Introduction
To further tap on the value of land and, improve the quality of urban functions and the environment at large, the city meeting held recently proposed urban construction development for the next three to five years. Renovation of the Gangxia River Park Area is among the five proposed regeneration projects.
Gangxia River Park is located in the Southern corner of Futian District, Shennan road, south side, Fuhua third road, north side, near the crystal island, the community centre, the axis of the east-central area of South Africa and the most important area of the urban landscape. This accounts for a central land area of about 9% of Shenzhen city, which is one of the most representative of the old village.
Gangxia River Park is the central area of construction and development in the city. The main aim of this is to bring urban area renewal opportunities to Shenzhen city.
Gangxia River Park Area improvement project entails demolition scope of the transformation of 235,500 square metres, renovation and construction land area of 161,900 square metres. The construction period is about five to six years with a total investment of 9.2 billion and the “second five” plans to invest 7.0 billion during the period.
The rationale for the regeneration of Park Area River Gangxia in Shenzhen city
The regeneration of Park Area River Gangxia is a strategic move because once this project is completed, will become a unique, high-quality support area and the urban vitality of the central business district of Shenzhen city.
According to experts, the five noted areas including the Gangxia River Park Area largely contribute to the dirty and messy concentrated villages. When these renewal projects will be completed, the entire region will transform into a new urban complex and liveable community. Land values and environmental quality will appreciate and the city will become a new bright spot of urban development,
In the last three years of reform and opening up, Shenzhen has shined in the history of the world’s urban development, but it makes use of so many land resources. At present, the city has limited land area for building at its disposal and scattered distribution. This has led to acute problems of space and unsustainable land resources.
Urban renewal has become a practice that promotes the construction of urban space and speeds up strategic optimisation hence promoting sustainable economic development of the city.
The film district, Shenzhen most important part of the axis is the largest village in the city area. Gangxia Creek Park improvement project is the most difficult transformation in Shenzhen city. The project requires the highest construction standards, yet it is the city’s most affected reconstruction project. Transformation is inevitable to the Gangxia Area Park project if the city is to achieve international standards.
The transformation is important due to historical reasons, the film confusing layout of the area, a serious security risk, and the fact that municipal and public facilities are inadequate. Gangxia Area River Park transformation aims to transform and accelerate overall transformation, improve the structure of the central area, with the central area of the overall progress of the construction and development requirements.
The overall progress of the construction and development requirements include the overall balance, strength and reasonable control of land development to meet the requirements of sustainable development to create a beautiful environment and an excellent urban village. This will guide the development of an orderly Gangxia village status and promote the sound economic development of joint-stock companies.
According to planning experts, the transformation of Gangxia River Park Area will learn the function of the mature international division of the CBD and layout of the central area of Shenzhen has formed and planned features for positioning and marketing trends. The construction of high standards for Shenzhen which is the central area of the CBD will boost it to international development.
The transformation of the Gangxia River Park Area was officially launched on 22nd August 2008. Once the transformation is complete, it will provide a functional area for commercial, office and living. Shenzhen will therefore be one of the commercial and residential mixed use development districts.
This transformation is the city’s most iconic complex project and it will be a central area and an integral part of the CBD because of its unique characteristics. The project will support a high-quality CBD area and an urban vitality centre.
Environmental and market forces influencing the project
The scope of Shenzhen city incorporates public participation and civil rights, the implementation of scientific management of the annual plan and a variety of transformation and transformation models. This scope simplifies the development of the stock of land for construction of administrative examination and approval procedures, reducing the stock of land for construction re-development costs and other aspects of the implementation of the innovation. (Sen and Roy, 1996, p. 63)
The unit of Shenzhen created the urban-rural planning system to ensure the planning of infrastructure and public service facilities is relatively intact under the premise of land scattered through the integration and overall planning and intensive use of land. Effective implementation has been planning urban infrastructure and updating the project implementation unit within the balance of interest.
The urban planning and land committee, as of 2010, approved the devolution and reconstruction of 96 classes. This involves the removal of a land area of about 832.77 hectares, a construction area of about 688.05 hectares, and a planned construction area of about 32.77 million feet meters. Among them
Many brand developers have greatly contributed to the transformation of the city of Shenzhen. In the twenty projects started last year, the Vanke camphor transformation of old cloth and old waste village renovation projects and new projects are already completed 20% of the investment plans. The project is expected to be completed this year.
In this transformation process, the districts actively explore diversified and targeted renewal and transformation models which have so far achieved good results. Gangxia village in Futian district has helped to transform the image of the whole city. Okimura village in Nanshan district has helped in the big transformation of the high technological park by providing support services. Park, Baoan district came up with F518 regulation models to drive innovation and industrial and industrial restructuring.
