On June 20th, the Development Forum on the Whole Process of TOD in International Perspective jointly sponsored by the China Architecture Society of Vertical City and Complex Building Committee and the Shanghai Architectural Society was held in Shanghai. Planning bureaus, city investment companies, rail transit companies, international and domestic well-known design institutions and a number of real estate companies dedicated to the development of TOD projects in many cities, together with academicians and industry experts, nearly 400 TOD industry chain partners participated in this forum. Christopher Knabe, Vice General Manager of Obermeyer China, and Haruo Kawasaki, Urban Planning Design Director, were invited to attend the TOD Forum and gave the speech on "The Unfolded CBD - Embedded Kinetic Energy".

OBERMEYER’s initial TOD and underground development expertise go back to 1960’s. Stachus (Karls Plaza) underground commercial and light-railway station project in Munich/Germany, which was the largest underground project in Europe at that time, became a milestone project for the rising business of OBERMEYER. The rapid development of China's economy has brought rapid changes in the development of the cities. China's urbanization process is also far faster than that of developed countries. In the process of urbanization in China, Obermeyer brings together the elite team of the company to integrate the German experiences with the characteristics of China's urban development. OBERMEYER has deeply influenced the urban design of the Shenzhen Civic Center, the underground space of Hangzhou Qianjiang New Town, and the transportation organization and underground space of Guangzhou Zhujiang New Town. Within China these projects turned into extremely significant new CBD projects and show par excellence OBERMEYER’s pioneering forward-thinking of TOD and underground space development.

At the same time, Obermeyer has been participating in numerous TOD projects in China in recent years. Among them, we emphatically introduced Chongqing Liangjiang International CBD Underground City Project and the urban design of the Changsha West Railway City.

The principle of planning for Chongqing Liangjiang International CBD Underground City Project is a highly integrative design：Seamless connection with surrounding area and buildings, perfect integration with surrounding landscape resources and exploring site elements. Three design languages are implanted into the characteristic humanity of Chongqing. The design of Chongqing Liangjiang International CBD Underground City has the dynamic complex function of business service, cultural entertainment, sports and leisure. It creates an efficient underground transportation system integrating rail transit, roadway, parking and pedestrian. Meanwhile, it constructs a comprehensive underground system, including joint trench and underground municipal facilities. Chongqing Liangjiang Underground City can surely become a hightlight of development in the central urban area and highly support the international business center of the two rivers become the world’s leading innovation center for science and technology.

The urban design of the Changsha West Railway City, which Obermeyer is leading, grasps three main points - industrial integration, productive service supply, and urban support, make this area to become a gateway area in central China coordinating the surrounding industrial zones, a place linking the natural legacy and the railway city, a new city center providing diversified life style destinations in west Changsha, and a sponge city area being a part of the ecosystem in Changsha.

Adhering to advanced and comprehensive design philosophies, and assembling remarkably successful TOD-realizations, Obermeyer is looking forward to contribute in coming TOD and underground space developments for China and worldwide.