Hengqin Island Developments

[acrylicbond]

HOK国际（亚太公司）是七家设计公司交出的中标方案文本最薄的一家。“这个方案写得简单，但考虑得很有深度。”昨天，中国城市规划学会理事长陈秉钊接受记者采访时表示，强调可持续发展是该中标方案最鲜明的特点。多功能复合 充满活力

　　在一片空地上“造城”，打造符合珠海未来发展需要的、国际化、滨水生态型、区域性现代服务业聚集平台，应当避免什么？

　　“目前国际上一些建成的著名商务区有一个通病，就是白天人来人往，晚上一片漆黑。而HOK国际（亚太公司）城市设计概念方案，是要打造一个充满活力的商贸城。”一位参加评审的专家说，为此，HOK国际（亚太公司）注重多元化、综合化发展，避免商务功能过于单一带来的弊病，实现多产业融合、多功能复合。重视文化及公共设施建设，强调文化与商务的有机融合，打造集商务办公、高端居住、休闲娱乐、科教文化于一体的、充满活力的滨水型目的地。

　　在HOK的方案里，整体上充分考虑了基地山、海、城的融合，将其商贸、会展、居住、旅游等各项功能悉心规划，遵循逻辑，合理灵活地分布于各区块内，使高密度的开发与生态环境平衡并完美融合；在规划上，充分利用了基地现有滨水环境，并充分突出滨水型商务区这一主要特征；在利用基地现有水系的同时，还在基地南片区开拓人工岛创造更多的滨水用地，满足南区高密度的商务区开发。环环相扣 吸引创业人气

　　“整个方案环环相扣，充分发挥了十字门商务区的地理优势，并在功能上促进产业结构优化和升级。”一位评审专家认为，HOK国际（亚太公司）城市设计概念方案很符合人性化，能吸引到人来创业生活。

　　规划中的“南湾山畔社区”为重视生活机能及居住环境的年轻人群打造高尚滨水人居，辅以各项生活配套；“横琴码头”片区将规划一系列多元的餐饮及零售空间，针对年轻的创业人士消费及互动，并配套滨水起居、私人游艇码头等，拥有绝佳沿水视野；“横琴中心”片区是十字门商务区的核心，位于专属的岛上，以水族馆、歌剧院作为“文化廊”南北端点，由一系列文化、购物广场构成，并与轻轨车站紧密结合；“横琴滨水社区”片区东与澳门Cotai金光大道隔水相望，澳门风景尽收眼底，打造自成体系的滨水居住社区，拥有极佳的视觉景观和便利的交通条件。

　　“该方案利用南部的自然水域形成一个自然商贸岛，增加了十字门的城市价值，使城市形象更突出，这是其另一大设计亮点。” 打造地标 与澳门遥相呼应

　　打造珠澳地标建筑性群是十字门商务区承担的重任之一。HOK国际（亚太公司）中标方案最吸引人眼球的是其在十字门商务区南北片区分别规划一座标志性建筑，这点给了评委深刻的印象。

　　“打造珠海标志性天际线，代表着珠海未来形象，与澳门旅游观光塔共同构成南中国的建筑地标。”该公司设计专家说。

　　此外，在交通衔接上，该方案注重构筑由快速路、主干路、次干路、支路组成的“环网相扣”的城市道路骨架格局。通过建设城市主干路网，实现了基地与周边空港、未来港珠澳大桥、太澳高速等交通枢纽的完美对接，便于各城市组团的串接和人流的聚集和分散；同时，通过港珠澳大桥、横琴大桥、横琴二桥、莲花大桥和金海大桥实现与区域交通网络的连接。设计师说：每个人都会爱上这里

　　“相信不久的将来，当我们的规划变成现实时，每个人都会由衷地爱上这里。”项目总规划师、HOK高级副总裁汤建城在获悉自己所率领的团队中标本次十字门商务区城市规划后，十分有信心地表示。

　　珠海在提出打造建设十字门中央商务区时，所注重的绿色、生态、人文、可持续发展的概念，与HOK一直坚持秉承的绿色、可持续发展的核心价值观念不谋而合，这让我们对这个规划设计项目的成功有很强的信心。