How marketers can help with the development of the project
A marketer is a person who determines what goods or services consumers may be interested in, develops the strategic sales strategy, development of business development and communication. The Gangxia River Park Area is a Shenzhen city regeneration project that is aimed at developing the CBD into a high-quality functional area of commercial, office and residential places. (Adams, 2010, p. 49)
Marketers are very useful to the development of this regeneration project. There are several ways in which marketers can help in the development of the Gangxia River Park Area regeneration project. Marketing is very important in project regeneration of any form and there are many ways in which marketing comes in handy. When the right research is carried out, then a product will be successful right away from the beginning. (Castelyne and Mottart, p. 439-447)
Finding the audience
Like any other project, the Gangxia River Park Area in Shenzhen exists in a highly competitive market both locally and internationally. The regeneration project of the city cannot begin without careful consideration of all the audience including the commercial, office and residential audience. (Botha and Brink, 1998, p. 63)
In a real sense, before even the regeneration concept transforms into an idea, the city development council must first determine who they are regenerating the city for. Extensive research of the market has to be carried out with an experienced market research team to make sure that the regeneration project is successful.
A regeneration project that has no audience is of no use. Marketers have a great role in carrying out relevant market research that ensures that the Gangxia River Park area has an audience even before project regeneration begins. If this is not the case, it can lead to a waste of the city’s resources, by investing in a meaningless regeneration project.
Discovering a need
Once the target audience for the fully regenerated Gangxia River Park area of Shenzhen city has been identified, the marketers must discover the needs which the regenerated product will meet. Such a need-based assessment ensures a high return on the regenerated product. The fact that the product consumes an investment of over nine billion in itself shows that the project is very expensive hence a great assurance for return is needed.
Even if very attractive marketing products are displayed, the Gangxia River Park Area will not sell unless the target audience sees a need for it. The marketers are very important in providing input on who the target market is and what is the need of the market.
Determining the right timing
Some regenerated city’s products and services that could have been useful sometimes back may not be necessarily applicable now. While developing the Gangxia River Park Area, timing factors like seasons and recessions have to be put into consideration. Some factors affecting timing can be predicted while others cannot be foreseen (Duarte, 2009, p. 67)
It is the responsibility of the marketing team to study the timing factors of both the local and international market and advice the team in charge of designing for the regeneration project on the best amenities that will suit the timing requirements.
The marketing team determines the best facilities that suit the various timings in the city so that the regenerated project is produced, for example, the city should include good tourist facilities to cater for the high season of visitors in the city. If marketers are not conducted, the regenerated project may be irrelevant at some point in time.
Differentiating a product
A team of market researchers should carry out detailed research of similar regenerated cities in the world to find out whether the facilities contained in the regenerated Gangxia River Park area can be developed uniquely.
The differentiation role is very important, and it is carried out by both the regeneration and marketing team. The marketers have to find out what other competing cities are providing and suggest unique facilities that meet the audience needs that can be included in the project. The design team uses the information from the marketing team to design products that uniquely meet the market needs. This is called product differentiation. (Beath and Katsoulacos, 1991, p. 13-16)
Developing of pricing
Once marketers have understood the needs of the consumers of the regenerated city, the next thing they put into consideration is the amount that the audience is willing and able to pay to use the amenities built in the town. The transformed Gangxia River Park Area will have products like offices, housing among other products that need pricing, and this is the work of marketers.
When regenerating the city of Shenzhen, the cost of the regenerated facilities must be put in mind so that the value of the regenerated town does not overweigh the pricing of the new amenities. The marketing team must also consider the other marketing elements like if the city will need to meet some advertisement costs for some regenerated products. With no clear retail price in mind, city regenerating developers can come up with costly amenities that bring no return on investment. (Meecham and Montal, 2011, p. 87-93)
Assisting with alterations
Many of the regenerated cities require adjustments at some point in time. After all the above factors have been considered, a city can still be regenerated, and part of its amenities remains unusable to the target market. The market team must work hand in hand with the development team to make alterations to the project. In case changes have to be made to the new product, the marketing team has to undertake a good marketing research activity to determine the direction of the new product.
How marketers can help with the analysis of who benefits from the project
Like any other project, the Gangxia River Park area is expected to be beneficial to the target audience. A kin analysis of the extent to which the project benefits the state and public at large is inevitable once the regenerated project is functional. Marketers are vital to this process of benefits analysis and comparing with the costs, to determine whether the project is productive or not. The analysis can be done by marketers at the following levels. The beneficiaries range from the individuals who will rent some of the amenities and those that will go in for services. In a real sense, the entire community stand to benefit since this is an all-inclusive community project. This analysis entails the analysis of the benefits of the project to the entire community.
