Panda Land Master Plan

This authentic and immersive panda trail and habitat changes the way people perceive and engage with wildlife, dissolving the idea that humans are dominant over nature. 

Trailing across the western Chinese city of Chengdu in the Sichuan Province – which constitutes the world’s most significant contiguous area of panda habitat – the attraction will connect the UNESCO World Heritage-listed site at Dujiangyan to other significant sites across the city, such as Beihu and Longquan Mountain. Above all, the trail tells the conservation story of China’s iconic giant panda.

In the master plan we see visitors not as tourists but as explorers, giving them a variety of opportunities and sites to learn about the environmental challenges facing China’s national treasures – to explore, discover and dream.

Client

Chengdu Tianfu Greenway Construction Investment

Location

Chengdu, China

Status

In progress

Year

2018

Collaborators

Shanghai Tongji Urban Planning and Design Institute, Jon Coe Design

Design team

Andrew Wilkinson, Chong Wang, Chris Kelly, Hongyan Li, Liam Mouritz, Weixi Liu, Yucheng Chen, Kairos Zhang, Qiming Zou
136 km Water Trail
57 km Bamboo Trail
14 km City Trail and 12km Forest Trail
  • Beihu connects with the local community to improve education about Chengdu’s endangered wildlife via research and cultural innovation centres. 
  • Dujiangyan offers an immersive experience in a natural park with scenic valleys and an eco-resort. 
  • Longquan Mountain demonstrates the revegetation of degraded mountain areas – a live and ongoing process to emphasise the danger and mitigation of deforestation.
  • In 2009 we designed the Adelaide Zoo Giant Panda Forest, home to Wang Wang and Funi.
  • 2022 International Federation of Landscape Architects Awards (Asia Pacific region) - Honourable Mention for Analysis and Planning 
  • 2019 Singapore Landscape Architecture Awards – Outstanding Award of Excellence for Analysis and Planning
  • 2019 Singapore Institute of Planning Awards – Best Planning (International Category) – Bronze