Simon co-founded Sybarite with Torquil McIntosh in 2002, since which time they have delivered nearly 3,000 projects, including retail and experiential concepts, and designs for notable brands and retail operators of varying scales, from monobrands through to master planning. Their successful repositioning of the Shin Kong Place mall to ‘SKP’ in China has given them a unique insight into the Chinese consumer and the Chinese retail landscape. Project locations include Beijing, Xi’an, and Chengdu, with Wuhan and Hangzhou soon to launch. In addition to SKP, Sybarite creatively directed and conceived SKP-S, an ongoing next-generation retail concept.

Tell us more about how Sybarite entered the China market

Entering the China market was a purposeful new business decision around 2012/13. We were selected to be part of a private competition and were awarded the Shin Kong Place project in Beijing, working on the repositioning and rebranding of the mall to a department store. The Department of Trade and Industry also provided us with an opportunity to travel to China with the then government under David Cameron.

What major successes and growth has Sybarite experienced in that time?

We have scaled the SKP concept exponentially since 2013 and created three very important brands: SKP, SKP-S & DT51. We have created a house style and architectural language that can support growth, brand diversification and brand extensions. We have worked and continue to work with notable developers such as CR Land, Swire, and Hongkong Land, for example. We also won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise for our work in China in 2016 and 2022.

“China presents a unique opportunity for Sybarite to embrace the strength of the luxury retail market in architectural, design and foresight terms and to capture the bravery and strategic future facing vision of our clients coupled with the aspirations of the end users”. Simon Mitchell, Co-Founder, Sybarite

How critical is the China market to Sybarite’s global strategy?

China is integral to our strategy as we are the architectural partners for SKP, planning current and future design, architecture and retail strategy. However, we do purposefully look at and take on projects of all scales. Most of our business and expansion is in Asia and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, although we also do work in Europe and the UK at the moment.

Tell us a little bit about how Sybarite connects with consumers in China. How do Chinese consumers differ from consumers in other markets?

The Chinese market facilitates a brave approach to retail, which we embrace. Exclusivity and experimentation are key, yet at the same time, longevity is playing a part in the design process so we are mindful of what we propose, which needs to be agile and transformable and present a return on investment for many years to come.

Traditionally, elsewhere in the world, there has been a more conservative approach to retail in all senses. I would speculate that this is because of the constraints of operating within the heritage/legacy department store sphere and the connotations and the parameters that automatically assumes and enforces. In China, on the other hand, the consumers themselves have more of an appetite for risk and experimentation and welcome riding the high and fluctuating waves of new fashion trends, which require the retail formats to follow suit.

The sentiments of the retail operator and the associated brands (the store brand mix) matter enormously to the end consumer, as well as traction and place-making opportunities. Location is also key, and Sybarite’s design ethos is about synchronising with the existing and future cultural aspirations of a location.

We are also working within the Chinese government parameters around carbon reduction goals (i.e., to reach carbon neutrality by 2060) and creating structures that incorporate sustainable mindsets and taking building below ground level.

What are your thoughts and reflections on today’s Chinese consumer landscape, and how has this changed over the pandemic?

The pandemic influenced a rethinking of consumerism. Consumers are now gravitating to less but better and more unique consumption experiences (connected to brands and brand values). For example, the Chinese customer is consuming luxury brands as a way of life and improvement of their quality of life rather than simply as labels and price points.

We have also seen the rapid economic rise of China linked to increased urbanisation and the digitalisation of society, including digital marketing and the impact of KOLs and the blurring between digital and physical experiences and environments. This has affected Chinese shopping behaviours and continues to do so. Social media has a huge impact in decision making and product acquisition, and building trust with Chinese clients through authenticity and integrity is integral.

As the success of projects such as SKP has shown, there is a need for experiential retail – for escape, for discovery, for otherworldliness. Exclusive and empathetic luxury experiences are important. Both brands and retail operators are investing in innovation and sustainability to remain relevant and on point, and it is also necessary to create a sense of belonging within the community (i.e., in line with attitudes, beliefs, allegiances and values).

Aerial view of SKP Chengdu, photo by Nick Kuratnik, courtesy of Sybarite

What do you think will be the hottest consumer trends in China over the next five years?

