Location: Gaston County NC

The Wilkinson Boulevard Corridor Plan, commissioned by the municipalities of Belmont, Cramerton and McAdenville in North Carolina, began as a study to identify landscape and signage improvements aimed at transforming the commercial boulevard into an attractive gateway.  Metrocology quickly determined that the corridor not only needed a new look but, more importantly, it needed a strategic plan.  Calling the project “Build a Better Boulevard,” Metrocology delivered a comprehensive list of interventions to re-envision the boulevard’s role within the regional transportation system in addition to improving its appearance and function within the three municipalities.

For the Plan, Metrocology facilitated a first-ever strategic planning conversation between the State Department of Transportation, the local Metropolitan Planning Organization, and the three Municipalities.  During the course of the year-long project, the collaboration identified three categories of study: Management, Policy, and Design.  Within these categories, Metrocology developed fourteen interventions aimed at a more robust Wilkinson Boulevard, structured to improve the appearance and performance of the corridor through planned phasing that ensures avoidance of costly reconstruction.  Management interventions addressed upgrades to traffic signalization operations and police and fire rescue incident management protocols.  Policy interventions addressed improved corridor function, including parallel and alternate roads, upgrades to nearby I-85 access, signage, and land-use.  Design interventions addressed the physical changes proposed to the roadway itself, including lane widths, landscape enhancements, pedestrian and bicycling improvements, driveway cuts and intersection rebuilding.   

The Build a Better Boulevard Plan was unanimously adopted by all three municipalities, as well as by the Gaston-Cleveland-Lincoln MPO.  The Plan’s fourteen interventions were drafted for inclusion in the State’s Comprehensive Transportation Plan, the Metropolitan Transportation Plan, and the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program, and the results have been impressive.  Design interventions have been included in schematic designs by the State DOT Interstate I-85 improvements for new interchange and road re-alignments .  Management interventions are being studied by the State DOT and the proposed Adaptive Signal System technology is scheduled to be introduced within the next 18 months, in order to better coordinate traffic flows along the corridor.  The Build a Better Boulevard Plan was honored with the prestigious 2015 Marvin Collins Award, the highest planning award of the North Carolina chapter of the American Planning Association.

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Location: Beaufort SC

The City of Beaufort is located 40 miles north of Savannah GA on the Atlantic Coast of the southern United States.  Totaling 16,000 in population, Beaufort is the historic center for a micropolitan area of 160,000.  The City’s population has remained stagnant for nearly 30 years while the suburban resorts and gated communities that surround it have grown rapidly.  The Global Financial Crisis brought all growth to a halt heavily impacting the local economy.  The remaining driver of growth is the presence of two military installations.  The City needed to asses its past planning and growth strategies in light of the rapidly changing economy in order to determine a sustainable path forward.  

Metrcology proposed a radical solution involving the semi-privatization of the municipal Planning Department in order to coordinate all city building and development functions.  Metrocolgy assembled a team of local and regional professionals and orchestrated the delivery of a Civic Master Plan for the entire City.  The City was divided into 5 sectors each of which involved a series of stakeholder meetings and design workshops.  The Master Plan addressed development and redevelopment opportunities, identifying parcels of land and providing development scenarios, from which joint venture and private investment opportunities could be organized and promoted.  Metrocology also re-trained City staff to understand city and civic building processes so that government would begin to function as the community’s master developer.  The Plan prepares the way for the implementation of a form based code to replace the City’s existing conventional zoning.  

The nearly 100 projects and policy initiatives identified in the Civic Master Plan where prioritized and compiled into a document for the Redevelopment Commission.  The Commission uses the projects booklet to steer its efforts at generating growth and job creation.  The City Council also uses the book to set funding and policy for budget cycles.  The engagement spanned 1 and a half years.

The Civic Master Plan was honored in October 2014 with an Outstanding Planning Project Award by the South Carolina Chapter of the American Planning Association, and in June 2016 with a Charter Award by the Congress for the New Urbanism.

