Hassell’s new Shanghai studio explores how design is rewriting the rules of the high-density city

Opening its new Park Avenue Central home, our Shanghai studio hosted ​‘Connected Futures’ to explore how design can forge more resilient, sustainable, and economically viable cities.

To survive, modern cities can no longer just expand: they must learn to adapt from the inside out. Reactivating and renewing urban environments for an unpredictable future requires designers to focus on where daily life actually happens. This means designing for everything from the shared spaces where neighbours interact, to ageing-friendly neighbourhoods in high density cities, public open spaces, and busy mixed-use precincts.

This philosophy took centre stage as our Shanghai studio launched its next chapter, with an event inside its new workplace at Konnect on level three within the Hassell-designed Park Avenue Central (PAC) mixed-use precinct in the Jing’An District. 

Marking twenty-three years of practice in China, the opening brought together urban planners, designers, and developers to discuss how design practice is engaging with increasingly complex, pragmatic spatial scenarios for everyday life.

The evening began with an immersive tour of the PAC district, led by Hassell Principal Sean Lin and Keppel Vice President Echo Zhang, offering a live case study in integrated urban development.

The broader conversation unpacked how contemporary design practice must evolve to handle complex challenges across multiple scales, balancing grand urban masterplans with the fine details of daily experience. 

Lu Shen, Shanghai Master Planner and Designer for National Land Use Planning, delivered a keynote on integrated urban frameworks, followed by a joint presentation from Sean Lin and Sean Pang, Vice President at Keppel. Together, they explored how fusing international insights with deep, site-specific local knowledge allows architecture to address hyper-local needs while maintaining global relevance.

The trajectory for the future of city-making is clear: design must be interdisciplinary, regenerative, adaptable, commercially viable and deeply connected to its context. 

“Being here at Park Avenue Central means being embedded in that future,” says Managing Director Liz Westgarth. ​“We are contributing a global perspective while learning from local insight to create places that are more resilient, more connected, and more human. This new studio gives us a collaborative launchpad to work alongside our clients and partners, creating places that leave a lasting impact.”