An Australian team of architects and landscape planners has beaten fierce competition from all over the world to land the design project for Nanjing's Historic Zone. Melbourne based Architects CK Designworks and sustainability and landscape planners ERM won the bid in competition with teams from England, Singapore, Taiwan and China.

The 40 sq km project forms part of the UNESCO world heritage area and it is hoped that it be entirely free of private vehicles, instead employing alternative forms of mass tourist transport coupled with major car, bus and high-speed rail interchanges. Assisting the Australians with economic and demographic research are Nanjing University’s Faculty of Antiquities and Heritage and two Shanghai based research groups.

CK Designworks had recently completed the master planning of a new high tech zone in Nanjing which will eventually house 200,000 people and provide 1.6 million jobs. Team leader, Robert Caulfield said, “It was designed to the latest international environmental and sustainability standards and the Government was really happy with the result. This was obviously a big factor in winning this spectacular new commission.”