Xinhua Road Sub-district community life circle plan wins global award

“The Action Plan of the 15-minute Community Life Circle in Xinhua Road Sub-district” was recently awarded the 2022 Merit Award for Excellence at the 58th ISOCARP World Planning Congress held in Brussels, Belgium.

The congress is an important platform to explore and discuss the pathways towards a future with this year’s theme: “From Wealthy to Healthy Cities.” The ISOCARP Award for Excellence rewards plans in design phase as well as projects in progress or already implemented in the domain of urban and regional planning. This prestigious award is bestowed in two categories: Grand Award and Merit Award.

This year, a record number of 30 eligible entries were submitted. “The Action Plan of the 15-minute Community Life Circle in Xinhua Road Sub-district” created by Yingyi Urban Planning Design Co Ltd won the award.

The sub-district planning case perfectly represents Shanghai’s practice of building “15-minute community life circles.” Within a 15-minute walk, citizens are expected to have access to various services related to living, working, studying, traveling and elderly care.

Changning District has been actively planning the district’s “15-minute community life circles” and Xinhua Road Sub-district, around the historic road in Changning, has been listed as a demonstration case for Shanghai’s plan for the 15-minute community life circle.

Until August 2021, the district had completed planning works of its 10 sub-districts’ “15-minute community life circles” and it became Shanghai’s first downtown district to complete the planning. During the Shanghai Urban Space Art Season 2021, public activities were held and the activity centers were opened to the public inside Xinhua Road neighborhood, showing the fruitful results of the “15-minute community life circles.”