The winning project takes ambitious steps to create a carbon-neutral island, whilst marrying the economic benefits of tourism and agriculture. Primarily, the proposal concentrates on dividing the site into two main developments, the North and the South of the island.

In the Northern part of the site, the proposal designs a smart-tech agricultural park, which includes areas for horticultural planting and agroforestry plantation, as well as recreational and community facilities. Key features of this development include:

• Developing a recreational winding path & observatory surrounded by local flora plants for residents to explore the biodiversity of the nature reserve.

• Building a Qingyuan promenade along the river with family-friendly recreational activities, such as parent-child pedal power train, rainbow slide and children's adventure park. 

The Southern area of the site features a photovoltaic integrated building with a high-tech glass curtain wall. This design works to store solar energy, whilst cooling the interior and regulating the air quality. The building will primarily serve as a science educational museum, to learn about the rich horticulture of the island, and includes: 

• A City-Cloud Rooftop·Green Wing Library that contains a "Sannong" Cultural Expo Hall, to celebrate the local community 

• A zero-waste kitchen serving food grown on the island with bacterial fertiliser. 

Collaborating with the city and their university, the team worked with the Institute of Low Carbon Technology to ensure that the carbon emissions in the Shiyeizhou Island area were minimised by taking into account the latest carbon reduction policies. The team’s proposed method of implementation would mark the total amount of annual carbon sequestration in the park at 8,100 tons.

Special Mention | Team DMIsland

• Team members: Daria Polańska & Marcin Błażejewski - Wroclaw University of Science and Technology
• Faculty Advisors: Marzena Heliak-Rużyła - Wroclaw University of Science and Technology

Jury members that assessed all submitted proposals include: 

• Zhu Xinshu, Deputy General Manager, Beijing Wandefulan Technology Co., Ltd. - Jury Chair 朱昕姝，北京万德福兰科技有限公司副总经理 – 评委会主席 

• Manping Tong, Head of the Climate Change Division, Zhenjiang Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau 童满平，镇江市生态环境局应对气候变化处处长 

• Yinjun Yu, Deputy Town Mayor, Shiye Town, Zhenjiang 余银俊，镇江市世业镇副镇长 

• Jing Hou, China Sectoral Policy Senior Manager, C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group 侯静， C40 城市气候领导联盟中国重点行业部门政策高级经理 

• Jams Zhai, President of the Architectural Design Institute, Zhenjiang Planning Survey and Design Group Co., LTD 翟陈明，镇江市规划勘测设计集团有限公司建筑设计院院长

The area covers 1.2 square kilometres and has a total population of 14,400, with 5 administrative villages under its jurisdiction. Shiyezhou Island, also known as the ‘green island in the river’ and the ‘ecological island’’, has in total of 120 hectares of natural open parks and wetland landscapes. The Runyang Bridge is a large bridge that crosses the Yangtze River and spans Shiyezhou from north to south, providing the island with easy access to transportation. In recent years, Shiyezhou has successfully developed green industries such as recreational tourism, efficient modern agriculture, as well as health preservation. 

Looking ahead, Shiyezhou is striving towards carbon neutrality, which promotes the overall integration of climate change, ecological environmental protection, and high-quality agricultural and tourism development. In addition, Shiyezhou aims to improve the ecosystem's carbon sink capacity and create a "zero-carbon island" based on Shiyezhou's existing planning foundation and ecological civilization construction. Shiyezhou Island has been chosen as a site for this competition due to its potential to become a ‘carbon-neutral island’. The area identified is Shiyezhou Music Plaza, which is located north of the island. Students should consider innovative ideas and strategies to develop a zero-carbon island by focusing in particular on sustainable waste management, recycling, resource consumption, sustainable tourism as well as developing green energy infrastructure.

Approx. site area

7.2 hectares.

Key Information

Shiyezhou Island is a key component of the regional growth channel and has a total population of approximately 14,400. The selected site, Shiyezhou Music Plaza, is a vacant plot of land which was previously used as a venue for music festivals and the city aims to reimagine and transform the site.

Priority areas & main expectations

The project aims to advance Shiyezhou’s efforts in achieving a ‘carbon-neutral island’ by 2035. Students should consider strategies to improve energy infrastructure within the site in order for the island to become more self-sufficient through the provision of green energy. Proposals should also promote circular resource management and the development of sustainable and low-carbon tourism industry and agriculture, as well as promoting community development and a more sustainable lifestyle. The projects must also preserve natural resources and biodiversity of the island.

The Team-up contact form is now available. Click here to connect and team-up with other participants who are interested in the same site/city. The contacts provided can be found here.