shen Nan Boulevard, a traffic lifeline boosting Shenzhen, China's fastest growing city in the past four decades. Following several controversial attempts, the City of Shenzhen is now poised to transform the large- scale roadway to be more livable and resilient in a strategic way.

Working with government, stakeholder developers, local design communities, and the general public, the design team rethinks the nature of traffic thoroughfare and reimagined a central stretch of Shenzhen City as functional landscape infrastructure: a new, green resources interwoven through the urban fabric and shared by everyone. This pioneer transformation project includes a long-term landscape master plan, short-term implementation plans for the next two years, and technical guidelines for 280-hectare thresholds along the 25.6-kilometer Shen Nan Boulevard, repairing, reconnecting, and enriching the core of Shenzhen City. Infused with the new activity, Shen Nan Boulevard will energize its margins, the adjacent districts, and the city as a whole.