For Sybarite, we are mainly looking at experiential retail and enhancement of the customer journey, as well as brands extending their reach beyond Tier 1 cities.

We will see the blurring of the boundaries between brand and customer and the extension of the consumer life cycle through digital tools such as virtual shopping environments which serve to engage the customer on a deeper level. Data gathering through these digital tools will be used to further hone and enhance customer experience, for example, by offering personalised services to build loyalty.

Finally, it will be important to focus on localisation which goes beyond literal brand translation and is more about a deep understanding of local culture, values and establishing long-term relationships and customer loyalty.

“SKP Chengdu crystalises the evolution of both consumers and retailers over the last three years of Covid-imposed travel restrictions in China. Consumers have sought and demanded the fusion of travel, experience and shopping, blended harmoniously in one journey in perfect sync with the city’s pioneering approach to placing nature at the heart of development.” Antoaneta Becker, CBBC Director of Consumer Economy

What are Sybarite’s future ambitions and plans in China?

We are evolving ourselves as a studio with larger and more complex master plans. This is already evident with SKP Chengdu and there are further plans in place that will be revealed in the next five years, including work in multiple cities in China.

We will focus on shopping malls and department stores, brand extensions, hospitality and lifestyle and have a hand in the art curation, digital content, and retail strategies within those projects.

If you could give advice to UK consumer brands entering China, what would it be?

China is a long-term commitment, and it goes without saying that you need to research the landscape fully. Make sure that you differentiate your service and vision, as there is a lot of competition in the market.

Consider and respect the nuances of Chinese culture. Take time to understand the different demographics and the end consumers very well. This will require an agile approach.

Build strong and trusted relationships on the ground in China to facilitate your projects and find someone who can advise you on legal and local regulations.

Photos by Nick Kuratnik and Shihao Xiao, courtesy of Sybarite

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The renders of the 1000 Trees Project under construction along the Suzhou River in Shanghai look stunning and extremely ambitious. Can you describe the project?

The project has the shape of two mountains topped by living pillars. Each pillar will contain plants, hence the name ‘1000 Trees.’ There are two phases of the project: Phase one is the west mountain, which is about 60 meters high and is going to open next year, around Chinese New Year.

The east mountain is the second phase, and is 100 meters high. They’re probably going to commence piling this month. It’ll be quite interesting to see the first phase opening while the second phase is still under construction.

The project will have living pillars filled with plants

What will the spaces contain?

Well, the first phase is predominantly retail and food and beverage. The second phase is going to have 50,000 square meters of workspace and a 200-room hotel. There’s this very dramatic bend of the Suzhou Creek which we are turning into a riverside park.

How did you come up with the idea of such original buildings, topped by pixelated, elevated pillars?

The idea came up as a natural response to the site. It was the area that inspired us: Imagine a brownfield site with a few historic heritage buildings, right next to this incredible Arts District, the M50. Plus we had the gift of this park running all along the Suzhou Creek. We wanted something that unified the whole site together, although technically the M50 isn’t part of our site, in our minds it is.

Embedded in the south facade there is a huge open-air art wall, which used to be along Moganshan Road. People would come and paint from all over the world, so it was a very special place for the city. We’ve worked with artists to create new pieces of art that can then be positioned within our south façade. It will be a bit like keeping the wall.

Initially, we had permission for a very classic podium, two towers, with a typical building form. All you could see around the area were copycat residential towers. We felt compelled to create some sort of contrast to the existing urban landscape.

Height restrictions also helped define the project. On the west, we could build up to 60 meters, and up to 100 meters on the east. That is how we came up with the idea of a park rising up to these two peaks, from which the park just slopes down.

And the more we worked on it, the more we developed this pixelated language. We created a grid that encompasses the whole site. Then, on every point of the grid, we put a piece of the park. And that’s how we came up with the idea of 1,000 Trees, of creating these elevated pops.

Also, green roofs usually have the problem of being very heavy, and they lower the floor to ceiling height inside, so placing the landscape right on top of the column is the most structurally efficient solution, which frees up all the roof space to be used as terraces.

We were able to create 1,000 large terraces as well, measuring nine by nine metres. The retail units will have their own outdoor terraces, the restaurants can spill out.

