Newman Huo

UNLIKE its forerunner two years ago, the 2007 Shenzhen-Hong Kong Biennale of Urbanism and Architecture will have concurrent exhibitions in Shenzhen and Hong Kong from Dec. 9 through March 9.

Organizers from both cities announced Friday that the Shenzhen exhibition would be staged at OCT-LOFT in Overseas Chinese Town (OCT) in Nanshan District, and the Hong Kong exhibition at the Central Police Station Compound, an urban cluster of listed architectural monuments in Central on Hong Kong Island.

Both Shenzhen and Hong Kong exhibitions will focus on the same theme, Urban Regeneration.

A special film on urban regeneration in both cities, shot by the acclaimed Chinese director Jia Kezhang, will be shown at the biennale’s opening ceremony in OCT-LOFT on Dec. 8.

“Urban regeneration is an issue both Shenzhen and Hong Kong are facing today, and it is significant for the two cities to research the issue through the joint biennale,” said Ma Qingyun, the biennale’s chief curator and dean of the school of architecture of University of Southern California in the United States.

A total of 106 works by 108 participants from 17 countries and regions would take part in this year’s event, Ma said.

This year’s event is being organized jointly by the Shenzhen Municipal Urban Planning Bureau, the Shenzhen Municipal Culture Bureau, the Hong Kong Institute of Architects, the Hong Kong Institute of Planners and the Hong Kong Designers’ Association.

The first Shenzhen Biennale of Urbanism and Architecture was held from Dec. 10, 2005 through March 10, 2006 under the curatorship of internationally acclaimed Chinese architect, Zhang Yonghe, when more than 80 works were on display attracting more than 30,000 visitors.