　　如何让高密度开发与生态环保相和谐、如何让CBD与周边交通大环境完美对接、如何让十字门商务区南北片区完美连接、如何考虑南片区亲水环境的充分利用、如何让商务区得到全面开发来满足全方位功能需求……对于规划设计师来说，挑战其实就是最有意思的东西。“这些规划难题让我们团队苦思了两个月，最终我们成功了！”汤建城很开心。专家观点很人性化，能吸引到人 ——中国城市规划学会理事长陈秉钊

　　中标方案印象最深的是设计了一个680米的高楼，与澳门观光塔呼应。这点给我们很强烈的印象。关于高度，并不是最后的结果，还需要优化讨论。

　　该方案写得简单，考虑得很有深度。比方说，很重视十字门商务区怎样吸引到人，要人家愿意来这里创业，怎样吸引人到这里工作生活。所以很重视水景的创造、水环境的营造，很重视尺度。我们过去觉得很气派很宏伟就行，但往往就不符合人性化的要求。而这个方案很人性化，能吸引到人。

　　设计中地标位于一个岛上，也就是未来的一个商务中心。我们到过纽约的华尔街，除了观光游客以外，另外一些人群，都是西装革履的精英。但实际上这个地区没有深厚的生活气息，没有商店，也没有生气。现在对珠海十字门商务区中心区的规划建设，注重复合型，除了办公，还要有娱乐、休闲、购物，这对于这个岛屿能否吸引人非常重要。代表世界顶端水平 ——美国Gensler公司都市规划和城市设计总监MichelSt.Pierre

[pearl river]

China's sleepy Hengqin wakes up
By Kent Ewing

HONG KONG - As central planners dream of further integrating the former Western-run territories of Hong Kong and Macau into China's rich Pearl River Delta region, relatively sleepy Hengqin island has been given a big wake-up call.

The largely undeveloped island, until now a piece of Guangdong province under the jurisdiction of the city of Zhuhai, bordering Macau, is slated for a major makeover as a resort paradise, featuring golf courses, theme parks, water sports, hiking trails and other tourist attractions.

Hengqin is three times the size of Macau, Asia's gambling capital and its immediate neighbor to the east, and development of the island could add significantly to tourist attractions in the region. The potential of developing Hengqin has long been recognized. Three years ago, Las Vegas Sands, which has casino interests in



Macau, described plans to invest US$1 billion in a resort complex on the island.

Under the most recent proposals, development of more than half of the island's landmass of 106.46 square kilometers will be prohibited, making it a rare eco-friendly patch of China.

But tourism is only part of the Hengqin story.

While the development plan envisages a family-oriented leisure and resort center for the southern part of the island - a perfect complement to nearby Macau's high-stakes, hard-edged gambling and adult entertainment - a first-class science and technology zone is planned in the north, and the University of Macau is building a new 1.2 billion patacas (more than US$150.3 million) campus, scheduled for completion in 2012, in the east.

Official projections show Hengqin's current population of 4,000 growing to 200,000 by 2020 and per capita gross domestic product, now the equivalent of about US$1,200, increasing to more than $29,000 by that time.

Those are the kinds of figures that make potential investors interested, and 200 of them gathered last week at Hong Kong's Island Shangri-La Hotel to listen to Chinese officials wax strong about their vision of another kind of Shangri-la that they hope to build on Hengqin.

The ambitious plan for the island, outlined in official communiques last summer, was laid out in greater detail for the well-heeled audience in Hong Kong. The fact that a high-ranking official for the National Development and Reform Commission, Fan Hengshan, was on hand to make his own personal pitch for the project lent it additional weight.

"This is a new creative model to bring out the best features of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau," Fan said. "It will be an experiment with new policies. We need the support of Hong Kong and Macau to succeed."

Fan was referring to hurdles to the plan thrown up by the tricky legal relationship between Beijing and the two former colonies, obstacles that will require imagination and a willingness to experiment to surmount.

Hong Kong was handed back to China in 1997 after more than 150 years of British rule, and Macau, formally colonized by Portugal in 1887 after serving as a Portuguese trading post for the previous 330 years, returned to the motherland two years later. Under the "one country two systems" formula designed by Deng Xiaoping, both have their own constitutions guaranteeing legal autonomy and maintain strict border controls with the mainland.

