HANGZHOU WATERFRONT Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China Those familiar with the Embarcadero district in San Francisco will immediately understand the signifi- Development Team cance of the Hangzhou waterfront development. Like the Embarcadero, Hangzhou’s Hubin district—the Owner/Developer city’s major waterfront district on the eastern shore of West Lake—was cut off from the lakefront by a Hangzhou Hubin Commerce & Tourism freeway. Unlike the Embarcadero Freeway, however, Hangzhou’s waterfront highway was on grade, and Company, Ltd. the lakefront had seen no development. To capture the lakefront for urban use, then, was not merely a Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China matter of removing the highway, but also of planning for development that could maximize the lake- www.eurostreet.com.cn front’s potential as a recreational and commercial amenity. Planner Hangzhou, an important tourist destination in China, is 180 kilometers (112 mi) southwest of Shang- SWA Group hai. It has served ancient emperors as a capital city and is still a cultural center. To the Chinese, Houston, Texas Hangzhou’s West Lake is as familiar an icon as the Great Wall or the Forbidden City. Marco Polo visited www.swagroup.com Hangzhou in the late 13th century and called the city “beyond dispute the finest and the noblest in the world.” For the Chinese, a pilgrimage to Hangzhou is an essential life experience. Of the 30 million Architects tourists who visit West Lake each year, 2 million are foreigners. Zhejiang South Architecture Design Hubin Road, a multilane freeway that grew out of scale as Hangzhou began participating in China’s Company Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China “economic miracle,” left only a narrow strip of lakefront land available for public use and benefited only the owners of property facing the water. The Hangzhou government formed a public/private partnership, Jerde Partnership Venice, California the Hangzhou Hubin Commerce & Tourism Company, tasked with making the waterfront more of a www.jerde.com 56 MIXED USE · WINNER WINNER · MIXED USE 57 Project Data Web Site www.eurostreet.com.cn Site Area 12.7 hectares (31 ac) Facilities 21,272 square meters (228,977 sf) land occupied by buildings 41,343 square meters (445,027 sf) retail space 12,607 square meters (135,705 sf) office space Land Uses waterfront park, retail, office, hotel Completion Date October 2003 Jury Statement tourist amenity. The SWA Group of Houston and Zhejiang South Architecture Design Company, a local The city of Hangzhou has put West firm, were invited to produce a master plan. The government was to bear 60 percent of the development Lake—storied in Chinese poetry and legend—on the international map costs, with private entities contributing the balance. through a large-scale public improve- The first obstacle to be corrected was Hubin Road. Through-traffic was redirected to a four-lane, 1.5- ment of its scenic waterfront. The kilometer-long (0.9 mi) tunnel under the lakebed approximately 40 meters (130 ft) from the shoreline, lively mixed-use development and which opened the road for use as a multipurpose, pedestrian-friendly boulevard. A 650-meter-long by 40- pedestrian-oriented spaces have meter-wide (2,132×131 ft) tree-lined park was designed to mediate between the shoreline and the new given Hangzhou’s citizens a new boulevard. “City streams” weaving through the district were constructed, recalling the natural streams amenity that is environmentally sensi- tive and encourages new high-quality that once coursed through Hubin and directing pedestrians toward the lake. development. Development in the Hubin district totaling 53,950 square meters (580,732 sf) of commercial space has occurred in response to Hangzhou’s waterfront improvements. A lakeside international hotel and en- tertainment venues are located at the boulevard’s center. Not counting the lakeside linear park, public open space within the developed blocks east of Hubin Road occupies 27 percent of the land area. The Hangzhou waterfront project is an outstanding example of a public/private partnership formed to advance a public good and provide opportunities for private real estate development. Its success has been noted by cities across the nation and is being studied for emulation. 58 MIXED USE · WINNER WINNER · MIXED USE 59.