On Nov. 22, 2018 the Innovative Development Forum on Airport + HSR Station (High Speed Railway) + TOD (Transit Oriented Development) was successfully held in Guangzhou. Over 300 designers from domestic and abroad and persons in charge from related fields attended this high level forum. Mr. Haruo Kawasaki, Design Directors from OBERMEYER China, was invited to give a speech on the principles of Underground Development and practical TOD-Experience from the Guangzhou Zhujiang New Town Underground City Development.

OBERMEYER’s initial TOD and underground development experiences go back to 1960’s. Stachus (Karls Plaza) underground commercial and light-railway station project in Munich/Germany, which was the largest underground project in Europe at that time, became a milestone project for the rising business of OBERMEYER. More than 30 years later, OBERMEYER realized Qianjiang New Town in Hangzhou (2004-2008) and Zhujiang New Town in Guangzhou (2005-2010). Within China both projects turned into extremely significant new CBD projects and show par excellence OBERMEYER’s forward-thinking of TOD and underground space development, surpassing the scale of the Stachus by far.

OBERMEYER’s achievements by Qianjiang New Town were master planning, the design of the underground space and the park for the central axis (Culture Wave City) as well as the architectural design for the City-Balcony built into the river Qianjiang. For Zhujiang New Town OBERMEYER excelled in comprehensive traffic planning, design of underground space and the elaborate central park with piazzas and sunken plazas. Especially the traffic planning of Zhujiang New Town is unique and has proven its efficiency. Through this innovative engineering design, the creation of a 1,5 km long car free downtown-park from Huangpu Avenue to the bank of the Pearl River was made possible. Today it is a favorite space for citizens and tourists alike.

Adhering to advanced and comprehensive design philosophies, Obermeyer is looking forward to contribute in coming TOD and underground space developments for China and worldwide.