Shortly after Hong Kong's handover, then Chinese president Jiang Zemin used a metaphor to explain the "one country two systems", saying "the well water does not intrude into river water, and vice versa" (each side minds its own business). However, one decade or so after the handover, Hong Kong and Macau have become increasingly integrated economically with the mainland, particularly the Pearl River Delta.

But it seems when economic integration develops to a certain extent, some kind of physical (geographical) integration becomes inevitable, at least for the sake of the sustained development of Hong Kong and Macau. In this regard, the Hengqin project may be seen as a test case that Beijing is opening the gate to allow "well water" to intrude into "river water". Nowadays, both in Hong Kong and on the mainland, there is no lack of talk about a merger of Hong Kong with Shenzhen, its mainland neighbor, to form a mega-metropolis. Thus the much-vaunted autonomy of Hong Kong and Macau may be ripe for some creative reinterpretation.

Such a mindset is already on display in the new infrastructure planned for the island, which until now has been occupied by the military and a smattering of farmers and fisherman. For example, the Macau government has agreed to build a tunnel from its Coloane Island to Hengqin through which students, faculty and other employees of the new campus will commute without being required to pass through immigration. The tunnel will also carry a communications cable giving the new campus the same high-speed Internet connection enjoyed in Macau.

Taking the "one country, two systems" mantra that has governed the handover of China's former colonies a step further, Macau law will apply on the new campus while mainland law will prevail in the rest of Hengqin.

Officials are also reportedly considering granting visa-free access to Hengqin to residents of Macau and Hong Kong and to foreigners. Such an innovation, if it were actually implemented, would represent leaps-and-bounds progress in the thinking of mainland officialdom. This kind of openness to foreigners has long been a staple of life in Hong Kong and Macau but, despite the last 30 years of economic liberalization in China, a lingering fear of foreign influence remains among Communist Party officials who ultimately make the decisions there.

Hengqin will serve as a test for them, and the possible economic rewards may in the end trump their paranoia.

Meanwhile, Hengqin will become the third so-called "New Area" in China, after Pudong in Shanghai and Binhai in Tianjin. These special development zones are all designated for economic experimentation and reform. But the Hengqin plan's emphasis on a clean environment and eco-tourism, as well as its easy transportation links with Macau and Hong Kong, mark it as something distinctly new. If successful, it will signal yet another important economic advance for China.

At the same time, the Henqin project could bring Hong Kong and Macau still closer to the bosom of the motherland and further enhance their integration into the Pearl River Delta economy.

It is no secret that officials in Hong Kong and Macau are worried about being marginalized as oddball former colonies as the mainland continues its spectacular growth.

Macau has done its best to attract mainland gamblers, and the leisure-and-resort plan for Hengqin should serve to lure many more visitors, both Chinese and foreign, to its casinos. Hong Kong, a shopping and entertainment mecca which opened its own Disneyland in 2005, also stands to benefit from a new influx of tourists.

Moreover, Hong Kong and Macau are reaching out to the riches of the mainland with plans to build a bridge - at 29 kilometers (18 miles) one of the world's longest - linking Hong Kong, Macau and Zuhai. And Hong Kong is committed to building a high-speed railway to connect the city to the mainland's rail network in Guangdong. At a cost of HK$65.2 billion (US$8.4 billion), it would be, per kilometer, the most expensive stretch of railway built anywhere in the world.

Local critics have decried the exorbitant cost of the project, but city officials insist it is necessary for Hong Kong's future prosperity.

In another jaw-dropping proposal, the Bauhinia Foundation, a policy think-tank closely associated with the Hong Kong government, has even proposed the merger of Hong Kong and the mainland border city of Shenzhen, a special economic zone, to form a mega-city of 20 million people. This idea however is not original. Several years ago, when development in Shenzhen came to its bottleneck, a number of Shenzhen scholars and legislators already began to push for it.

There is no shortage of imagination here on how to make full use of "one country two systems".

Kent Ewing is a Hong Kong-based teacher and writer. He can be reached at kewing@hkis.edu.hk.

(Copyright 2009 Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)

[one grantai]

Big, big, big Plans.

