A Transit Oriented Development Master Plan

The Jinan East Station District is a large development area on the northeastern edge of Jinan, China. The location of a high-speed rail station, the district is primed for development due to its location between the city airport and the core of Jinan.

HDR | Calthorpe worked at multiple levels of detail for this master planning project. The plan for the overall area is a framework that determines the locations of multiple transit oriented districts and fine tunes the planned transportation facilities within those. The district’s design is based on simple principles and practices focused on making China’s development patterns more sustainable, resilient and energy efficient. Critical elements of city development are reframed into mixed-use, walkable and transit oriented districts, and neighborhoods.

Within the transit oriented districts, the plan locates various types of centers and their associated developments. This pattern keeps a tight association between development and transit capacity. It proposes to overlay a different development pattern in residential and key commercial areas to support a larger range of travel modes, and create areas with more social and economic vitality.

The central area and core area plans look in more detail at the area around the high-speed rail station. A strong open space concept incorporates water flowing down from the mountains in the south and makes visual and physical connections to significant nearby hills.

The foci of the core area are the high-speed rail station and the primary north-south green connection — the Dragon Spine green axis. Development centers around distinctive destinations that serve as a model for future development in the region. These destinations — the station area, low-rise traditional residential district, the urban center and the Gongye gateway — provide identity and character to the East Station Sub-Center.