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Location: Charleston SC

Location: Beaufort SC

One of the nearly 100 projects and initiatives identified by the Civic Master Plan is the land-side of the existing marina site in downtown Beaufort, currently occupied by a surface parking lot.  The underutilized property offers a unique opportunity to extend its current main street and reintroduce the City’s dockside character, which was torn down to make way for the Water Front Park.  The Civic Master Plan recognized the value of incorporating a larger program to include a parking garage one block to the northeast on a predominantly vacant block.  The synergy between the two sites would permit a denser and more diverse program, as well as providing greater flexibility in funding and potential partnerships.  The redevelopment of the two sites would also enable the clean up and modernization of the existing marina facilities and spur the funding and construction of a boardwalk along the river to the west of the site.  

Location: Columbia SC

In 2006 the City of Columbia hired Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company to provide a master plan for the Bull Street Property in its downtown.  The nearly 130-acre site is the home of several institutions that have closed over the years.  A few landmarked buildings are located within the various campuses that spread across the property.   DPZ proposed a new mixed-use neighborhood be built on the site, tied to the surrounding city streets and adjoining neighborhoods.   In addition a baseball stadium was proposed.  
 
The ownership changed hands and the recession delayed final approvals and ground breaking until 2011.  The plan was revisited by the new Owner who also hired DPZ and Cooper Carry to update the master plan.  Metrocology was hired as part of the team to develop the Planned Urban Development standards and Development Agreement for approval and permitting by the City.  Both documents would need to address the Smartcode and design parameters reflected in the revised master plan.  The unique aspect of the project was the need to provide significant development flexibility while maintaining the rigorous design standards required to implement a walkable mixed use project.  

Location: Travelers Rest SC

Location: Miami FL

Location: Gold Coast QLD, Australia

Location: Aiken SC

Location: Cairns QLD, Australia

Location: Ipswitch QLD, Australia

Located southwest of Brisbane, the Ripley Valley is a new land release within the metropolitan development boundary.  The 100 square kilometer area will need to house over 150,000 new residents in the coming decades.  The project represents the largest new City Plan in Australia since Sweetwater, also designed by the firm in 2005.   Roberts Day hired the firm to prepare the strategy and structure plan during a 7 day charrette held in Ipswitch.

Understanding the regional forces informed the strategy for the initial conceptual structure planning.  While Ripley Valley represented a sizable new City, it was learned that the greater Ipswitch area included additional communities, one a large suburban master planned development called Springfield and a large amounts of property zoned for industrial park development.  In fact the future employment capacity of the immediate are totals over 100,000 and represents the largest concentration of ready to go business development land in Australia.

To serve as a catalyst for sustainable growth, the Ripley Valley structure plan was based on the principles and techniques Transect Neighborhood Design.  The Transect allowed all the elements contemplated by the previous work to date to find their logical and practical applications within the site.  As with any community design at this scale, the most important task of the planner is to allocate the many elements of community into arrangements that sustain growth in commerce and society, while balancing the need to protect and nurture the natural environment.  The various neighborhoods proposed were all “transit ready”.  The central CBD neighborhoods were designed around passenger rail stations.  

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Location: Queenstown, New Zealand

The popularity of outdoor activities, both summer and winter, possible on New Zealand's south island have become world famous.  Queenstown is the jumping-off point for all those who flock to the area to partake in these activities.  Because of the topography, developable land is scarce, and as Queenstown grows, so too has the pressure on the city's housing affordability and capacity to absorb necessary commercial and business development to service the growing tourist employment industry.

Five Mile lies on the Frankton Flats, which is the largest developable flat site that affords excellent sun exposure, within proximity to Queenstown.  Adjacent to the regions main airport and highway, the 30 hectare site offers the opportunity to relieve the pressure on downtown Queenstown through the development of a high density, mixed use, town centre serving the regions business, employment, and housing needs.  Property Ventures Limited hired the firm in 2004 to design such a community and to ensure that it would respect the surrounding natural setting as well as the regions architectural heritage.  View corridors into and out of the neighbourhood were established to ensure that, even in the centre of the project, residents and visitors would constantly be visually connected to the natural environment surrounding the valley.

