Base on my travel, the best urban developments in East Asia are Langham Place in Hong Kong, Xintiandi in Shanghai and Roppongi Hills in Tokyo.

Roppongi Hills and Langham Place are quite similar, except that Roppongi Hills has a museum, TV center, Japanese garden. Xintiandi is a totally different story with refurbished Shikumen buildings, which looks really nice.

Out of the three, which APPROACH do you like the most?

Honorable mentions: Omotesando Hills in Harajuku, Maruzen near Tokyo Station and APM in Hong Kong.

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uh?? I am not comparing cities... I am comparing different approach to urban development

^ You just edited your post. Anyway, go on, it's up to the CityTalk moderators to decide on this. ;)

Yeah I edited so that people like you dont' get confused... I will post pictures that I took soon. Notice that I capitalized the word approach in my original post?

Where are the pictures?

Need pictures to judge them.

city vs. city

:lock: :lock: :lock: :lock: :lock:

I hope this thread will not locked.
I'm keen to see the pics of these urban development.

From an urban planning point of view, Xintiandi is very successful in engaging the public, but the restoration has completely destroyed the Chinese character in favour of Western-style cafes. Langham Place destroyed the connection to the street by putting a huge wall and shifting the focus to the interiors.

I don't know about Roppongi Hills, so I need pics for that. :)

I would put Xintiandi before Langham though!

I don't know about Roppongi Hills, so I need pics for that. :)

I would put Xintiandi before Langham though!




http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=319973&page=7

Langham Place in Hong Kong

http//www.jerde.com/media/images/experiential/langham_digitalsky.jpg


http//flyingchair.net/images/langham.jpg


http//www.jerde.com/media/images/experiential/langham_full_atriuminterior.jpg

http//data.blogg.de/10733/images/CIMG94_Langham_Place_Entrance.JPG

http//www.jerde.com/media/images/technical/langham_atriumdigitalsky.jpg


http//dir.biglobe.ne.jp/col/travel/travelhongkong/closeup/CU20041222A/escalator1.jpg

http//dir.biglobe.ne.jp/col/travel/travelhongkong/closeup/CU20041222A/office1.jpg


http//www.skyscrapers.cn/images/asia/cn/hk/langham_place3.jpg

Developed by Mori(the same company that is erecting World Finance Center in Pudong, Shanghai), Roppongi Hills is probably the most famous urban redevelopment project in Asia-Pacific. The CEO himself, Mori Minoru, is inarguably the most influential real estate tycoon in Japan. We shall come back to his other project - Omotesando Hills. The photos posted here are better than the ones that I took and I should use them instead. Before the development of Roppongi Hills, Roppongi is a seedy area with many brothels. However, 17 years in the making, with the development of Roppongi Hills, the whole area became more lively, especially at night. In fact, it is now THE place for clubbing(for foreigners at least) in Tokyo as it has more clubs than Shibuya. As you can see from the pictures below, it is consisted of an office tower, retail complex, cinema, hotel, school, museum, TV station, Japanese garden, and two seperate residential towers. Mori wanted to eliminate time to commute to all these places. It was successful and he was able to creat a community that encompasses different aspects of life. Thus he It was able to attract anchor tenants like Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers to an area that would not be associated with these investment banks previously. In 2007, it will have a rival in Roppongi with similar ideals in redevelopment - Tokyo Midtown project.

Useful links:
Roppongi Hills
(http://www.roppongihills.com)
Tokyo Mid-Town (http://www.tokyo-midtown.com/)
Omotesando Hills (http://www.omotesandohills.com/)


http://www.roppongihills.com/en/facilities/main.jpg
http://photoimg.enjoyjapan.naver.com/view/enjoybbs/viewphoto/pvillage/34000/20060225114084572302483700.jpg
http://www.irumen.com/~kamo/zphoto/031116-tokyo/20031116-161630.JPG
http://www.bradcrafton.com/Tokyo/images/Tokyo2%20060.jpg
http://masaru-san.seesaa.net/image/hiruzu-02.jpg
http://photoimg.enjoyjapan.naver.com/view/enjoybbs/viewphoto/pvillage/34000/20060123113800093906829000.jpg
http://aruha.cside.ne.jp/d-camera/tokyo/roppongihills_s.jpg
http://mumyou.txt-nifty.com/blog/images/cimg1317.jpg
http://pds2.egloos.com/pds/1/200512/29/76/c0000276_0583849.jpg
http://mumyou.txt-nifty.com/blog/images/cimg1321.jpg
http://www.trapagon.com/dig-img/Japan/Modern/RoppongiHills_7309.jpg
http://www.people.virginia.edu/~ts5k/pictures/Tokyo/RoppongiHills5.JPG
http://www.tokyocityview.com/en/images/img_home_03.jpg

^ That reminds me of Berlin's Sony Center :

http://www.globalphotos.org/berlin/20060506/IMG_1998.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/berlin/20060506/IMG_2023.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/berlin/20060506/IMG_2013.jpg

It looks more inviting than the other 2.

