The Shenzhen Municipal Planning and Natural Resources Bureau and the Longhua District Government are planning to solicit creative design schemes for the Meilinguan area from reputed design institutions around the world, according to a pre-announcement issued recently.

The Meilinguan area is an important area integrating the inside and outside of the original Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, and also an important strategic location connecting Futian and Longhua districts.

The area has been incorporated into Shenzhen’s urban core by the city’s land space planning, but its current functions face difficulties adapting to new developmental needs.

The international consultation covers the hub core area’s planning research, urban design and conceptual architectural design.

The scope of planning research extends to Yinhu Mountain in the east, Yulong Road in the west, Da’naoke Mountain-Yinhu Mountain in the south and Minle Road in the north, with a total area of 3.78 square kilometers.

The planning research should also take into consideration the area’s surroundings, such as Minle Village, South China International Logistics Center and Shenzhen North Railway Station.

The scope of urban design covers Meilinguan Area’s core area, extending to the boundary of the Xinghedandi housing compound and Fengze Villa in the east, Niuzui Reservoir in the west, Nanping Expressway in the south and Longhua Boulevard-New District Boulevard-Jinlong Road in the north, covering an area of 1.1 square kilometers.

The hub core area’s conceptual architectural design scope shall be delineated by the participating institutions according to their respective urban design plans. It is required that the hub core area shall be no less than 20 hectares and include an interchange hub with four rail lines.

The six shortlisted institutions’ schemes will undergo an expert review process from the sponsors before selecting the winning scheme.

The Shenzhen Special Economic Zone was established on Aug. 26, 1980, and by 2008, there were 16 road checkpoints along the economic zone’s management line. Among the checkpoints, Meilinguan was completed and put into use in 1995.

On July 1, 2010, with the approval of the State Council, the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone was extended to the whole city. In 2015, the Meilinguan Inspection Building was demolished.