The master plan envisions a town centre of over 5,000 residents and 500,000m² of commercial and industrial development.  Included in the mix would also be a campus for an international university and a regional tour bus station.

A department store, grocery store, cinema, and hotel would serve to anchor the Main Street and town centre.  The entire site has been designed as mixed use, using building types new to the New Zealand market.  These include courtyard mixed use buildings and live-work homes, both of which offer ground floor retail and business opportunities with residential above.  The master plan provides for the extensive parking necessary, due to the regional draw of the project, to be in underground parking garages throughout the site, with convenient but well-integrated access by both car and pedestrian from the street network above.

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Location: Auckland, New Zealand

The north shore of metropolitan Auckland is increasingly coming under development pressure as improved transportation access and a high quality of life draw new residents to the area.  Located on the border of the Auckland and Rodney District Councils, Weiti represents the largest undeveloped coastal property under single ownership in the metropolitan area, and the last chance to establish a sustainable model of community development which can be used as an alternative to the American style suburbia currently in fashion.  

The 900 hectare property consists of steep topography which presents challenges to community designing. In addition, significant natural assets along the shoreline restrict development.  While these are often seen as constraints to planning, the firm’s techniques and methods are able to incorporate such elements and often seek them out if not defined prior to a planning charrette.  The sensitive shorelines and ridgeline slopes were used to define natural corridors between the villages and hamlets proposed for the site.  Over two thirds of the property was left in natural conservation. Even areas developable were designed to enhance the open space.  Stewardship lots requiring a minimum of 5 hectare sections serve to emphasize the natural setting and preserve the tree cover. 
    
Three Villages, one on the slope of a ridge centered on an existing paddock, a second draped along either side of an interior ridge sloping downward to a creek and a third along the top of a ridge provide three distinct lifestyle opportunities.  The ridge top village is a high density centre, consisting of two nodes flanking a large golf course Country club complex.  Designed by Robert Trent Jones, the golf course is one of two courses at Weiti.  The second course encircles the medium density Village centered on the paddock.  Between the two courses and Villages lies the low density Village.  A series of Hamlets situated on hill or ridge tops round out the communities at Weiti which in total can accommodate over 1,500 sections and approximately 2,800 units of residential, and 22,000m² of commercial.

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Location: Christchurch, New Zealand

Sydenham Square is located on an approximately 10,000m² site encompassing essentially a full city block in Christchurch.  The property is a redevelopment of the former Sydenham School.  Surrounding area serves as a gateway to the Sydenham neighborhood and anchors a prominent site at the corner of a regional city park.  The site provides the opportunity to redevelop the immediate area into a denser community emulating those urban neighborhoods in cities with a long tradition of residential living within proximity to areas of employment.  Such neighborhoods offer residents the flexibility and convenience associated with active urban centers and have become highly sought after in cities of all sizes.

The master plan incorporates the characteristics of such neighborhoods which are the ability of the building stock to accommodate a mix of uses and the change of uses over time.  To do so, the plan introduces a unique building type called the Live Work.  The forty-nine Live Work housing units within the master plan offer great flexibility to owners and tenants.  A four story apartment building with commercial ground floor space and residential on upper stories surrounds a core parking garage.  The detailing of the streets cape reflects both a residential as well as commercial environment, and is designed to be used by all traffic, whether auto or pedestrian, offering open spaces in the form of attached plazas and a square.

Location: Northern Vietnam

Covering an area approximately the size of Hong Kong, Van Don is located in the north east corner of Vietnam along the border with China.  It is within the Hanoi region and represents an important link within the redevelopment plan of Vietnam.  Access through to China via new rail and road links will position the Van Don area with easy access to Hong Kong and the Pearl River delta and the rapidly growing industrial cities of central China.  The Strategic plan incorporates development opportunities for new infrastructure, tourism and resort development, new towns, and natural resource preservation.

