urban design

The square in front of the Kunshan Municipal Government, together with its subway station, has underwent a comprehensive transformation since 2022. With the new retail and parking facilities introduced to the underground, the landscape above ground followed the original cross-axis structure of the city square, placing a water feature and a large grass slope along the central axis, dividing the site into four sections. Dazhou and Associates was commissioned for the design of the landscape architecture above ground.

While Neom struggles to create ground-breaking urbanism, it is having more success replicating suburbia in the desert, writes Tom Ravenscroft. Despite grand ambitions and a barrage of flashy renders, progress on Neom has been slow. Eight years after the project was announced there is little to show for the reported $50 billion Saudi Arabia has

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At the heart of the Historic Jeddah Waterfront Regeneration Initiative, the Culture Square stands as a bold statement of renewal, an intersection where memory, art, and urban transformation converge. The project reimagines the northern edge of Al Arbaeen Lagoon, facing Al-Balad, Jeddah’s storied historic district, and forms part of a larger vision to turn the lagoon’s perimeter into a sustainable, mixed-use urban hub.

CLUSTER (Cairo Lab for Urban Studies, Training and Environmental Research) in collaboration with THISS Studio and Orient Productions have completed an independent outdoor community arts space in Cairo, located in Giza’s Agouza Children’s Park, one of the city’s few remaining publicly accessible green spaces. Titled Pergola and perched close to the Nile river front, the bright red, ten-metre tall structure offers a new beating heart for an emerging cultural scene in Cairo. Inspired by public bandstands and similar sheltered spaces, Pergola addresses the increasing gentrification and commercialisation of Cairo’s public space and neighbourhood parks, offering an alternative approach to urban development anchored in art and cultural programmes. The project positions design as a tool of resistance and preservation as unchecked development, often in favour of foreign investment, is increasingly at odds with cultural preservation and community spaces.

Cities and architecture across the world are increasingly being influenced by the fundamentally anti-democratic principles of places like Dubai, argues academic Quinn Slobodian in this interview. Slobodian is a Canadian historian based at Boston University. His 2023 book Crack-Up Capitalism: Market Radicals and the Dream of a World Without Democracy charts the rise of special

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At the Rotterdam Lloyd Pier, ships used to dock, sailors unloaded their goods, and ships departed for the Dutch East Indies. The streetscape of this historic port area was defined by large sheds and warehouses. In 2024, this place has been transformed into a lively residential and working area. Lloyd Yard, with 136 energy-neutral homes, a series of different outdoor spaces and a catering facility, is the final piece of this transformation. To emphasise the port history of the Lloydkwartier, the completed buildings are robust and unpolished. In addition, it is a permeable block, anchored in its surroundings. High gates provide access to the adventurous, sheltered from the wind, courtyard. The eye-catcher of the building is the ‘Maaswindow’, a big opening in the block with swing, which offers a phenomenal view of the Maas and is accessible to all residents.