Having exposure and understanding a different culture is a great influence for our designs

The site will contain retail and dining areas as well as a 200-room hotel

What was the biggest difficulty you encountered working in Shanghai?

Working during and after the lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic has definitely been the biggest challenge. There’s been nothing quite like this. Not being able to go to a physical meeting, not being able to be in the same room, always seeing things on footage…

Our site architects, who are based in Shanghai, are doing site visits at a distance. That’s only commenced in the last couple of weeks. As a lot of meetings have resumed in the clients’ offices, they all wear masks. Everybody’s very vigilant about lift buttons and are taking it incredibly seriously. As long as this is carried out safely, we are happy, so we are fine with projects taking a little longer to complete.

Working with your architects on site must have felt like taking a peek into the future…

We’ve been seeing how they would have responded to working under lockdown conditions before we had to. We watched our colleagues doing video calls with their children appearing in the background. And then, a month later, here we are.

1,000 Trees as it stands in 2019. Picture credit: Qingyan Zhu

How have you adapted your way of working with China during the pandemic?

Well, we’ve always had a connection over video call. It feels like we’re just that little bit more connected now because everybody’s doing it. During the lockdown in the UK, we’ve had a couple of competitions that we’ve been doing in China. Taking the design process remotely and everybody sketching on-screen has been pretty interesting. Bizarrely, it’s been quite efficient, because everybody can just work in their own space and in their own time.

Do you have any plans for China in the future? And what are your expectations for this market?

What we’ve seen most recently is that a lot of competitions focus on bringing back to life some of China’s industrial heritage, such as factories or grinding mills. That’s something that we’re very aligned to. In South Africa and the UK we refurbished a distillery and other heritage buildings. It is something we’re very passionate about, especially because of sustainability.

I think in China in the next few years there’ll be some really interesting sustainable projects coming out because they can potentially leapfrog into the future. They can see mistakes that we’ve made and skip them and move straight to the next phase. We’re very excited about projects where environmental agendas are high on the list of priorities.

You have identified sustainability as one of the main trends for the future. What do you think are the main architectural trends for the years to come in China?

Besides sustainability, there is craft – there is a resurgence of craft. What we’ve found working in China is incredible access to makers and to materials. On the contrary, in Europe, everything is imported. In China, we always try to talk to the people who are actually producing materials. In a country like China, where things are produced on such a vast scale, we’re always looking to bring forward the idea that there can be individuality and personality in the production of materials. Craft-based influences are the reason why we love working in China. Besides sustainability and craft, the third most significant trend we have identified in China is that of wellbeing and health. This is especially important in the new age of the pandemic: having good public spaces is more critical to our lives than ever.

You were mentioning materials. What do you think is the best project when it comes to the way materials have been used?

For us, it’s always about a level of detail and some kind of richness and texture. As we were looking at doing a project in Zhengzhou recently, we looked into the history of an ancient iron pagoda in Kaifeng, a city to the east of Zhengzhou. Made of bricks clad in iron, it almost looks like a metal pagoda. Imprinted into every panel are ancient texts and fantastic figures. It’s inspiring to see that level of detail and craftsmanship.

More locally, the 1,000 Trees team were inspired by the Moganshan Mountain Retreat.

The 1,000 Trees team were inspired by the bamboo forests at nearby Moganshan

Has working with a different the culture changed your way of dealing with all projects?

We see things from different perspectives, we understand things from a different point of view – and I think that’s really, really important. Sometimes we’ve presented a project and we thought we loved it for one reason, but then they loved it for a different reason. Having exposure to and understanding a different culture is a great influence on our designs.

Did you have to adapt your style to Chinese tastes?

Not really. We felt like we were understood there. The British Pavilion, which we designed for the Shanghai Expo ten years ago, was such an important project for the studio. There was a worry that people wouldn’t get it. Instead, they got it quicker and better than everyone else. Before we knew it, they had a nickname for it, they called it “The Dandelion.”

It was such a special project for us. It’s the smallest, yet the most extreme and memorable. As a studio, it meant so much because it opened us up internationally. From that project, we were invited to do ambitious, interesting things. One was the Bund Financial Centre, for which we collaborated with Foster & Partners. Then came 1,000 Trees.

