Situated on the shores of China’s South China Sea, Shenzhen is a hub for design in China and is globally renowned as the “City of Design.” In recent years, in addition to rapid development in conventional design fields such as graphic design and industrial design, Shenzhen’s design industry has also seen remarkable progress in tourism planning and design, driven by the growth of modern tourism, giving rise to a number of accomplished and influential design firms and leading designers. Among them is Professor Chen Keshi, a professor at Peking University and Director of the China Urban Design Research Center at Peking University, and the firm he founded—Shenzhen Zhongying Urban Planning.
Starting from Shenzhen, excelling in tourism town planning and design
Like many design firms in Shenzhen, Zhongying Urban Planning chose to establish itself here because of the city’s youthful, vibrant, and creative spirit. Shenzhen’s cultural and creative industries have developed rapidly, and in 2008, the United Nations awarded it the title of “City of Design,” making it the sixth such city in the world. At that time, Professor Chen Keshi, as a professor at Peking University, had already led the Zhongying Urban Planning team to complete numerous high-profile projects, earning a strong reputation in the industry. In just over a decade, Zhongying Urban Planning has grown from a small design team of just over ten people into an integrated tourism planning and design group with multiple branches—including those in Hong Kong, Chengdu, and Kunming—and an international team of elite designers.
Zhongying Urban Planning’s widely acclaimed project: “Nyingchi (Luolang) International Tourism Town”
Today, the Nyingchi (Luolang) International Tourism Town project is nearing full completion and is expected to officially open to the public in 2016. From the initial project survey, to conceptualization and design, to the subsequent five-year planning and construction phase, Luolang is being meticulously planned and diligently built by Zhongying Urban Planning and the Guangdong Aid-Tibet Construction Team, soon to be transformed into an international tourism town that highlights Tibetan culture, natural ecology, sanctity and tranquility, and modern fashion.
In addition to the Nyingchi (Luolang) International Tourism Town, other projects by Zhongying Urban Planning include Chengdu’s Luodai Ancient Town and Xiashi Ancient Town. Of particular note is that in 2014, Zhongying Urban Planning once again secured two major planning projects in Sichuan through its solid expertise—the “China’s Most Beautiful Scenic Route—317 & 318 Sichuan-Tibet World Tourism Destination (Sichuan Section) Planning Project” and the “National Historic and Cultural Famous Town—Sichuan Luquan Ancient Town Planning and Design Project.” Zhongying Urban Planning, this design firm born on the shores of China’s South China Sea, is actively promoting the development of China’s green new pastoral cities and humanistic cities through its actions.