I believe most people who became interested in Macau especially in an investment sense became so because ones trusts as so much money was poured into such a smally area, assets bound to rise short, medium and long term.

Those money especially in the casino area were invested largely by non-chinese, especailly non mainland Chinese, as strict orders from Beijing detered much Chinese company invlovement, thus the latest development of Macau was largely outside the control of Beijing.

It seems now Beijing in determined to shape the development of Macau, which is no dissimilar to any rulers anywhere, anytime in history. Their way of doing so is in the 3rd specially area (Heggin Island).

Whether Beijing is successful or half successful in their attempt, in any event it means even more money would be poured into a small area (be it this time the area is 500 meter from Macau).

What will happen to asset prices when that happens, will it define logic and depreciate? or indeed it would follow logic, and further unlock Macau's intrinsic value, time will tell.

I am on the side of logic.


the writer is a native Macanese and has investments in Macau

[pearl river]

second foto in link is a model of the new district, the proposed tower on Hengqin reminds me of the Burj Dubai tower

http://www.u0756.com/1/Article/NewHo...235254_P3.html

[pearl river]

Hengqin doorstep designers picked
Posted Tue, 2009-11-10 00:51 by Zhuhai Daily News
Delta News: Zhuhai news
Briefing

HOK International (Asia/Pacific) Ltd, a global leader in master planning, architecture and interior design, has won the international bid for the urban planning and design of Zhuhai Shizimen Central Business District (CBD) organized by Huafa Group, it was unveiled last Tuesday.

Founded in 1955, Hok has branched out worldwide in 24 areas. It served as the planning and engineering consultant for development of the $2.1 billion international airport at Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong and Dubai Marina, the world’s largest planned waterfront community.

The Shizimen Central Business District is to be made a vibrant waterfront destination and a business district with sustainable development in environment, economy and society, which is commonly considered a world top-notch design by panel judges.

International bidding has drawn seven international designers since opening in June. A starting project of Hengqin New Area, Shizimen CBD will provide a platform for Zhuhai’s international, ecological and regional modern service industry and become a new urban centre.

The Nanwan Hillside Community will be an upscale riverside residential area for the young, stressing life quality and housing environment. Hengqin Marina, meanwhile, will provide a series of diversified catering and retail projects along with waterfront residences and a private yacht marina. Hengqin Centre area, core of the Shizimen CBD, will feature a Culture Corridor starting from an aquarium in the south and ending at the Opera House in the north and consisting of a series of cultural and shopping squares linked to the light railway. And, the Hengqin Waterfront Community area faces the Cotai Strip of Macao to the east with fantastic views and convenient traffic conditions.

A significant skyline co-ordinating with the Macao Tower is embraced in Hok’s Shizimen CBD design to form a Zhuhai-Macao landmark group, which greatly impressed the panel judges.

A traffic system through which pedestrians can reach the Shizimen CBD convention and exhibition site will be established to convenience people working in the hotel and office buildings.

The Shizimen CBD ground-breaking ceremony will be held and a display centre will be open on December 8.

The Hok design also stresses an urban road network encompassing throughways, major trunk roads, subsidiary roads and secondary access roads and accessing surrounding airports, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and Taiyuan-Macao Expressway.

The Shizimen Central Business District consists of five key features:
Convention & Exhibition Business, which is located in the north area of the CBD and composed of convention and exhibition cluster, AVIC General Aircraft cluster, administrative office, residential, square and park areas covering 285,000sqm with floor space of 2.48sqkm.

Hillside Community, which is at the foot of Jiangjun Mountain in the north and composed of business support, upscale residential and administrative office facilities covering 808,692sqm with floor space of 1.27sqkm.

Recreation & Entertainment, which is located in the south of the CBD and close to Hengqin Bridge, will focus on appropriate business support and upscale residential facilities covering 852,467sqm with floor space of 1.47sqkm.

Business Centre, which is the core of the CBD located on a standalone island in east Hengqin and will focus on business and office, upscale business support, leisure and residential facilities covering 962,354sqm with floor space of 2.27sqkm.

Waterfront Community located in the south of the CBD abutting Macao by river will highlight business support, upscale residential and scientific research and educational facilities covering 962,103sqm with floor space of 1.94sqkm.