I think The Dandelion has been our best project in China so far, but I hope 1,000 Trees will be our next best project.

Heatherwick Studios designed the British Pavilion at the 2010 Shanghai Expo

What trait do you think made the Chinese audience like what you do?

I wonder if it’s about our confidence and our ambition to do things. In all the projects that came through there has to be real confidence to commission something so different. We do things wholeheartedly and our clients are aligned with this. That’s why we would love to continue our relationship working in China.

Chinese people are entrepreneurial, so ambition and confidence must have resonated with them. Do you think that this spirit makes projects go faster than in Europe?

Well, like in the case of 1,000 Trees, sometimes we come up with a design, and it’s commissioned before there is a physical mock-up. And you could never commission anything that quick usually, but they’ve done it. It still needed some adjustment, but the passion was there.

There are two sides of the coin, though. While some things are incredibly fast, some others have gone more slowly – partly because of regulation changes. Maybe something is approved at one point, and it might change in the future. We’ve found that quite difficult to navigate. But all in all, working in China has been a great experience.

Lisa Finlay, partner at Heatherwick Studio

You seem to love Shanghai and China in general, where does this love come from?

I think they love us. It’s like a mutual thing that we feel because it’s a place where we can do creative things. It feels like anything can be possible there. I don’t think that you get that feeling everywhere. That’s something we’re very, very drawn to. And I also think due to the cultural history, all the layers of culture that come into daily life. For example, the traditional ground-breaking ceremony. Learning about that culture and being part of that is very special as well.

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Juan Du is Associate Dean of the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) and a founding director of the Shenzhen Centre for Design. Her new book ‘The Shenzhen Experiment: The Story of China’s Instant City’ (Harvard University Press) emerged from her active involvement in the ongoing development and planning of the city.

It’s a study of a city planned to foster innovation, business and co-operation, as well as a new home for millions of migrant workers and their families from across the country.

Juan Du asks whether Shenzhen is the blueprint for a modern Chinese city, and what lessons have been learned since Deng Xiaoping supported the opening up of a Special Economic Zone (SEZ).

Paul French caught up with Juan Du on her commute between Hong Kong and Shenzhen.

PF: You’ve long shuttled between Beijing and Hong Kong but what first attracted you to Shenzhen?

JD: I was based in Beijing when I first started travelling to Shenzhen to work on the First Shenzhen Biennale of Architecture/Urbanism in 2005. Shenzhen’s so-called ‘villages within the city’ quickly caught my attention. Their unique street culture, diverse architectural and urban form, as well as the way people lived and inhabited the public spaces, were in such a stark contrast to the rest of the city.

These neighbourhoods struck me as being quite opposite to the outward image of Shenzhen – an overnight instant city without a history or culture of its own.

Shenzhen was certainly not a small fishing village, at least not during its past millennium of history.

I moved to the US in early 2006 to teach at MIT. However, my mind kept returning to China, and especially to Shenzhen. So I decided to accept an offer to teach at HKU and one motivation behind this move was Hong Kong’s proximity to Shenzhen.

Over the next 14 years, I worked with various communities in both cities. The initial fascination of Shenzhen’s urban villages gradually developed into a more comprehensive understanding of the overall city and the surrounding region.

PF: You challenge the idea of Shenzhen as a ‘blank canvas’ where nothing much existed before. What was Shenzhen, before it was Shenzhen? 

JD: While it has gone through many reincarnations throughout the past centuries, Shenzhen was certainly not a small fishing village, at least not during its past millennium of history.

Just prior to the designation as the City of Shenzhen in 1979, the approximately 2,000 square kilometres of land was known as Bao’an County, with a population of around 300,000 distributed across 2,000 villages, as well as small townships.

From serving as an important salt-production and administrative capital during the Han Dynasty to that of a major port on the South China Sea’s ancient maritime Silk Road, the area’s history was no less remarkable before it became Shenzhen.

During the more recent history, Bao’an County’s agricultural and aquacultural productions, such as lychees and oysters, were important exports in the 1950s.