The Main Objectives outlined by the Planning are: 
1: Establish and Develop the Area as a High Quality Island Maritime Eco Tourism and World Class Recreational Destination.  
2: Create a Robust Economic Zone that will be a Generator and Driver for the North East Region.  
3: Attract Sustainable and Long Term Investment in promoting development. 
4: Provide a High Quality Sustainable Living Environment for the inhabitants.  
5: Develop the area as the major transportation hub for the Region.  
6: Enhance Security and Strengthen Territorial Sovereignty. 

Working for the Client EA|GA, Metrocology’s Master Plan for Van Don Economic Zone on behalf of the Government of Vietnam has been hailed as the “best work undertaken with foreign participation” by the Minister of Construction and that “the plan set the standard for others to follow."

Location: Christchurch, New Zealand

Prior to the February 2011 earthquake that devastated Christchurch, the central city had a large number of heritage buildings dating from the turn of the century.  The City South neighbourhood lies just to the south of Cathedral Square, founded and designed by the Anglican Church to serve as the focus of a new city along the Avon River.  The neighbourhood has been the gateway to Christchurch from the harbor to the southeast supporting an eclectic mix of industry and commerce.

Through no particular fault, the City South neighbourhood had lost its identity during prior decades.  New regulations addressing earthquake retrofitting, parking, and building setbacks in addition to those proposed for storm water runoff quality control have layered burdens onto the neighbourhood, adding to those already impacting inner city areas around the world.  The result had been a slow uptake and redevelopment of the heritage stock, and the slow encroachment of suburban styled development in the form of big box retail and single story, tilt-up office and business space.

To reverse the trend, the firm conducted a five day charrette with Seth Harry and Associates and Roberts Day.  The team toured the neighbourhood, listened to the community and studied old plans and photographs.  The master plan that evolved was based on the strengths of the existing community, focusing on its urban, industrial character and historic past.  The presence of a strong rear alley and lane system dating back to its early platting was seen to be the important community asset.  The master plan proposed expanding the system to create a network of rear alleys, lanes and mews to redevelop the interior of blocks with new commercial and residential projects capable of adding up to 8,000 new residents and 60,000m2 of new retail.

Following the charrette for Central City South, the firm continued to work with individual property owner Property Ventures Limited on South of Litchfield (SOL).  The project was designed to provide a diverse and engaging urban environment that is easy to access and navigate by pedestrians.  The site plan creates a simple cross-through strategic demolition and new construction consisting of four access routes converging on a central court within a city block.  SOL's master plan activates an existing rear alley by transforming its connection with two new pedestrian passages into a mid-block court.  Flanked by ground floor retail of contemporary design, the passages and court also offer residential opportunities on upper floors.

While components of the Central City South master plan were implemented and the SOL project was completed, the neighborhood was one of the most devastated areas of Christchurch following the February 2011 earthquake.  To date, the majority of the buildings in the neighbourhood have been or are slated for demolition due to structural damage, and the area has only recently been removed from the pedestrian exclusion zone.

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Location: Dubai, UAE

Madinat al Arab, “City of Arabs” is designed as a multi-cultural metropolis from which Dubai and the UAE will engage in global commerce and industry.  Covering over 100 square kilometers with a future population and employment target of 3.6 million, Madinat al Arab is designed and planned to showcase sustainable, New Urban principles at the scale of the urban region.  Madinat al Arab presents an opportunity to position the UAE at the forefront for business in the Middle East.  Strategically positioned between Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Madinat al Arab will be designed to consolidate the many economic and strategic initiatives planned for the immediate area.   
 
Leveraging off of a major port expansion on its northern boundary, the development of the world’s largest airport and a Free Trade Port on its eastern boundary, in addition to the many leisure and entertainment amenities being built around Dubai, Madinat al Arab will provide a place for both business people, their employees, and tourists to live long term and visit frequently.  The single attribute of Madinat al Arab that will set it apart from conventional large scale development is the principle used to shape its land plan which is the neighborhood.  Each neighborhood offers residents the ability to conduct most of their daily needs in close proximity to where they live and offers transit built in pedestrian catchments which makes alternatives to the car practical.     
 