Ronppongi Hills looks amazing. Need to see pics from the other two although.

Langham Place lacks the outdoor area displayed by the Roppongi Hills development. It is a completely enclosed mall and draws people away from the streets.

The best layout is Roppongi > Langham > Xintiandi.

Xintiandi's architecture restoration is nice, but the shops are for Westerners.

http://www.globalphotos.org/shanghai/20050930/SEPT30-S02-048.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/shanghai/20050930/SEPT30-S02-061.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/shanghai/20050930/SEPT30-S02-086.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/shanghai/20050930/SEPT30-S02-088.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/shanghai/20050930/SEPT30-S02-092.jpg

More photos :
http://www.globalphotos.org/shanghai-bar.htm

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20051006/DSCN1011.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20051006/DSCN1025.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20051006/DSCN1037.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20051006/DSCN1045.jpg

More photos :
http://www.globalphotos.org/hk-langham.htm

Langham Place is located in a former red-light district in Hong Kong(kind of similar to Roppongi Hills). To this date, if you walk 7 mins away from Langham Place, you and still see many brothels and massage parlors. Jointly developed by the Great Eagle Group and the Urban Renewal Authority of Hong Kong, it is comprised of a grade-A office tower, hotel, and a retail complex. In a profit-driven area like Mongkok, it is quite refreshing to see a building with a 20-storey glass atrium, something that would not be considered as "profit maximizing". Interestingly, both Roppongi Hills and Langham Place are designed by Jerde. The artwork at then entrance is also something that is rare in Mong kok. The whole atmosphere of Mongkok is definitely changed by Langham Place, as you can see other buildings near Langham Place getting refurbished as well. The spiral design of the retail complex is quite controverisal as many people find it difficult to navigate.

Useful links:
Langham Place (http://www.langhamplace.com.hk)

http://www.micpix.de/gallery/data/media/164/PhotoContest032.jpg
http://www.skyscrapers.cn/images/asia/cn/hk/langham_place3.jpg
http://www.micpix.de/gallery/data/media/164/PhotoContest073-pastfuture.jpg
http://www.pbase.com/csher/image/45472885/original.jpg

It's interested that the two men that developed Xintiandi and Langham Place are brothers from Hong Kong.

It's interested that the two men that developed Xintiandi and Langham Place are brothers from Hong Kong.

Other urban redevelopments in Tokyo


Many areas in Tokyo are under heavy urban redevelopment:
- Toyosu 豊洲
- Marunouchi　丸の内
- Shiodome　汐留
- Roppongi　六本木
- Shinagawa　品川
- Nihonbashi　日本橋

Toyosu Redevelopment


Toyosu used to be an area with docks, ports, warehouses, and shipyards. However, it is now being redeveloped into a new district sort of similar to Canary Wharf in London(Toyosu is less commerical than Canary Wharf). This is a picture of Toyosu around 1994
http://www.vgfun.net/lee/misc_images/toyosu/toyosu1994.jpg

In 2006
http://www.vgfun.net/lee/misc_images/toyosu/toyosu2006.jpg

Initial rendering of the project
http://www.vgfun.net/lee/misc_images/toyosu/toyosurendering.jpg

Urban Planning
http://www.vgfun.net/lee/misc_images/toyosu/toyosumap.gif

Toyosu 2 Chome
http://koto365.net/change/toyosu/ta/ta3.jpg

Toyosu 3 Chome
http://www.okuno-associates.com/2002/portfolio/topics/image/toyosu3chome.jpg

Ciel Tower
http://koto365.net/change/toyosu/ekimae/ekimae7.jpg

Star Court Toyosu
http://www.toyosu-star.com/comfort/index.html

Toyosu IHI
http://www.eonet.ne.jp/~building-pc/tokyo-kensetu/to-130tx1.JPG

Aban? Dock
http://www.mitsuifudosan.co.jp/home/aboutus/bigproject/toyosu/img/aboutusTableA01_pic_01.jpg


More links to projects in Toyosu
http://www.toyosu-mirai.jp/
http://www.mitsuifudosan.co.jp/home/aboutus/inside/03/index.html
http://www.toyosu-star.com/