A "Panda Capital" is being developed in China

The city of Chengdu in the southwestern province of China is home to the beautiful giant panda.

Giant Pandas are the treasured national animal of China and have been on the brink of extinction for many years. In 2016, as a result of major conservation efforts, the giant panda was moved from the endangered list and listed as a vulnerable species by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Pandas are vital to the bamboo forests which they inhabit as they help to spread seeds and promote vegetation growth.

In an attempt to preserve the 1800 remaining pandas, China’s government held an international competition for design companies to create a ‘Panda Capital’ in Chengdu. Sasaki was the winning firm with its design for a site that includes a lakeside village, a wildlife research centre and an enormous park that is linked to public transport. The development will be 110 times the size of Disneyland.

Pandas are crucial to the economic growth of Chengdu and have been described as a fundamental part of the city’s identity and culture. Pandas in zoos across the world are all born at the Chengdu Panda Research Base, which attracts approximately 3.5 million visitors annually.