This affords everyone options on how to live their lives on a daily basis and makes living in large cities a pleasant experience.  World class cities that are also capitals of business are all based on the neighborhood.  The neighborhoods of London and New York City are famous throughout the world.  

Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE

Located along the port at Abu Dhabi, ECO Island is a concept  plan for a new city extension for up to 200,000 people.  The master plan envisions a series of islands reclaimed from the bay that would allow for the development of three town centers oriented onto Marinas.  A series of natural island serving as reclaimed marsh habitation would form the perimeter of the project.   

The purpose of the development is to house local Emiratee in housing types suited to their needs.  Metrocology worked on a multi-disciplinary team of consultants lead by Oppenheim Architecture to establish the structure plan and urban design for the project.    

Location: Ocean Beach, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand

The Ocean Beach Settlement Plan seeks to resolve pressing issues confronting the Hastings’ District Council, the local Maori, and landowners led by Hill Country Development, along approximately 8 kilometers of coastline in the Bay of Plenty.  In a joint venture, Hill Country and Hastings District Council approached the firm to prepare a master plan to address safe access, growth, natural preservation, and beach replenishment.  The process required significant community consultation and together with Roberts Day a 12 day charrette was held in a woolshed on site renovated specifically to serve as a design studio and meeting place.  Over 1,200 people attended the event.  The master plan represents the outcome based on numerous meetings with residents, the Maori and consultants who assisted in determining the development “potential” of the site.

The “potential” for human settlement at Ocean Beach was guided by the principles and techniques of sustainable, neo-traditional community planning.  Once a footprint was defined based on the environment, ownership, citizen’s concerns, and development issues, these planning principles were applies to create authentic communities in the form of villages and hamlets.  The compact, walkable nature of these communities allowed over 90% of the study area to remain undeveloped, permitting the replenishment and restoration of natural systems that are in steep decline across the balance of the property.

Within the limited area set aside for community development the plans were still able to accommodate approximately 800 units of mixed housing within the two villages and one hamlet.  In addition to the housing, a school site, recreational fields, village hall, shops and restaurants, a new surf club, up to 3 hotels, and much needed parking are proposed, all in a walkable, pedestrian friendly environment.  Just as the natural environment can be made sustainable by caring for and delineating its ecosystems, so too can the human environment, by providing sufficient density and diversity.

Location: Kerikeri, New Zealand

Location: Tauranga, New Zealand

Master Planned as a 1,500 hectare extension to Papamoa East, Modena Beach consists of four neighborhoods.  Two of the four neighborhoods are designed as town centers to take advantage of their proximity to proposed interchanges along a future highway bypass running parallel to the property’s southern boundary.  Stage I of Modena Beach is an infill project called Excelsa.  Excelsa is planned to feature some of the innovative building types which will be found in Modena and will serve as the “sales center” for the ongoing marketing of the project. The building types along with the street and open space layouts will reintroduce the Bay of Plenty region to neighborhood and town centre lifestyles.  Along with the City of Tuaranga, Papamoa and its environs are part of fastest growing urban area in New Zealand.   As one of the warmest and sunniest places in New Zealand, the Tauranga area attracts many retirees drawn to the beaches which line the coast.  The growth has taken the form of 20 kilometer strip of subdivision estates and strip shopping centers.  The linear nature and segregated zoning of the metropolitan area have exacerbated the regions traffic congestion as people are forced to drive long distances between home, work and shopping.

The master plan an alternative form of development to the standard suburban projects which dominate the landscape.  As the southern anchor of the metropolitan area, and along the path of growth, the Modena site provided an opportunity to create a community extension that balances jobs and housing, while offering a true urban experience catering to many different lifestyles and incomes.  Because the property is not directly on the beach and does not offer beach views, The master plan is designed to create “value” out of community and views inland to the mountains.  Serving a population of over 20,000 at build-out, Modena Beach will make sustainable the future growth of the southern end of the Tauranga metropolitan area.