RMJM, a UK-based international architectural practice founded in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1956 by modernist architects Robert Matthew and Stirrat Johnson-Marshall, has won the international bid for architectural design of the Shizimen Central Business District first-phase -- Convention & Exhibition Business, it was announced by Huafa Group on Wednesday.

The conglomerate will encompass an international convention and exhibition centre, another international convention centre, a super five-star hotel, an international-standard five-star hotel, an international first-class office building and business support facilities.

A silver “urban ribbon” consisting of business and office facilities connects the convention and exhibition centre and waterfront leisure street with the urban business district and mass transit hub and stations. Technical and environmental protection concepts and environment-friendly materials for thermal insulation are applied to strengthen a harmonious co-existence of the high-intensive development and ecological environment. The first phase will be a perfect combination of wisdom and romance, according to a spokesperson.

Other world-level designers in on the bidding include UK-based Atkins Design Studio, one of the world’s leading engineering and design consultancies; Cox from Australia; Arata Isozaki & Associates from Japan; NBBJ, a multidisciplinary architecture, planning and design firm headquartered in the USA; German GMP Architects and US WATG International Architecture.

Cui Kai, vice director of the China Architecture Design & Research Group, noted that what the panel judges emphasise is how the design deals with waterfront space, the relationship of the area to its surroundings, sustainable development in the first and second phases, the landmark buildings and the dynamic space that will result. The chosen design is considered to have found solutions to all issues concerned.

[HereAndThere]

Wow. Now you One Central guys will really have something to look at :-)
I went to presentation for new Univ of Macau. Architect is same as China's Pavilion for World Expo. Still 4 alternative designs - but general outlook very interesting. I am not sure about viability of the tunnel access though.

Looking at scope of development plans and in view of what's going on now, it is hard to imagine funding will be available for all this building.
Thanks for the links.

[HK Bystander]

在一片空地上“造城" - Wow. I'm totally amazed. What ambitious plans!

[pearl river]

apparently the main tower will be 680 m high

ZHUHAI | Shizimen CBD Tower | 680m | 2230ft |
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=994997

[Foreign Affairs]

I still believe that Hengqin Island should have been given to Macau. Macau is getting smaller day by day... if Beijing really care for the people of Macau especially it's youth why not provide a bigger land that would have alot of benefit to their fellow Chinese. The sight of educational institutions being a few feet away from casinos is not good for the welfare and development of the children. How can the local entrepreneurs thrive if the rent of properties is high due to the scarcity of land. It's not anymore a healthy place to live in, how will they be able to put up Green communities if they don't have enough land to plant trees. Trees which are important to mitigate the air problem in Macau. Isn't it Macau now part of China under the two systems policy. But why does it still look like that Macau belong to another country. Do the people of Macau need to wait for that 50 year autonomy to end just to have a more livable territory?

[one grantai]

Develpers, particularly Huafa is buying up land available anywhere close to Henqqin, as a result Zhuhai land has appreciated a great deal lately.

[pearl river]

China sets up 3rd state-level New Area


Dec. 17, 2009 (China Knowledge) - Hengqin New Area, China's third state-level New Area after Shanghai Pudong New Area and Tianjin Binhai New Area, was set up in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province yesterday, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

On the same day, four major projects with a total investment of RMB 72.6 billion started construction. The projects include the construction of urban infrastructure, building gas supply stations, resorts and central business district.

Reportedly, China Metallurgical Group Corp will invest RMB 12.6 billion to build the main road network in the New Area over the next three years.

Hengqin is the largest of the Zhuhai Islands, covering an area of about 106 square kilometers.

[pearl river]

Transformation begins on Hengqin Island16:45, December 17, 2009

Four massive projects launched yesterday on Hengqin Island will give a facelift to an island currently scattered with farmland and banana trees.

It is another significant step in the development of the Zhuhai area of Guangdong province into a major business zone, one day after construction started on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge.

The island, the largest of 146 islands in Zhuhai linked to Macao by bridge, got approval from the central government in mid-August to be China's third State-level strategic new zone, after Shanghai's Pudong district and Tianjin's Binhai area.

About 12.6 billion yuan ($1.8 billion) will be invested to boost the road network, underground pipe network, dykes and landscaping on the island.

