Zhujiang New Town, Pazhou, and Yuzhu, the "Four Great Titans" of Guangzhou

There will be a new tunnel opening soon beside the Pearl River.

On June 10th, the main structure of the Yuzhuwan Tunnel was fully completed, officially entering the countdown to opening to traffic. According to public information, the Yuzhuwan Tunnel is located at the junction of Tianhe and Huangpu, near the front channel of the Pearl River. It is about 1 kilometer long and is an important part of the eastern extension of Linjiang Avenue. After its completion, it will directly connect the Financial City and Yuzhu.

Don't think it's short. Many times, what changes the pattern of a city is not a large - scale project spanning dozens of kilometers, but the last "kilometer". Because what it connects is not just a road. It's also a kind of "relationship".

01

In recent years, the core resources of Guangzhou have spread eastward along the Pearl River, giving rise to the "Four Kings" of Zhujiang New Town, Financial City, Pazhou, and Yuzhu.

Zhujiang New Town is the first CBD in Guangzhou. The Financial City is an extension of Zhujiang New Town. Pazhou has its own unique style and is the peak of Guangzhou's digital economy. Yuzhu is an extension of the Financial City and is collectively called the "Second CBD" with the Financial City.

If you connect these places on a map, you'll find an interesting phenomenon: Zhujiang New Town, the Financial City, and Pazhou are basically connected. Only Yuzhu always seems to be lacking a bit of momentum.

The reason is simple: the roads are not well - connected. Although the Financial City and Yuzhu are not far apart, many vehicles have to detour via Huangpu Avenue. They are adjacent in space but seem far apart psychologically. What the Yuzhuwan Tunnel does is to completely break this "barrier".

On the map, it is exactly at the junction of the Financial City and Yuzhu. To the west is the Financial City. To the east is Yuzhu. Further west is Zhujiang New Town. Across the river to the south is Pazhou.

A tunnel reconnects the previously broken chain.

Thus, the four strongest CBDs in Guangzhou are finally truly connected into a network. Zhujiang New Town, the Financial City, Pazhou, and Yuzhu, abbreviated as "Zhu - Jin - Pa - Yu". The "Four Kings" of Guangzhou are now complete.

Of course, more important than the tunnel opening to traffic is to return the ground to people.

Compared with its traffic value, I value another significance of the Yuzhuwan Tunnel more. It represents a new urban construction concept. In the past, many cities liked to build overpasses. They are fast, but the cost is to cut up the waterfront space, drive people away, and keep the cars.

The Yuzhuwan Tunnel chooses to go underground: Cars go underground, and people walk on the ground. This means that in the future, the most precious riverside coastline of Yuzhuwan will not be cut by expressways but can be completely reserved for parks, walking paths, cycling systems, and public activity spaces.

This is what advanced waterfront cities around the world have been doing in recent years, such as New York, Singapore, and Shenzhen Bay.

A truly advanced city is not one where cars can run faster, but one where people are willing to stop and have space to stop.

02

Many people may not have realized that the most valuable asset in Yuzhuwan is not the office buildings, but the river view.

It is located on the front channel of the Pearl River and has a large - scale waterfront interface that is extremely scarce in the central urban area of Guangzhou. With the implementation of the Yuzhuwan Tunnel, a bigger imagination space is emerging: Yuzhuwan Riverside Park.

If all the public spaces along the river are connected in the future to form a continuous riverside landscape belt, and combined with the resources of the Financial City, Yuzhu Headquarters Area, and the Pearl River coastline, this area has every chance to grow into a Guangzhou - version "Shenzhen Bay Talent Park" and even become a new super urban living room in Guangzhou.

It's about headquarters economy during the day and an urban living room at night. It belongs to industries on weekdays and to citizens on weekends.

More importantly, one end of the tunnel is Baoli Yuzhu Island, and the other end is Pengrui No. 1. The living areas of the Financial City and Yuzhu are connected, and a riverside asset belt connecting pearls into a chain emerges.

Sometimes, a tunnel can't change a city. But it can determine where a city is going in the future.

In the past decade or so, Guangzhou has been developing eastward. Zhujiang New Town has risen, the Financial City has risen, and Pazhou has risen.

Now, it's finally Yuzhu's turn.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Urban Warfare". Author: Sun Bushu's team. Republished by 36Kr with authorization.