Zhujiang New Town

Zhujiang New Town

New Town at dusk
Chinese 珠江新城
Literal meaning Pearl River New City

Zhujiang New Town or New City is an area in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. It is bounded by Huangpu Avenue on the north, the Pearl River on the south, Guangzhou Avenue on the west and the South China Expressway on the east. Covering an area of 6.44 km2, it is divided by Xiancun Road (Chinese: 冼村路) into two parts. The larger eastern part contains mainly residential complexes and in the middle of it lies Zhujiang Park (Chinese: 珠江公园). Such a layout was modelled on the Central Park in New York where the park itself provides a green oasis in the bustling city centre and increases the property value of the surrounding apartment blocks. The western portion of Zhujiang New Town was planned as the city's purpose-built CBD for the 21st century. At its core area that the government designated as the city's new axis of development there is a continuous central plaza which extends approximately 1.5 km from north to south. The plaze incorporates underground shopping malls, vehicular tunnels and a people mover system. Flanked on both sides by skyscrapers, at its southern end the plaza hosts four newly built cultural venues of the city: the Guangzhou Opera House, the second Children's Palace, the new Guangzhou Library and Guangdong Museum. Looming behind are the supertall Twin Towers and across the river the Canton Tower, which is the tallest structure in Guangzhou.

While planning of Zhujiang New Town started in as early as late 1980s, development had been stagnated for more than a decade. To encourage development, the local government relocated some of its departments to the area, including the customs office[1][2][3] and the taxation bureau. A piece of land measuring about 3 hectares was specifically reserved and sold to the U.S. Consulate. Private companies however, were reluctant to move in due to the poor traffic links and a lack of other amenities at that time. Eventually in 2003 the government carried out a planning review of the area, in which some adjustments were made to the original plan and more public facilities and transport infrastructure were added to the design. The area finally met the opportunity of rapid development as the city prepared to host the 2010 Asian Games. When the adjacent Haixinsha island was chosen as the venue of the opening ceremony, the area attracted large investment from the government and properties developers. Today Zhujiang New Town has the largest concentration of luxurious hotels and office buildings in the city.

Zhujiang New Town is served by a dedicated people mover system and Line 3 and Line 5 of Guangzhou Metro.

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References

Coordinates: 23°7′22″N 113°19′9″E / 23.12278°N 113.31917°E / 23.12278; 113.31917

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