Nanjing Jiangbei Civic Center / MENG Architects

Nanjing, renowned as the ancient capital of six dynasties, has seen urbanization mainly on the south bank of the Yangtze River. In 2015, in order to give full play to the city’s leading role in innovation-driven development and new urbanization, and promote the development of south Jiangsu and the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the State Council officially approved the establishment of the nearly 788 km2 Jiangbei New District, kicking off large-scale urban development of the city on the north bank of the river. The Central Business and Social District, located in the core of the New District with the Yangtze River as the boundary and Laoshan Mountain as the background, is the kick-off area of the New District. In addition to infrastructure construction, the New District government intends to accelerate the development of the Central Business and Social Area by launching a series of public cultural building projects, and the Civic Center is one of the first key projects. The Project is sited in the open urban space at the intersection of Central Avenue (now called Dingshan Street) and Binjiang Avenue. Rising at the gateway to the New District and backed by the super high-rise cluster of the Central Business and Social Area, the Project overlooks the main urban area of Nanjing across the river. As the starting point of the north-south urban spatial corridor of the district, the site boasts a unique urban and natural landscape. The total site area is about 5.5 hm2 and the originally planned GFA was about 53,000 m2 (later increased to about 75,600 m2 subject to functional adjustment).