MLA+ and partners RUPDCSZ participated in the Shenzhen Guangming MaoZhou River Central Waterfront Urban Design International Consultation. With nature and science as the thematic colors, and focusing on the three topics of ecology, science, and renewal, they proposed three strategies customized for the Guangming Central Area Waterfront: Re-Wilding, Pan-Scientist, and Guangming Efficiency. These strategies aim to create a central waterfront district in Guangming that not only incubates ecology but also fosters science, embodying the unique characteristics of Guangming.

With the development of Guangming, Maozhou River is transforming from a "boundary" to a "central waterfront". In the future, nature and science as its theme colors, Maozhou River will become the urban living room with various function and vitality that would attract people from the GBA, Guangming and the scientists.

Guangming has already established major scientific facilities, but possessing major scientific infrastructure does not equate to being a 'science city.' We believe that Science should not be confined within a vacuum box. The places with the highest innovation density in the world, such as Kendall Square in Boston, are simultaneously the areas with the highest vitality density and the finest public spaces. Therefore, we hope to release science, let creativity radiate into households, and link science and city through innovative urban products to form a city of science for all.

The design proposes three strategies: Rewilding, Pan-scientists, and Guangming Efficiency. The Maozhou River Basin serves as a natural riverbed, retracing the habitat of all creatures. It is also a nurturing ground for science, providing a testing ground for pan-scientists. The pan-scientist riverbed refines the purity of urban ecology, expands the radius of scientific value, and redefines the charm of the Guangming central area.

再野生境

RE-WILDING

城市生态解法：

低技 · 低成本 · 低干扰 · 高生态友好

Urban Ecological Solutions: 

Low-Tech, Low-Cost, Low-Disruption, High Eco-Friendliness

Maozhou River is the mother river of Guangming and even Shenzhen. Since the Qing Dynasty, Guangming villagers have been fishing and farming along the Maozhou River, nurturing local culture. However, with the urbanization process in Shenzhen, the rapid expansion of industrial space in the Maozhou River area has not only promoted economic growth but also had a negative impact on the ecology. In the past few years, the dramatic transformation before and after the renovation of the Maozhou River Blueway has almost swept up social media. Enjoying nature in the city center has become a favorite lifestyle of citizens, and the return of wild water ferns marks the possibility of symbiosis of the urban and natural ecology in the city center.

The most central place, can also be the most ecological. We hope to amplify the valuable native characteristics of the Maozhou River. Therefore, based on the eco corridor of Maozhou River, we apply rewilding actions to strengthen the ecology and connects the fragmented eco-network, to create a co-habitat urban-wild framework. We carefully analyzed the entire Maozhou River and identified ecological breakpoints and potential points for rewilding. We used dead wood and rock habitats to invite the ecology to return in the most gentle and effective way.

Four major rewilding and multi-functional waterfront parks, community-embed characteristic pocket gardens, optimized time and zoning management of urban-natural space, create and urban-wild coexistence, and a rewilding habitat for thousands of people and birds.

泛科学家

RE-NATRUALIZE

100x1＞1x100：

用100个小型科创设施，激发大于一个巨型机构的创新活力

100x1 > 1x100: 

Using 100 small-scale innovation and technology facilities to stimulate greater innovative vitality than a single large institution.

The idea of 'Pan-Scientists' comes in. We're aiming for Guangming's future to be more than just a place for high-end science isolated from the vibrant city life. We want a scene where science mixes with family, education, business, and life. Picturing the city as a cozy scientific hub where science isn't a separate entity but a vital part of everyday life – that's the vision for Guangming, the Pan-Science City.

To achieve this scene, having only large-scale scientific facilities isn't sufficient. Having 100 citizen-owned micro scientific facilities and one centralized giant scientific institution might be equally important in shaping the Science City.

Therefore, we design a series of facilities, the Guangming Sci-Tech Innovation Portal System. It can be understood as a scientific public amenity, providing various research and innovation facility and platform for different groups. We plann two types of portals: Anchor Portals and Plugin Portals. Anchor Portals refer to large-scale shared innovation facilities that may occupy independent plot or even multiple plots. Plugin Portals are community-attached, flexible, and smaller shared innovation facilities. Science isn't just for scientists; it's also for entrepreneurs, children, content creators, and many more.

The four major anchor portals, employing diverse functions and operations, bring different stimuli to scientific innovation. The Co-Research Portal encourages multiple companies to engage in joint research; The Super Portal is a knowledge-based TOD for scientific innovation; The creativity Portal is a hub for academic resources; The Crossover Portal integrates with the art and creative industry.

A framework for a city of pan-scientists is generated based on the four anchor portals, and extending into surrounding new and old communities. Providing opportunities for everyone to participate in scientific innovation, and scientific experience every hundred meters, this is what we understand as a city of pan-scientists.

中央水岸超级坞

RE-ENFORCE

Tod科创坞

Tod Science and Technology Dock

We attempt to bring various groups and functional spaces closer and together in the TOD area through the translation of the sci-tech innovation industry chain. The goal is to shape an integrated super portal that gathers production, academia, research, exhibitions, and commerce.

In the vertical arrangement, we create a transfer hub by integrating the interchange channels of the intercity rail and Line 26 of the metro's fare zones. Above it, a building core is established, forming a well-defined and efficient vertical connection. The lower levels consist of a sci-tech commercial complex, a sci-tech center, and public spaces for citizens. The middle levels allocate spaces for industry communication, such as a conference center and a sci-tech achievements exhibition center. Convenient vertical transportation connects the TOD hall directly to these meeting spaces. The upper levels provide innovative office spaces for professionals, including an all-in-one startup service center and a collaborative innovation experimental office. These high-level functions are seamlessly linked to the collaborative spaces on the lower levels, forming an efficient network of collaborative communication and feedback.

公园坞

Park Dock

Step Two:  Underground Commercial Street in conjunction with TOD development,  Rapidly connecting the east and west sides and providing support facilities for the park.

Step Three:  Service Dyke Development: Creating a service dyke on the city side, with service facilities beneath and a park on the top, mitigates the negative impact of fast traffic while enclosing an inner park area.

Step Four:  Completing the Characteristic River Park: Along the service dyke, reserving areas for future public building construction. In the long term, based on the actual demands, gradually introducing public building components in the service zone.

From the city to the river, from the service zone, public building, characteristic river park, to the rewilded riverbanks, a four-layered park system and a step-by-step development model is formed, responding to future uncertainties.

光明坪效

Guangming Inno-Efficiency Evaluation System

For the past few decades, traditional assessments of land value have been based on purely economic indicators. However, in a science city, the value isn't solely about economic indicators, but about how many patents, intellectual capabilities, and knowledge from scientists - in essence, the scientific productivity per square meter - are associated with the land.

Guangming urgently needs to strengthen the efficient utilization and fine management of industrial land. We suggest to construct a "Guangming inno-efficiency" evaluation system. Taking the Maozhou River as a pilot, the evaluation system could be based on the efficiency of innovation transformation, rather than based on the development volume, to encourage enterprise-oriented technological innovation.

The convergence of nature and science shapes our understanding of the world. The Maizhou River basin is both a natural riverbed, tracing back to the primitive habitat of all living beings, and a cradle of science, providing a micro-experimental field for pan-scientists. The Pan-Scientist Riverbed refines the purity of urban ecology, expands the radius of scientific value, and redefines the charm of the Guangming Central Area.