Project Overview

Baietan is located across the Pearl River in the southwest part of Guangzhou’s Old Town. It contains two major industrial uses (a steel mill and a shipyard) that will be relocated and several urban villages. The City of Guangzhou wishes to develop this area into an exemplary, sustainable development in China. The project included assessing strategic market needs; establishing sustainable goals, principals, and urban design objectives; and developing an overall master plan and transportation plan responding to sustainable goals. The master plan established a vision for the 35 square kilometer project site (22 square miles) and provided a detailed plan for the four square kilometer Phase I project area.

CHS Role

CHS Consulting Group, working closely with the SOM design team, was responsible for developing a multi-modal transportation plan. CHS worked with the Guangzhou Transportation Research Institute on a future travel demand forecast and used the data to develop overall roadway and transit networks. Based on the estimated traffic volumes and transit ridership, CHS suggested changes to the City’s proposed subway network, extending additional transit lines to serve Baietan, creating a bus rapid transit (BRT) network including roadway cross-sections appropriate for BRT operations, and bus stop spacing for BRT and non-BRT buses. CHS developed a pedestrian and bicycle network designed to minimize traffic generation. CHS also provided suggestions on the appropriate level of parking supply to support sustainable development goals.

Awards

2011 AIA San Francisco Chapter Urban Design Merit Award and the 2012 First Prize for Urban and Rural Planning Design from Guangzhou Municipality.