Each neighborhood is structured to orient views to the important area mountain peaks including Mount Mananganou.  Centered on the boulevards and avenues which connect the four neighborhoods the views tie the community back to its natural and historical setting.  Maori requirements for water and waste retention on site were carefully planned into the layout of a series of lakes and canals that also makeup the site’s extensive open space system.  Two town centers, each with more than 500,000m² of commercial space will provide, shopping, employment, entertainment, as well as housing for residents of the southern end of the metropolitan area.  The entire property is designed to be the first “transit ready” development in the New Zealand.  Because of its pedestrian shed structure, Modena Beach will be able to efficiently and affectively take advantage of transit in the form of buses, trains or trolleys as population density warrants. 

Location:  Hunter Valley NSW, Australia

Totaling over 4,000 hectares of land, Sweetwater occupies a strategic position within the Hunter Valley, approximately 2 hours north of Sydney by car.  The site lies at the crossroads of the Hunter Valley’s transportation system and serves as a gateway to the regions wine country which is second only to the Margaret River Valley in the production of Australian wines.  The land is mostly undeveloped but has a long history of mining which has left significant scars on the property.  As part of the region’s comprehensive growth strategy, Hardie Holdings hired the firm with Roberts Day to develop a master plan for a new city.

To facilitate the completion of the regional plan, an analysis of future infrastructure development, population projections and growth trends in similar settings in other regions of the world were applied to the site and the surrounding area.  The resulting City Plan is designed to accommodate a total population of 100,000 serving as a destination and employment center for the upper Hunter Valley and as a satellite city within the greater Sydney region.  A University Campus will anchor the community which will also include a downtown providing 2,000,000m² of commercial space in the form of retail, office, and industrial.

The City Plan, the largest since the Master Plan for Canberra, integrates the natural environment in a system of parks and preserves within the various neighborhoods of Sweetwater.  Proposed buildings will use “green architecture” principles and techniques to reduce energy consumption and natural resource waste.  The main strategy used to accomplish a sustainable and green city, is the reduction in the need for car usage by residents and visitors.  The mixed use and walkable site plan provides a park once and walk environment.  In addition, because each neighborhood with the City of Sweetwater is structured on the five minute walk, the entire plan is transit-ready, allowing transit in the form of buses, trolleys, and trains to begin service once the population and job base reaches appropriate levels. 

Location: Putrajaya, Malaysia

The Master Plan for the Diplomatic Neighborhood covers 80 hectares within the new Capitol City of Malaysia south of Kuala Lumpur.  The neighborhood is located to the northwest of the new City Center.  It is designed to be dynamic and walkable while also providing for the highest level of security for the Embassies and foreign nationals who will be residing there.  

The Main street for the neighborhood mixes commercial with residential to support the various government facilities and users who will concentrate near the embassies.  

The Embassies are located on a hill overlooking the neighborhood aligned along a terraced series of ring roads offering dramatic views both to and from the lots.

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Location: Southeast Asia

As populations within Southeast Asia begin to urbanize and increase in wealth with rising incomes, the need to establish settlements outside major cities in proximity to natural and manmade amenities and job generating nodes related to industry and commerce, increases.  Combining the two to create the equivalent of “company towns” provides for an efficient means to house growing populations in mixed use settlements with easy means of access to jobs and recreation.    

Opportunities for economic development in regions where tourism can be established for domestic market consumption as well as regional are numerous and must be designed so as not to negatively impact the natural settings which make them attractive in the first place.  

Jobs and industry require allowances for production that make the presence of housing often a challenge.  Designing communities that retain the local job population within their boundaries is a potent antidote to green house gas emissions and carbon loading.  

Location: Dalian, China

The city of Dalian commissioned a competition to redevelop their 327 hectare waterfront industrial site in the city’s new eastern extension into a mixed use development consisting of commercial and residential uses and a regional tennis center with two stadiums for the city.  The proposal places the tennis stadium to the west effectively making it the principal gateway to the new East Dalian extension.  The development would also have a new bridge connection from Dalian city center.