From long-established agricultural, fishery, and sea-faring activities, to the industrial, commercial, and cultural enterprises of the past century, the existence of a productive population with deep connections to an extensive regional and international network absolutely impacted Shenzhen’s urbanisation into the city as we know it today.

PF: You talk about the ‘villages within the city’ – can you explain what these are and whether they are likely to survive?

JD: The ‘villages within the city,’ or ‘urban villages,’ are densely populated neighbourhoods where indigenous villagers built and own most of the properties. During the first decade of Shenzhen’s urbanisation, in order to meet the demands of a massive population of migrant workers seeking housing in the city, the villagers tore down their two-story houses and built up four- to eight-story tall mid-rise housing. These rentals gave the villagers sources of income and provided homes to the millions of migrants in the city.

There are approximately 300 urban villages in Shenzhen today. Collectively, they house around 10 million residents – about half the city’s total population. While the municipality has made efforts to demolish and redevelop urban villages, the population was too large and negotiations on property rights so complex and expensive, that only a handful of urban villages have been demolished and rebuilt.

In more recent years, Shenzhen has recognised the importance of these neighbourhoods as providers of affordable housing to the city’s working population, and the current urban planning policy is indicating a different approach – one of rehabilitation rather than total redevelopment.  Over the next decade, while the socio-economic characteristics will continue to change and evolve, I believe most of the urban villages in Shenzhen will remain.

PF: Shenzhen was so important to the early decades of Deng Xiaoping’s Reform and Opening Up movement, but now with so many cities being designated Special Economic Zone (SEZ), what, if anything, remains unique and important about Shenzhen?

JD: There have been hundreds of SEZ’s and new areas established in China since the 1980s, but not even one comes close to Shenzhen. This has not deterred more ongoing efforts of economic or industrial zone developments in China. Viewing Shenzhen’s role as an industrial or economic zone only would be a mistake for anyone wishing to understand or emulate its development.

Shenzhen started as a SEZ, and it quickly evolved into a complex and multidimensional city. While various pioneering commercial activities in the industrial zones of Shenzhen contributed to its unique development, this city of 20 million offers important lessons not only on economic or urban development, but also on the cultural and social importance of cities in general.

At the time of researching and writing my book, I found that the most unique aspects of Shenzhen are often contrary to the current model of industrial zone development, such as the role of the local indigenous population, the collective economic power of SMEs, as well as the importance of affordable housing for migrants.

PF: Many foreign companies with investments and factories in Shenzhen say it is the newness of the city – not just the buildings and infrastructure, but also that nobody has traditional ties to the city – that makes it a good place to do business. You butt up against far fewer social and cultural problems than you might elsewhere. Do you think this is true, even now after four decades of Shenzhen?

JD: I understand the sentiment. This newness of the city and lack of traditional ties is reflective of Shenzhen as a migrant city – from the government to the factory managers.  Everyone is in Shenzhen because he or she made a choice to leave their hometown to come to a new city. This motivational quality is one of the most overlooked unique aspects of the city.

In addition, Shenzhen was the first city in China to break the mould of state-owned enterprises with tenured employment. Not only was the city new to the arriving population, but the rules of work were also new.

PF: Shenzhen – an interesting experiment or a model city of the future?

JD: Shenzhen is an experimental city that can provide many valuable lessons for future cities.  However it is not a model city in the ways in which it has been generalised – that of central planning, government control, foreign direct investment, etc.

Shenzhen was not only China’s tentative test of a market economy, rather it was a critical experiment. The city was a site of cultural, social and political experimentations that were directly opposite to the way the rest of the country existed in the 80s and 90s.  I hope Shenzhen continues to be a critical experiment for China and the rest of the world.

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Wei Yang might speak softly but she talks boldly about what China could learn from Britain. We meet in a majestic hotel in her adopted home of London to compare notes on the last three decades of urban change in China, change that has been orchestrated from her birth town of Beijing.

China has become a destination for architects, town planners and social economists interested in managing a country of nearly a billion and half people, and who ask how new models can be implemented on a grand scale. With over 58 percent of the population living in urban areas (up from less than 18 percent in 1978), keeping cities moving, the air clean and their inhabitants happy is a challenge that Yang relishes.

