The 2019 design competition for the development of the coastal area of Shenshan in China was won by OKRA in cooperation with MLA+. The team presented a nature-based design program for mountain, sea and land development for a project area of 19 square kilometres. The design program respects the Chinese historical water strategy and combines it with the modern Dutch approach.
Green-blue heart of Shenzhen
The result is a series of future-proof coastal defence works in which technology and landscape design are integrated. This creates a lively succession of protected spaces along this beautiful 12-kilometre long coast. Our marine and freshwater strategies create space for buffer zones that prioritise protection and ecology, restore existing ecosystems and create a ‘sponge development’ that enhances the quality and resilience of nature and urban space: an elastic landscape. The new green-blue heart of Shenzhen.
Expertise
With this design for Shenshan’s coastal area, OKRA has once again demonstrated its expertise in coastal defence design, following successful projects in Cadzand-Bad and the Katwijk Coastal Zone project, where a natural dune landscape has been developed that not only preserves the value and identity of the existing city but also strengthens it.
