Competition Name
Urban Design Competition for Phase III of Baiyun Central District of the Greater Bay Area Guangzhou Central Legal Services District(hereinafter referred to as the “Competition”）
Project Background
To thoroughly study and implement the Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law and the spirit of the central conference on work related to overall law-based governance, fully implement the work requirements set out by the district party committee and the district government for the development of Phase III of Baiyun Central District of the Greater Bay Area Guangzhou Central Legal Services District (hereinafter referred to as the “Legal Services District”）, vigorously advance key tasks such as industrial park construction and investment promotion, guide the high-standard planning and development of the district, and ensure the detailed implementation of all tasks, Baiyun District plans to launch an urban design competition covering Phase III of the Legal Services District and its surrounding areas.
Located at the intersection of the South China Expressway and Baiyun Avenue, Phase III of the Legal Services District lies at the interface between two key development areas, Baiyun New Town and Wanggang New Town. As a central hub that connects to the international community, serves the national stage, and exemplifies the premier legal services landscape of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, this site carries significant weight as a gateway landmark. This competition seeks to gather forward-looking and innovative design concepts and proposals, aiming to deliver comprehensive planning and high-quality design for Phase III of the Legal Services District and facilitate targeted investment attraction, thereby driving the high-quality development of the Legal Services District.
This competition is co-hosted by Baiyun District Branch of Guangzhou Municipal Planning and Natural Resources Bureau and Guangzhou Baiyun Industrial Investment Group Co., Ltd., and is undertaken by the competition organization agency service unit, Guangzhou Baiyun Property Rights Broker Co., Ltd.
Competition Scope and Content
The task content of this urban design competition consists of two parts: planning research and detailed design. The specific areas and content are as follows:
Planning research
- Scope: The planning research area covers 72 hectares, bounded by Lingyun Road to the north, Lianbian-Pengshang Dexing Road to the west, South China Expressway to the south, and Baiyun Avenue to the east. (Note: The research scope may be appropriately expanded according to actual conditions.)
- Content: The proposal shall be developed to a conceptual urban design level of detail and serve as the guiding basis for subsequent planning, construction and management. From a regional perspective, a systematic study shall be conducted on the planning structure, industrial functions and land use layout within the scope. This proposal shall clarify the functional guidelines for each area and the general urban design principles, and put forward the overall functional positioning, spatial planning scheme, industrial function planning, event planning, and investment promotion and operation solutions to foster the integrated development of legal services clustering and a high-caliber business district.
Detailed design
- Scope: The detailed design area covers 23 hectares. It is bounded by Baiyun Avenue to the east, South China Expressway to the south, the proposed Guangzhou Central Legal Services District Rule of Law Square to the west, and Lingyun Road to the north.
- Content: The design proposal shall be developed to an architectural conceptual design level of detail. It shall address key elements, including the overall spatial form, architectural cluster style, skyline, fifth facade and public space system, and formulate urban design control guidelines. It shall provide guidelines for the general layout of buildings, detailed division of architectural functions, architectural design, detailed site landscape design and traffic schemes. Furthermore, it shall further refine the conceptual design of landmark buildings at key nodes, and build a new industrial community featuring compound functions, industry-city integration, and a livable and workable environment.
Schematic Diagram of the Planning Areas
Competition Registration
Qualification requirements for applicants
- Consortium applications are accepted. For applications submitted by a consortium, at least one member shall possess the qualification specified in Item 4 below. A consortium comprised of domestic and overseas planning and design teams as well as relevant professional technical teams is encouraged to be formed. A consortium shall consist of no more than three parties, among which at least one shall be a domestic entity. Applicants shall submit a consortium agreement that clearly specifies the leading party of the consortium. After signing the consortium agreement, each member shall not apply independently in its own name, nor form a new consortium or join any other consortium； otherwise, it shall be disqualified from the competition.
- The applicant (in case of a consortium, referring to all members of the consortium hereinafter) shall be a legally registered independent legal person, partnership, or other organization, and shall provide a valid business license or registration certificate.
- Different entities with the same legal representative, or entities under mutual shareholding or management affiliation, shall not participate simultaneously as separate applicants.
- The applicant shall hold one of the following valid qualifications: Class A Qualification for Urban and Rural Planning issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources of the People’s Republic of China； or Class A Qualification in the Construction Industry (Architectural Engineering) approved by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development(or Comprehensive Class A Engineering Design Qualification； or Class A Engineering Design Qualification (Construction Industry)).
- The applicant shall have proven track records in urban design, landmark architectural design, and industrial investment invitation consulting and planning for projects such as central business districts, professional industrial parks, key urban areas, and comprehensive industrial zones.
- The lead designer specified in the Pre-qualification Application Document shall undertake the design work of this project and attend the scheme presentation in person. The designated lead designer shall reserve time in advance and make preparations in accordance with the competition schedule. If the lead designer is unable to attend the on-site presentation due to special circumstances, relevant explanations shall be stated in the Application Form and the Pre-qualification Application Document, with a commitment to participate via video or teleconference. Such circumstances shall be taken into comprehensive consideration during the pre-qualification review.
- Any overseas institution shall form a consortium with a domestic entity to register and participate in the competition.
Note: The locality of a design institution shall be determined by the business registration address of its corporate headquarters (or group headquarters).