The Megacity

Yang talks about the recent history of Chinese urbanisation. The megacities of Beijing and Shanghai were attractive 30 years ago, she explains; prices were low, work was plentiful and space was abundant. But today, these polluted cities are overpopulated, jammed with traffic and have major constraints on health care and education infrastructure.

“The government thinks these cities are now mature enough and should export economic benefit to surrounding cities,” she says. Yang is talking about the Chinese government’s current policy of promoting regional clusters such as Jingjinji, the Yangtze River Delta and the Greater Bay Area – as well as clusters around Chengdu and Xian in the future. The aim is also to take the stress off the services in the major cities. Rapidly developing strategic transportation – high-speed rail and inner-city transportation links – makes this feasible, she explains.

There are positives and negatives to such megacity clusters though. The clusters will help to regenerate and encourage social-economic development of the surrounding areas but, she argues, this is already happening naturally to a degree. “In places like Changzhou and Huzhou near Shanghai, they are already gaining benefits from the economic growth of the surrounding megacities.”

The main concern for Yang is that these areas could become overdeveloped, which would be a waste of land, money and energy. “It will help for people to have more choices but if it is over-scaled, the development will be very dispersed. Efficient land use with proper transport connections, proper jobs and a proper housing mix are what is important,” she says.

In recent years many areas in China have suffered such overdevelopment. This has led to the creation of ‘ghost cities’ – neighbourhoods, or entire districts and towns, packed with empty sky rises and devoid of residents. This is in part due to China’s development model, where local governments rely on housing estate developers to buy land from the government, which then gives the government the funds needed to provide services. But many towns have ended up standing empty as speculators and investors buy up property and keep it empty.

“In the UK, older properties are usually worth more than new ones but in China older properties are regarded as ‘second hand’ if someone has lived in them before,” she explains. Therefore, new builds will sit empty and bare and remain ‘new’ so as not to devalue them.

As there is nothing akin to council tax in China, it doesn’t cost a landlord anything to keep a property – empty or not. “At the moment in China there is a big debate as to whether local councils should introduce council tax,” says Yang. “In the UK more than 40 percent of local services are paid for with council tax – policing, healthcare, education. It is a good way to get income for the local authorities.”

Due to the fast urbanisation process in China, land sale has become one of the main income sources for local governments. This has the potential to become a problem when all the land is sold and further investment in the area is needed. Unlike in the UK, “building roads, rails, facilities, schools and services and green areas and public spaces are the responsibility of the state not the developer,” says Yang.

All land in urban areas in China is owned by the state with residential property leases given for just 70 years. Some buildings are already 20 or 30 years into their lease and there is no clear structure of what happens when the lease expires. It could be extended or renewed, or it could be given to the leaseholder but it also could be taken back by the state and resold. Whatever might happen at the end of the lease, for its duration, the state continues to incur costs as it is responsible for all services yet does not absorb any further revenue as the lease was sold upfront.

The liveable city

Today, says Yang, the new cities, megacities and city clusters are being future-proofed as best as possible. “They try to build them as well as they can. The Chinese government is very keen to use best practise but sometimes there is a mismatch,” she says. Competing departments have different priorities. The transport department might think that more roads and high-speed railways are a priority, whilst the economists would like to see more business parks and industrial estates being built.

This can lead to segmented and fragmented cities, says Yang. Therefore, the importance of town planning is essential to ensure that the public transport system is well connected so people don’t have to rely on cars. That there are not just economic programmes introduced but that cities are also liveable.

Garden Cities were taught briefly in our Chinese planning text books but only as utopian societies; however, the more I studied the more I realised that some were thriving and very successful

“We need to change the fundamental mindset,” she says. “For a lot of local authorities, they still think the priorities are economic development, when a new industrial estate doesn’t necessarily help. What is needed is a liveable city. What is actually important is this human factor and how to properly consider it.”

Yang says that the speed of growth has slowed as the authorities ensure development is more considered. “Ten or twenty years ago the rate of growth was very, very fast. The rate is now being controlled. It is now almost impossible to develop agricultural land for example.” Only 12.6 percent of China’s land is arable, and food security is a real issue in China – therefore the authorities are doing all they can to reduce desertification and urbanisation; getting permission to use valuable agricultural land is now near impossible.

