RICS China Awards 2023 reveals city's leading role
Shanghai scooped five of the 14 winning projects of the "Urban Regeneration Project of the Year" prize of the RICS China Awards 2023.
Shanghai is leading China in urban renewal, according to a recently-revealed prestigious industrial award.
The list of winners for the RICS China Awards 2023 was revealed on Friday in Shanghai. The RICS Awards, presented by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, is hailed as the "Oscars" of the industry.
Of the 16 prize categories, "Urban Regeneration Project of the Year" was presented to 14 projects, five of which are from Shanghai – accounting for more than one third of the total.
They are Wuyi Road community, former Henry Lester Institute of Technical Education, A.F.A complex, 8 Hengshan Road and the Bund International Building.
Of them, the 89-year-old former technical school site now houses the Design Innovation Institute Shanghai, attracting top talent in design, and the A.F.A has been renovated from a former iron works into an art and commercial complex.
The former Henry Lester Institute of Technical Education.
Urban renewal has become a normal for the development of Chinese cities as the country's urbanization rate of permanent residence has hit 65.22 percent – with 920 million people living in cities – by the end of 2022.
Hence, urban renewal has for the first time been written in the central government's report in 2021, and it was stated as a main driver to optimize urban spaces and improve quality in the nation's 4th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025).
According to the Shanghai Urban Renewal Action Plan (2023-2025), by 2025, at least 10 comprehensive regional renewal projects would be carried out, such as the waterfront areas along the Huangpu River and the Suzhou Creek, the Hongqiao International Central Business District, and the Hengshan-Fuxing Roads (Hengfu) Historical Conservation Zone.
The RICS 2023 China Summit was held before the award ceremony.
More than 400 insiders and experts shared their views about the latest trends in the industry, such as digitalization and sustainability.
Allen Qian, vice president of Cushman & Wakefield Vanke Service, shares his views about cutting carbon emissions in construction complexes.
Allen Qian, vice president of Cushman & Wakefield Vanke Service, pinpointed the importance of cutting carbon emissions in commercial complexes.
"Nearly 90 percent of energy costs of running a commercial complex comes from air conditioning, heating, ventilation, lighting and elevator system," he said.
To cope with it, the firm has developed a smart control system for air conditioning by using the advanced Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) technology. This year, it joined hands with Shanghai Timechain Technology to build an energy technology company to achieve unnamed low-carbon operation of construction complexes.