Construction is due to be completed by 2013, according to the island's management commission, which was also officially put into operation yesterday. Another 12 billion yuan will be used for eight high-efficient gas-fired generating units, which will supply green energy to the island by 2012.

Two companies will invest 38 billion yuan to build a modern commercial center by 2020 and 10 billion yuan to build a tourism resort by 2012.

"The Hengqin New Area will be a new platform to promote closer cooperation between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao. It's also a new highlight of the western bank area of the Pearl River estuary," said Wan Qingliang, vice-governor of Guangdong, in the launching ceremony.

According to the blueprint, Hengqin Island will achieve 120,000 yuan per capita GDP by 2015, which will be raised to 200,000 yuan by 2020.

The population is expected to increase to 120,000 by 2015 and 280,000 by 2020. Industries will focus on business services, leisure, tourism, education, and research and development as well as high technology.

[pearl river]

Official website in english for the Hengqin New Area

http://www.hengqin.gov.cn/en/

[yunowu]

Looks like many future real estate investment opportunities are available..... thanks for all the links !!

[pearl river]

Authorities in Zhuhai, China, begin real estate project on Hengqin Island [ 2010-06-29 ]


Macau, China, 29 Jun – The government of the Zhuhai special economic region began on Monday part of the development project for Hengqin Island, which will absorb an estimated investment of more than 100 billion yuan (US$12.5 billion), reports the Chinese press of Macau.

The Cross Gate Central Business District (CGCBD) will be developed on a 5.77 square kilometre site by the Huafa group, which comprises real estate sector companies held by Zhuhai municipality.

The CGCBD should take five years to build. It will be endowed with infrastructures for holding conventions and exhibitions and is also meant attract the finance and insurance sectors, among others.

The project includes the construction of a building more than 300 metres high. The lower part will house offices, while the upper part will be occupied by the St Regis and Sheraton hotels, both pertaining to the American Starwood group.

The Cross Gate Central Business District is located in the northeast part of Hengqin Island, across from the Macau Peninsula and Taipa Island. (macauhub)

[pearl river]

crazy stuff!!!! megalomaniac or realistic???

http://www.u0756.com/special/20100628shizimen/

[MacauPearlRiver]

Hi there, just to follow up on the latest development in Macau - the Hengqin development project is well underway.

It would be great to share some ideas and opinions on how the project might affect Macau's Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Macau's asset prices, amongst other concerns.

What are the challenges and contributions that Hengqin could bring to Macau? For Macau to really benefit, should Hengqin be 'sealed' off to form a zone that is distinct from the rest of Zhuhai?

[Myouzke]

Hengqin campus enters final stage of construction
2012/04/24
Macau News

The construction of the University of Macau’s new campus in Hengqin will enter into its final stage in May, and will be finish by the end of the year as scheduled.

During a visit to the site by the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Cheong U, the Assistant Coordinator of the Infrastructure Development Office, Chau Vai Man said the 80 buildings in the new campus under construction in Zhuhai (Guangdong province) would be completed next month.

The new campus will be open next autumn.

The project have 945,000 square meters in floor area with the capacity to accommodate over 10,000 students and 800 university staff.

According to Chau transportation networks for the 1.09 km square campus are also progressing in accordance with the schedule, including the underwater tunnel connecting the school to Taipa 300 meters away.

Chau also said the core section of the tunnel (that would be 75 meters underwater upon completion) was due to be finished in June. After this the entire length of the tunnel will be linked to Taipa by August.

The site is now a dried cofferdam where seawater is pumped out to facilitate the construction, after which the embankment would be demolished and 300,000-ton vessels will be able to pass through the channel between the campus and Taipa.

Zhao Wei, the rector of UM, pointed out that some facilities in the new premises, including some parts of the library, the cultural centers, and sports grounds, would be open to the use by the public.

Cheong U said while the completion time is this year, he expected the relocation procedures to take months, and therefore practical use of the facilities would not be possible until next autumn.

As to the University of Macau’s existing campus in Taipa, Cheong said the government had decided not to put it up for commercial use - instead it would be used for cultural or social purposes.

[coimbra]

Any picturres of the new University of Macau campus?

[Myouzke]

only found one picture

Zhuhai Daily