Instead of using greenfield sites, China focus is shifting towards regeneration. “The government is trying to do more work to recapture smaller towns and villages and that is a major policy shift.

“People are realising that all these big cities look the same and start to lose their cultural heritage. These rural communities and towns are the foundation of our cultural ecosystem and the government is realising that losing them is a problem.”

British style planning regulations and permissions are one method China may adopt in order to avoid creating more cookie-cutter towns that are often devoid of character and local culture.

Wei Yang Garden City Model – Wolfson Economics Prize 2014

The Garden city

Another British model that Yang is excited to bring to China is a little-known Victorian socio-economic model that gave birth to some of England’s suburban home counties towns: Garden Cities.

“People think about town planning as design but the more I learnt about town planning through real projects, the more I realise design itself can’t resolve everything. You need to think about the socio-economic model,” says Yang, “how to reform land ownership and how to develop the land to ensure the value increases through the development process. It’s about how to manage the land, not just about how to design it.”

“Garden Cities were taught briefly in our Chinese planning textbooks but only as utopian societies; however, the more I studied the more I realised that some, like Welwyn Garden City and Letchworth Garden City, were thriving and very successful,” she says.

The Garden City model sees the community establishing a residents’ trust that manages the land, which is then rented for industrial, commercial and agricultural purposes to subsidise housing and improve services in the area.

“It relates to big questions about society. Who should own the land? Who should develop the land? And who should get the benefit from it? If that model is not resolved, then we have a lot of problems like we have now, such as affordability, segregated communities, disconnected transportation and jobs a significant distance from where people live.”

“Through my previous projects I realised the reasons some project couldn’t really deliver the vision we had was because these things were not being considered all together. So, I started to question the fundamental principles of town planning.”

We think it will be very beneficial to have a community trust that brings together stakeholder who can share a vision

In 2013, a British governmental push for new garden cities saw Wei Yang & Partners make the final five in the 2014 Wolfson’s Economic Prize and the company rapidly became one of most established companies in the field. Following this, in the summer of 2017, they completed a project in Jinjiang City in Fujian that adhered to the Garden City principles. It was recently commended by the Royal Town Planning Institute International Award for Planning Excellence.

Jinjiang is wealthy, thanks to its strategic location on the coast near Xiamen and opposite Taiwan, and the wealthy diaspora who return to the region to trade and invest. It is also home to historical villages – one of which was selected as a pilot town as part of the central government’s promotion of the small town gentrification model.

A campus of Fujian University was opened and the town was named ‘Jinjiang Dreamtown for Talents’ in a bid to attract university students to stay longer and start their own business in the community. Many of the historical buildings that are derelict and empty have been earmarked for renovation to be used as incubator and start-up spaces, studios or workshops. The buildings are ready to be retro-fitted and locals are opening hostels and finding other opportunities.

“We are talking about how we can build infrastructure that supports the community, such as cycleways, tourist information centres and where the best places are for restaurants, cultural facilities and car parks. It’s a programme for syncing everything together.”

Jinjiang Dream Town – Regenration Plan of Tangdong Village

“The most important thing is our inspiration from the Garden City principles,” says Yang. “We think it will be very beneficial to have a Dream Town Communities Trust that brings together stakeholders from the campus, from the village, from the city and from overseas relatives. People can share a vision and by having exclusive development rights the trust can make money through development and then use this to contribute back to the welfare system, provide essential maintenance of the village and maintain the connection with the university.”

Currently, after a 70-year lease is sold to a developer all the money arrives at once but the government have continuing, and increasing, costs as more people move on to the land. Education, healthcare and transportation – all this is the responsibility of the government. “The developers don’t have any future responsibilities for looking after these people.” China needs to consider long term management responsibility, which has become a major burden for local authorities. “You need a mechanism that allows for sustainable income every year,” Yang says.

Yang clearly has a passion for preserving traditional culture by regenerating old towns, but it is her desire for a strong land reform policy that will help change the mind set of a nation. And it may well be a Victorian town planner has a lot more influence on the urban world a century on, than he did in his own lifetime.

For more information about China’s urban environment contact Xu Jiawei in Beijing on Jiawei.Xu@cbbc.org.cn

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