Arranged in a Crisscross Pattern
Jiangyin, a small town in southern Jiangsu, China, has historically served as a key river defense point due to its strategic location at the “throat of the Yangtze River.” Today, it remains an important intermodal port linking river and sea transport within the Yangtze River Delta. Beyond its industrial significance, Jiangyin is renowned as a garden city, boasting the world’s longest sports greenway—an impressive 4707-meter stretch designed by the BAU firm. The team was led by James Brearley, a visiting professor at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and an Australian registered architect of Chinese heritage. Embracing the “spirit of embroidery needles” emblematic of modern Chinese urban development, this greenway weaves a legendary path through the city.
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Making a Distinctive Mark
The creation of Jiangyin Greenway coincides with China’s broader push for healthy, sustainable transportation and urban leisure. This large-scale infrastructure project represents both an opportunity and a responsibility: to craft a symbolic urban space that reflects Jiangyin’s innovative, progressive, and livable character.
The project is divided into four distinct sections, each tailored to the unique character of its location. The northern ring road section, now complete, leads to the Shipyard Park, highlighting Jiangyin’s rich shipbuilding and port history. The eastern section runs along the Yangtze River, emphasizing the river’s significance to the city.
More Than Just a Trail
This project goes beyond a simple elevated walkway. It aims to create beautiful urban spaces that connect scattered, unrelated scenic spots, integrate modern aesthetics, address community needs, enhance the city’s image, and foster a poetic atmosphere. Cost-effectiveness and the development of social spaces are also key focuses.
The Yangtze River’s History
The Yangtze River is world-famous for its natural beauty, yet in bustling urban life, such landscapes are often overlooked. This greenway project aims to reintroduce the river’s grandeur to the public through thoughtfully designed urban infrastructure.
Green trails have become a popular development model along the Yangtze and its tributaries, featuring multiple squares and terraces that rise vertically along the path. Informational boards at key scenic spots celebrate the river’s glorious history.
Seamless Connectivity
The project’s entire elevated pathway runs above existing highways, which—thanks to smart engineering—do not act as barriers to the city. However, the park itself struggles to connect organically with urban areas, especially affecting east-west mobility due to its elongated north-south orientation.
Extensive route analysis was conducted to revitalize the park and improve safety. The project enhances connectivity between the greenway, other park areas, nearby streets, and pedestrian networks, making the city more efficient and dynamic.
Exquisite and Stunning Design
The trail’s design skillfully incorporates existing roads and mature plantings. Transparent solid railings protect privacy while offering scenic views, creating a visually pleasing environment for visitors.
The highway’s soundproof walls add comfort for pedestrians. Trees lining the path offer shade and privacy. Open scenic areas include seating with panoramic views of lakes, mountains, and canals. The landmark bridge features a sculptural truss design, while staircases at street intersections seamlessly connect existing walkways with the greenway. These unique amenities enrich the urban landscape.
Planning and Construction
Great places carry memories, and the greenway connects various important events along its route. A circular theater provides a space for performances and leisure activities.
The elevated square is equipped with permanent sound systems for public entertainment and relaxation. The sports field includes courts, slides, and gentle slopes, making it suitable for all ages. Numerous other features contribute to creating an unforgettable destination.
Unlimited Potential
Ancillary facilities have been integrated into key areas, optimizing the use of nearby roads and pedestrian systems as well as the greenway itself. These amenities improve park equipment, energize important zones, and enhance safety and comfort. Commercial leasing opportunities, such as a bicycle station offering sales and repairs, a café, shops, and a fitness center, also help offset operating costs.
Integrating All Components
Large buildings and spaces can be shaped by either additive or subtractive processes. Additive design involves adding details, while subtraction refines by removing. Ancillary structures usually enhance aesthetics by blending elements, which can risk a disjointed effect. This project employs a subtractive approach, integrating all components into a cohesive whole. This method transforms disorder into order, providing project diversity while preserving a simple structure that supports cost control.
The design thoughtfully considers every element’s integration, resulting in a harmonious and practical structure.
Structure
The greenway is constructed using steel frames and prefabricated components to minimize ecological impact on the park.
Greenway Terrace
Featuring a fully steel structure and colored asphalt concrete pavement, the prefabricated greenway offers durability, wear resistance, and low maintenance costs.
Support Columns
The greenway is supported by 16-meter-high pillars at the center of its spans, providing unrestricted headroom for activities underneath, such as under ramps. Where height restrictions apply, support pillars rise to 32 meters, allowing more flexible and natural social interactions beneath the elevated walkway.
Thin Film, Truss, and Suspended Basket Structures
Bridge spans vary and can exceed the greenway’s effective span of 32 meters. To address this, three structural solutions are used: perforated membrane, truss, and suspension systems.
The thin film structure can employ either a mid-span bridging method resembling an arch or a reinforced support structure acting as an anti-tensile element. The truss system replaces the common Warren truss with a series of inclined filter membranes. The suspension scheme features a dynamically supported suspended basket. This combination transforms each bridge into a unique and striking city landmark.
Project Drawings
▲ Plan Analysis Diagram
▲ Local Analysis
▲ Key Spatial Nodes in the Greenway
▲ Local Axonometric Analysis
Project Information
Status: First Prize in Invitational Competition. Completed December 2019
Location: Jiangyin, Jiangsu, China
Construction Period: 2017–2019
Owner: Jiangyin Zhongjian Urban Development Co., Ltd.
Construction Cost: RMB 372 million
Type: Public Infrastructure, Landscape, Transportation
Functions: Elevated pedestrian walkway, pedestrian overpass, amusement park, circular theater, café, bicycle shop
BAU Project Team: Guo Lixia, Gao Weiguo, Wu Xiaojian, Pan Linlu, Li Zheng, Yu Zhirui, Rong Yu, Lei Tao, Pablo Jimenez, Manuel Jose Godoy Alvarez, Fang Qun, Huang Fang, Steve Whitford, Peter Felichetti (conceptual design stage engineer), James Brearley
Construction Unit: Jiangyin Zhongjian Urban Development Co., Ltd.
Collaborative Design Institute: Shanghai Lin Tongyan Li Guohao Civil Engineering Consulting Co., Ltd.
Video: Derrick Wang
Photography: Pavel Shubskiy – Egghead Photo
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