A New Neighborhood Paradigm

Binhai Hexie New City

Neighborhood Design Prototype

This innovative plan for the 14,000-unit mixed-use neighborhood of the Binhai New Area outside Tianjin, China, breaks the strangle-hold of the large, gated, auto-dominated superblock that has had such a deleterious effect on Chinese cities. The Hexie Master Plan, and its contained Demonstration Neighborhood Plan, show how the lively traditional urbanity of Chinese cities – with pedestrian commercial streets, walkable neighborhoods and glimpses into courtyards – can be reclaimed within contemporary demands for solar access and simple standardized systems of housing production.

EcoDistrict Framework

The plans provide a framework for an EcoDistrict that can address energy generation, water conservation and waste recycling as part of a larger ecological program for this vast new city of 12 million. Residential buildings are designed for natural cross-ventilation and to meet the strict solar access codes that require two hours of direct sunlight each day.