27 Apr 2018
Danish designers pledge to 'set new standards for green mobility' with 20km elevated city walkway in Xiamen
BY Kim Megson
A year after the opening of the world’s longest bicycle bridge in Xiamen, China, Danish architecture firm Dissing+Weitling have won another large-scale infrastructure project in the city.
A 20km (12.4mi) network of footpaths featuring seven “spectacular” pedestrian bridges, city officials want to create a large-scale network of elevated walkways, up to 4.5m (14.7ft) wide, that will lead residents and visitors through the mountainous landscape of Xiamen, “creating outstanding experiences in the exchange between bustling urban life and luscious nature.”
Dissing+Weitling have won an international competition for the project and will begin work imminently.
”We have proposed a system of elevated footpaths and footbridges that run through the city and across the island as a scenic, recreational artery,” said Steen Savery Trojaborg, partner and CEO at Dissing+Weitling. “It will be a major attraction for the city and possibly become an icon for Xiamen that can attract tourists from all over the world.
“Footbridges will appear as beacons in the landscape and create a link between parks, forests and viewpoints. A leisurely route filled with scenic experiences that brings people out into nature while affecting the unique flora and fauna as little as possible.
“It will be a fascinating experience to walk among the treetops and see the city and landscape unfold from a new perspective.”
He praised the city for its “ambitious” push for sustainable infrastructure, adding the new network will “set new standards for green mobility and recreational experiences in cities all over the world.”
Engineering firm JSTI Engineering will collaborate with the architects on the project. The two worked together on the ‘cycling skyway’ that opened last year. That 7.6km (4.7 miles) long project, designed and built in only six months, was built 5m (16.4ft) above a major road to decrease traffic congestion and promote greener and more sustainable forms of transportation.
Dissing+Weitling are known for their innovative bridge designs, including Copenhagen’s famous 230m long ‘Bicycle Snake,’ which opened in 2014.
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