The master plan realigned the connection to become the main commercial spine for the development with the stadium located to the west and residential areas to the east.

The waterfront edge is made active by integrating a series of points of interests including neighborhood centers and active islands and parks.  These were used as termination points along view corridors from the inner neighborhoods.

Location: Tianjin City
 
To balance the development within greater Tianjin City, the City commissioned a competition to transform the north western sector into a new mixed use government district with a strong commercial hub taking advantage of proposed rail links connecting directly to Beijing, only one hour away. The plan encompasses a region that stretches 13km wide east west and 9km north south.
 
The master plan skewed the regional grid to allow the road and utility systems to integrate the new development with the existing southern development. The plan extends the grid of the city and creates a strong formal center with neighborhoods becoming less formal as they move outward to the north.  Existing and new proposed industrial areas are combined into mixed use townships with supporting housing and commercial components to provide sustainable communities in terms of housing and jobs.  The entire plan supports a new regional grid that can be extended further as population growth demands.  

Location: City of Nanning, China

The Master Plan for the northern extension of Nanning covered 119km² to the foothills of the Guangxi Mountains to the north and west.  Green corridors and rivers subdivide the Sector into cluster of districts comprised of neighborhoods.

Two systems unite the extension, the Spine Road and Yongiang River.  The Spine Road connects the proposed commercial center with the City’s rail freight station.  The Spine Road would link the first ring of planned neighborhoods and serve as City’s principal light rail corridor. 

Location: City of Haikou, Hainan China

The Urban Waterfront Master Plan covers over 1,000 hectares and is designed to link together the City’s waterfront and provide access and amenities to the city’s residents.  Cultural and recreational facilities as well as new commercial centers will extend the urban fabric to the waterfront, linking development to parks and open space which will complement the urban character proposed.  

Location: Daijeon, South Korea

In 2004 the South Korean Prime Minister, Lee Hae-chan announced that the country’s capital would be moved from Seoul to Gongju and Yeongi.  A 71km² (17,540 acre) site was chosen for the project, which was scheduled to be completed by 2030.  Government and administrative functions would move to the new capital, along with the parliament and Supreme Court, although no sizable relocation was expected until completion of the first phase of the project around 2012.  An international competition was held to solicit design ideas for the project.  

The site chosen is centrally located within Korea near Daejeon in Chungcheongnam province. With a population of 1.8 million, Daejeon is the 5th largest city in South Korea and a major transportation hub. Here, the two main development corridors in South Korea cross on their way to and from Seoul. The anticipated population of New City is planned for 500,000 people.  The location enjoys an appealing lifestyle and healthy regional economy that is sustained by a diversity of historical and recreational sites. 

Feng Shui design principles were used to determine the layout of New City. The principal access is located at the west from the existing National Road 36.  Location of mountains, drainage, and topography determines the location of the government center and the main development core area.  The blocks are oriented east-west to allow most of the façade to have a southern solar orientation. Principal views such as lakes, parks and river would be located east and west to allow viewing through the spatial corridors that form between blocks.  In addition to Feng Shui, the master plan employees the principles of Transect Neighborhood Design.  New City is structured around 21 neighborhoods, each with its own centre, mix of uses and housing, civic buildings, and open space network.  The higher density neighborhoods at the centre form the CBD and government precincts.  All the neighborhoods are a five minute walk from their centre to their edge, making transit and other alternatives to car use practical and desirable.  

Location: Guilin, China

Covering approximately 1,300 hectares the Yan Shan New Township is designed to provide a range of housing opportunities for residents.  In an effort to reduce the monotony of the standard Chinese apartment tower block, and provide variety in terms of family needs the Master Plan incorporates densities along a range of levels from single family house lots to multifamily apartment buildings.  The townships neighborhoods support two commercial precincts which will employee many of the residents.  Access to these two centers is by means of transit.

An extensive open space network formed by the numerous rivers that run through the site provides access to natural areas for all residents within walking distance.