How to get the Prequalification Application Documents (format files)
All prospective applicants intending to participate in the competition shall, from 12:00 on May 25, 2026 to 18:00 on June 14, 2026, complete, sign and affix the official seal on the Application Form and the Confidentiality Commitment Letter (Appendix 1-2), scan them into PDF format, and send the PDF files by email to the competition organization agency service unit to obtain the Pre-qualification Application Document (template files). Email address of the competition organization agency service unit for document acceptance: gzbycqzb@126.com.
Submission of the Pre-qualification Application Document
- Pre-qualification Application Document shall be submitted in both electronic and hard copy versions. The submission deadline is 24:00 on June 14, 2026. The submission time shall be subject to the successful upload time of electronic documents. Only documents successfully uploaded before the deadline shall be accepted；any documents not uploaded before the deadline or submitted in other forms shall not be accepted.
- Electronic documents shall include PDF scanned copies and PPT files of the complete set of the original Pre-qualification Application Document. Applicants shall send the electronic files to the designated email of the competition organization agency service unit at gzbycqzb@126.com(to be uploaded in a compressed format of .rar or .zip without encryption).
- Applicants shall submit 7 sets of hard copy Pre-qualification Application Document (1 original and 6 duplicates) to the competition organization agency service unit, Guangzhou Baiyun Property Rights Broker Co., Ltd., either by hand delivery or post. (Address: 6/F, Baiyun Investment Building, Guangyun Road, Helong Subdistrict, Baiyun District, Guangzhou City)
Recipient: Ms.He
Tel.: 020-86363588 - Applicants shall ensure the consistency between the electronic and hard copies of the submitted Pre-qualification Application Document. In case of any inconsistency between the two versions, the electronic version shall prevail
Selection Method
After applicants submit the Pre-qualification Application Document, the Qualification Review Committee will conduct a comprehensive review and comparative evaluation, and select 5 shortlisted teams (including consortia, the same below) and 3 alternate teams based on merit (see Appendix 3 for the Rules for Pre-qualification Review and Selection). If any officially shortlisted team is unable to participate in the competition, the host may select alternate teams in ranking order as replacements. The host reserves the right not to make any supplementation.
Prizes
Prize setting
Upon technical examination and proposal evaluation, qualified design proposals will be awarded prizes as follows:
- Cost compensation for shortlisted proposals: A total of 5 shortlisted teams will be entitled to cost compensation of RMB500,000 per unit/consortium, amounting to a total of RMB2,500,000.
- Prizes for winning proposals: 3 winning teams will receive additional prizes in addition to the shortlisted cost compensation: the first prize winner will receive RMB1.8 million, the second prize winner will receive RMB900,000, and the third prize winner will receive RMB500,000, totaling RMB3.2 million.
Notes
- All the above fees are stated in Renminbi (RMB) and include all taxes. Any participating team whose design proposal is deemed invalid by the review committee will not be entitled to any competition-related fees.
- The first prize winner shall participate in the follow-up in-depth and optimization of the proposal.
Competition Schedule
The competition consists of two phases: the pre-qualification review phase and the proposal design phase. The preliminary schedule is set out as follows:
| Phase | Date | Event |
| Pre-qualification review phase | May 25, 2026 (Monday) | Release an official competition announcement |
| From 12:00 on May 25, 2026 (Monday) to 18:00 on June 14, 2026 (Sunday) | Prospective applicants obtain the Pre-qualification Application Document (Tem) via email | |
| 24:00 on June 14, 2026 (Sunday) | Deadline for submission of the Pre-qualification Application Document | |
| June 17, 2026 (Wednesday) | Convene the pre-qualification review meeting | |
| June 18, 2026 (Thursday) | Public announcement of pre-qualification results | |
| Proposal design phase | June 22, 2026 (Monday) | Hold project kick-off meeting and site survey |
| July 20, 2026 (Monday) | Submission of mid-term design deliverables | |
| July 21, 2026 (Tuesday) | Hold mid-term deliverables exchange meeting | |
| September 14, 2026 (Monday) | Further optimize the design proposal based on comments from the mid-term exchange meeting and submit the final deliverables | |
| September 17, 2026 (Thursday) | Convene the technical review meeting | |
| September 21, 2026 (Monday) | Convene the proposal evaluation meeting | |
| September 22, 2026 (Tuesday) | Release the evaluation results |
Remarks: The host reserves the right to adjust the schedule. All arrangements shall be subject to the actual work plan.
Special Reminders
- All time specified in this announcement is Beijing Time.
- For all information released, the Chinese version shall prevail.
- The host reserves the right of final interpretation of this competition.
Special Reminders
Competition organization agency service unit: Guangzhou Baiyun Property Rights Broker Co., Ltd.
Address: 6/F, Baiyun Investment Building, Guangyun Road, Helong Subdistrict, Baiyun District, Guangzhou City
Contact person: Ms. Wen
Tel.:020-86363588,13318717455
Email: gzbycqzb@126.com
Organizer: Baiyun District Branch of Guangzhou Municipal Planning and Natural Resources Bureau, Guangzhou Baiyun Industrial Investment Group Co., Ltd.
Contact person: Ms. Li, 020-86590613；
Mr. Li, 13580471434
Appendices
Appendix 1. Application Form
Appendix 2. Confidentiality Commitment Letter
Appendix 3. Rules for Pre-qualification Review and Selection
https://www.abbs.cn/ad/guangzfw.zip
The announcement is published on AIMIR’s website now. If you want to know more following details regarding to this competition, please feel free to contact AIMIR. What’s more, you’re more than welcome to touch base with us if you need architectural visualization.