Calculation of social benefits to the beneficiaries
This area entails two main areas. One is the calculation of the tangible and intangible benefits from the project. Tangible benefits are those that can be seen and counted physically for example revenue received from the utilisation of the amenities for example rent collected. The intangible benefits are those indirect benefits that come from the project. The indirect costs involve the externalities that come in as a result of the project. The marketing team can help in analysing the direct and indirect benefits and comparing them with their respective costs in order to determine whether the regenerated city is viable or not. (Rogers and Jalal, 2008, p. 46)
The second level of the analysis of social benefits is a sensitivity analysis of events occurring. This is normally related to the possibility of an estimated event happening, for example, if the project is estimated to yield certain returns what is the probability that the estimated benefits will actually be realised. This is the responsibility of the marketers to undertake a kin market analysis, and in the process determine the possibility of the benefits being actualised.
The other level of benefits analysis that marketers can help in is in discounting the future value of benefits. The benefits and costs of a project normally accrue with time and marketers must help in discounting the value of the future benefits of the transformed Gangxia River Park Area in Shenzhen. Many people prefer getting profits now and not in future. Marketers come in very handy in discounting the future benefits.
Another important level of analysis that marketers can be of use is in comparing the value of the costs and the benefits of the Gangxia River Park area. The cost benefit value is important in determining the productivity of the project.
How marketers can help in the communication of the implication of the project
Effective communication is very important in communicating the impact of the Gangxia river regeneration project. The project is expected to facilitate land development, beautify the environment and lead to sustainable economic development. The impact of this project has to be communicated to the audience so that they know what the project offers and what they stand to benefit from. (O’Donahoe, 1994, p.52-75)
Marketers can be of great help because they have effective communication skills that can be of great help. In communicating the impact of the project, marketers can help in the following ways, while communicating to ensure effective communication:
Asking the right questions
The only way to be able to understand the needs of the target audience is to be in a position to ask the right questions. Through questions, the marketer can understand the unique needs of the audience. Once this is understood, the marketer can communicate to the development team so that they can come up with products that uniquely meet the needs of the customer. (Holcomb, 2001, p. 17-63)
Communicate professionally
Marketers are professionals who have the desired skills of communication. They should be able to proofread any information going out concerning the impact of the project, communicate on the telephone professionally, and speak competently and articulately each moment they are communicating. (Koekemoer & Bird, 2004, p. 31)
Schedule and prepare thoroughly
Marketers can help in ensuring that they schedule meetings intended to communicate the impact of the project to the target audience. Because of the busy schedule meetings need to be prepared for in advance. The marketers need to prepare minutes of the meeting and share them with the target audience to help both parties prepare accordingly.
The dates and venues of the meeting need to be communicated as a reminder at least a day or so before the meeting. The target group need to be reminded so that they can be well attended to by planning for them adequately.
Speak, pause, and listen
When there are several points to be delivered, marketers can ensure that they don’t run through just for the sake of finishing the content. They ensure they don’t confuse the audience by slowing down and noting that communication comes from both sides. Marketers establish a state that gives their audience to give in their contribution.
Marketers also try to minimise any distractions during the communication process in order to maximise their listening. This may entail putting off the phone and shutting the door. This creates an environment in which the audience gives the marketer a full audience.
Follow up in writing
After the marketer has finished communicating to the audience about the impact of the regenerated project, a follow up written writing should be handed over to the audience. This is because many listeners don’t take quality notes during communication, and to make sure that you are at per with them, you need to give them notes for revision.
The marketer should do a summary of the discussion, handle the questions that were discussed once more and send it to the audience. As they receive this, you should invite them to give their opinion on the summary to ensure that they are part of the whole process.
Ask for feedback
Marketers should provide their audience with a readily available mode of communication so that they can give feedback any time they feel like it. This helps in building lasting relationships with the audience. The marketer can also conduct surveys that track responses to get the audience view on the regenerated project. (Guffey and Rogin, 2005, p.153)
Address problems
When the target group is unhappy with any aspect of the project, the marketer should respond by solving the specific problems raised to avoid any chances of customer dissatisfaction.
Try a new format
If the problem with the target audience arises due to a break-up in communication, the marketer can try another method of communication.
Communicate confidently
Language must be used to enhance the courage of the marketer while communicating. Practice is a good practice before meeting with people, especially for the first time. (Kelly and Watson, 2010, p.3)
Prepare an elevator speech
This helps in creating a first impression which is very important for any marketer
Be responsive
Being responsive is being there for your audience. Marketers need to be attentive to their audience.
Write well
Handwriting speaks much. Marketers are trained to put down their points clear to promote communication success. (Kirst-Ashman and Hull, 2010, p. 618)
Conclusion
In summary, the regeneration of the Gangxia River Park Project in Shenzhen has great economic implications. This is a project that when completed, will lead to land development, sustainable economic development and beautifying the environment at large
There is to be a big corporation between the marketers and the project implementing team to ensure that the project is successful. The marketers supplement the skills of the developers to ensure that the final degenerated product is relevant to the market. For any project to be successful, there is a need for the project team to work closely with the marketing team for marketing and advertisement. (Zukia and Nadin, 1989, p.5-12)
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