Greater Bay
Area 2030+
Academic Supervisors
TU Delft
Diego Andres Sepulveda Carmona
Lei Qu
Gregory Bracken
Poly U Hong Kong
Peter Hasdell
Gerhard Bruyns
Location
Greater Bay Area | Hong Kong | China
Institution
Section of Spatial Planning and Strategy - Department of Urbanism | TU Delft
Collaborators
F.B. Kaaij, Y. Huang, J. Osusky, M. Ejaz, J.M.T Bijlsma
About the Project
Over the span of 9 weeks, a regional vision and strategy for the Greater Bay Area (GBA) was developed. The GBA, located in the Pearl River Delta in the southern part of China, is a global centre for economic development. This project seeks to instigate a paradigm shift from focusing on megaprojects to adopting mega-processes.
In the initial two weeks, an analysis of the environmental, social, and economic situation of the area was conducted to formulate a problem statement and define key focus points. The following two weeks took place in Hong Kong at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, where a morphological game-boarding strategy was applied to explore regional design in a more experimental manner. Two games were developed—one centred on the social perspective, focusing on regional liveability, and the other on the morphological perspective, examining spatial transformations. These activities helped identify two significant zoom-in locations within the region.
The final phase of the project was carried out in Delft, where a vision and strategy for the entire Greater Bay Area was crafted. This phase focused on rethinking megaproject implementation, using an element-based approach inspired by the book The Elemental Metropolis. The resulting strategy promotes a more agile, process-oriented method of regional development. The project concludes with a broader application of the developed insights across the GBA, identifying additional regions that can benefit from the approach in order to foster a resilient, adaptable, and liveable dynamic delta.
"Globalisation has been a key driver of China’s rapid economic development, transforming it from an isolated, agrarian society into a major global economic power. However, this transformation has also brought challenges, including environmental degradation and social inequality."
Wu, Jinglian. "Understanding and Interpreting Chinese Economic Reform." Thomson Learning Asia, 2005.
Vision
Shenzhen – Hong Kong Boarder Region
Lok Ma Chao - Today
The Lok Ma Chau site lies between two starkly contrasting landscapes: the densely built high rises that now define Shenzhen’s skyline and a network of Hong Kong’s wetlands interspersed with fishing villages and industrial areas. These existing elements will be reconfigured to show greater integration between the two boundaries. Our goal is to expand this wetland area on the Shenzhen side, creating more room for the river while preserving the existing ecological corridor for birds. We believe that the border between Shenzhen and Hong Kong will be unnecessary after 2047. The border control areas will then transform into recreational public spaces that also allow space for the water. The fishing villages in this area are also an important part of its culture and identity, and by expanding and integrating them further with different elements, we want to retain local values.Design Idea
Rather than the proposed dense urban innovation park, we envision an integrated mix of fishing villages with educational and health facilities and an innovation park. By combining these with elements of public parks and wetlands, we aim to create a new configuration that brings diverse people together and fosters a more inclusive environment.Consequently, the border control areas, which currently occupy a significant portion of the land, will become into seasonal floodplains, connecting and expanding the green areas from Hong Kong into Shenzhen. Shenzhen will also see the addition of more green corridors adjacent to existing residential areas, providing locals with access to public spaces, parks, and other essential amenities. There is also more room given to the river by making it wider with more gradually sloped riverbanks, and by fragmenting the Lok Ma Chao area into wetlands and fishponds. This transformation will result in a more diverse waterfront for both Hong Kong and Shenzhen, featuring seasonal floodplains that also serve as public parks.
Development Process Lok Ma Chao
Nansha - Today
The Greater Bay Area’s core cities, including Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou,
are interconnected by extensive infrastructure, forming a ring around the Delta. Future
developments will create a new inner ring of districts, like Nansha, connected to major
cities and the entire country through new railway lines. Nansha transport hub area
is thus proposed to link the Nansha Port Railway, Shenzhen-Maoming Railway and
the Guangzhou-Zhongshan-Zhuhai-Macao High-Speed Railway (Nansha Station
Architectural Concept Plan, n.d.-b). Being one of the newer areas undergoing major
development, Nansha currently consists of elements such as mangborves, manufacturing industries,
fishing villages, farmland and construction sites.Design Idea
Zooming in on the future Nansha railway station site, we propose a departure from the typical master plan. Instead, we envision an organisational structure that supports future expansion and adaptation. The station will be a floating structure above the existing landscape, with a green spine along the main longitudinal axis serving as the central connector between built functions. These functions cluster around the spine to minimize their footprint, leaving peripheral areas available for wetland expansion into a network of mangrove forests, aiding flood mitigation. There is a gradation of denser green-blue spaces from the river inward to the green spine, albeit built functions move outward, creating a more integrated structure. Smaller parks and green spaces around the built areas connect to the spine, while wider canals and an increased number of fishponds and lakes, help with water retention during both flood and drought seasons. The vehicular bridge in the Northeast will be transformed into a green bridge with an integrated public park.A key aim of this proposal is to preserve important cultural elements, such as the fishing villages and the authentic structure of the land. The scale of the megaprojects is reduced to a human level through these villages, which are buffered by public parks and green belts to enhance their surroundings.