On 19 May 2018, David Feng became the VIP and Keynote speaker kicking off an event in Ganzhou, Central/Southern China, at an event organised, and attended by, local enterprises, government authorities, and residents.The city of Ganzhou was getting its very first High Speed line — the Beijing-Hong Kong HSR (via Nanchang) — and the event centred on David’s keynote — a highly relevant, personal, internationalised look at how High Speed could change cities.
Examples across China and Europe
David was welcomed first on stage as the VIP keynote speaker at the event, and he wasted no time introducing the audience to an existing success story — Wuqing, Tianjin (Northern China).
In summer 2008, when 350 km/h trains first called at this station, it was in the middle of the wilderness. Fast forward to five years on, and outlets and other retail shops were popping up — within years, almost a full mile of shops dotted the area by the railway station.
Europe was also heavily featured. David used the perfect example of the ShopVille underground shopping centre at Zürich Main Station as a perfect example. Because the shopping centre was on federal land, it could serve customers even late on Saturdays as well as all day Sunday. This made it particularly popular, for rail passengers, commuters, tourists, and residents alike.
Finally, David used London’s Stratford stations — most importantly Stratford Regional — as a case study in how a rail hub has benefitted commercial development, with Westfield spanning the entire length from the London Underground and National Rail platforms (non-HS) to those on Southeastern High Speed and the Docklands Light Railway.
The talk was well-received, and afterwards, David was appointed as an observer due to the event, and his Chinese-language article published in associated media.
Quick facts:
- Talk delivered 19 May 2018 local time
- Ganzhou, Jiangxi, China
- Spoken delivery in Chinese, c. 10-15 minutes