The Hongqiao District is favored by a fantastic transportation infrastructure as well as an ecological resource: the Suzhou River. It is an interface between the traditional Chinese water town culture of the westside and the international modern trend of the eastside. Hongqiao now becomes the strategic opportunity to create a vibrant urban core of Shanghai.
TLS’s concept “Hydro City, Hyper Community” respects the vernacular water culture in the first place. Inspired by the “living towards water” philosophy of water towns, the project integrates water-oriented city making with international urban lifestyle, to create a new urban fabric. Water and park infiltrate into communities and break up the rigid boundary. It generates higher land value and nourishes the great quality of life. There are five Chinese characters from the site culture in different scales, delta, river, fence, waterway and turn. They also represent five different type of water features. These features merge into the five featured zones of Qianwan, Eco Park, Smart Island, The Core, Culture Living Room, and Window of Qianwan.
Qianwan serves as the innovative service corporation lead for the Hongqiao area, featuring three major industries, health, education & research, as well as culture and business. Locating headquarters clusters is the key of leveraging these industries. By uniting headquarters and communities, Qianwan will become a brand-new innovative headquarter community with a balance between life, work, and education. In this way Qianwan will define the landmark of Hongqiao, attract international talents from all over the world, and build a new Shanghai-Style Water City.