“The Appointment between Youth and City” Urban Regeneration Design Competition

Background

Wuxi is located in southeast Jiangsu province, the center of the Yangtze River Delta, which is the most developed economic area of China and it is 128 km away from Shanghai. Boasting a history of more than 3,000 years, Wuxi is a historical city with profound cultural heritages and a large amount of talents. It's home to the Wu Culture in ancient times, and the national industrial and commercial culture in modern times. Wuxi has 31 important heritage sites under state protection, 11 sites named national intangible cultural heritage and 60 museums and memorial halls.In recent years, Wuxi benchmark the layout planning of international youth friendly advanced cities, propose to build a youth development-oriented city. This Urban Regeneration Design Competition – “The Appointment between Youth and City”, as an important support for the construction of a youth-oriented city in Wuxi, is committed to filling the gaps in public services by focusing on the perspective of young people, creating a comprehensive policy and social environment that meets the diverse and multi-level development needs of young people, promoting the gathering of young talents, and achieving mutual promotion and positive interaction between high-quality development of young people and the city.

Competition Theme

The theme of this urban regeneration design competition is “The Appointment between Youth and City”, aiming to focus on the positive interaction between urban regeneration and cultural inheritance in the “Old Town” of Greater Jiangnan from the perspective of youth. Taking the selected site of the competition as samples, combined with a series of measures that emphasize both restoration and protection, as well as upgrading and renovation, it aims to establish a model case of compatibility between “historical and cultural protection” and “urban regeneration”, and create a series of new cultural and tourism landmarks for youth development-oriented cities.

Brief Introduction of Design Site

This competition will select 5 sites in Liangxi District, Wuxi City as the design sites for the competition. Participants can choose one or several sites to design.

Erquan Square

• Information: Erquan Square is located in the core area of Chong’an Temple block in the urban center, with a conceptual design scope of 6,550 square meters and a core design scope of 800 square meters.
• Overview: Erquan Square is a public leisure square named after the famous erhu song “The Moon Over a Fountain” by Chinese folk musician Hua Yanjun, it is the the origin and cultural symbol of Wuxi city. The square is also adjacent to numerous historical and cultural buildings which are symbols of the prosperity of Wuxi's cultural heritage.
• Design Requirements: It is required to use scene planning and design, characteristic installations to coordinate the three-dimensional spaces of plan, facade and skyline, establish a spiritual landmark that reflects the epitome of Wuxi’s urban history and development.

Zhang’s Jiale Hall

• Information: Zhang’s Jiale Hall is located at No. 252 Nan Chang Street, covering an area of approximately 564 square meters, with an indoor area of approximately 1,065 square meters (two floors).
• Overview: Zhang’s Jiale Hall was built in 1930, which has significant historical value in architecture and art.
• Design Requirements: Based on the basic form and structure of the building, it is required to combine with the reversible indoor space renovation with minimal disturbance, plan to create an innovative format for young people loved, and pulse the new life of historical buildings.

“Caozhangli” Food Street

• Information: Caozhangli is an old street running north to south, located between Yongfeng Road and Yongle Road, with a total length of less than 1 kilometer.
• Overview: Caozhangli is the most popular food check-in spot in Wuxi, with the most authentic taste of Wuxi. In addition, to the south of Caozhangli, there are also a series of energetic and artistic youth social gathering venues, such as the Taihu Lake Square, Wuxi Library, Wuxi Museum and China-Japan Friendship Park, etc.
• Design Requirements: The main focus shall be on the scene planning and enhancement of overall style. It aims to update and improve the traditional business forms of the old street, and strengthen the atmosphere of youth activities in the block based on the overall organization design of space and transportation streamlines, combined with the youth lifestyle and aesthetic of life.

 Liangxi District Library

• Information: Liangxi District Library is located at No. 328 Renmin East Road. The main building covers an area of approximately 2,447 square meters, with a total indoor area of approximately 10,000 square meters with five floors.
• Overview: . The main building has 5 floors, with the library on floors 1 and 2, as well as the archives on floors 3 to 5. Due to the relocation of the Liangxi District Archives, the 3rd to 5th floors will be used as the library.
• Design Requirements: The main focus shall be on the relocated floors 3-5. Design should combined with innovative theme planning, expand the content attributes and activities that the library can bear and establish a cultural space that meets the spiritual needs of young people.

Yongding Bridge Park

• Information: Yongding bridge Park is located at the southwest corner of the intersection of Xianqian West Street and Jiefang West Road, with the Huimin Parking Lot on Xianqian West Street to the south and the old moat to the west. The green area is approximately 4,095 square meters.
• Overview: At present, the park is a traditional green space model. Residents only come here for walking and fitness. The time for rest and stay is limited, which is not attractive to young people.
• Design Requirements: It is required to combine the urban park effect with the lifestyle of urban youth, fully utilize the terrain conditions to optimize the overall layout of the park space, enhance spatial vitality, provide leisure and relaxation places for young people with practical and specific atmosphere, and create a highly favored outdoor exquisite living area. It is recommended to include the southern parking lot in the renovation scope for overall consideration.

Design Type

The design types can be various, and participants can freely express themselves, including architecture, landscape, sculpture and installation, etc. However, it is required that the project as a whole should be creative with the new urban scenes and new formats that young people love as the core for thinking and innovative design, based on the site conditions and the theme of the competition, so as to effectively activate the vitality and regeneration of the city, as well as form a unique personality and cultural tone of the “Old Town” of the Greater Jiangnan Area.

Award

First prize (one team)- bonus 100,000 RMB/team (approx 14,000 USD) (before tax)

Second prize (3 teams) -bonus 50,000 RMB/team (approx 7,000 USD) (before tax)

Third prize (5 teams) -bonus 30,000 RMB/team (approx 4,200 USD) (before tax)

Honorable mentions (several teams) without bonus.

Competition Website: https://youngcitywuxi.cbcuri.com/?langd=en

Organization

Organizers: China Communist Youth League Wuxi Committee,

Housing and Urban Rural Development Bureau of Wuxi City,

Liangxi District People's Government of Wuxi City,

Co-Organizers:Urban Regeneration (Beijing) Holding Group 

Co-Sponsors:  Huaxin Design Group,

China Construction Science and Industry Corporation Ltd.

Registration deadline：December 31, 2024

Submission deadline: February 20, 2025

Address: Wuxi, China

Price: Free