The Fifth Garden

Located in the rapidly growing southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, bordering Hong Kong, the Fifth Garden represents a radical departure from the norm of recent urban residential development in China. Rather than fitting as many units as possible in a Western-style high-rise building or townhouse complex, Vanke Real Estate Company—mainland China’s largest real estate developer—opted to celebrate Chinese tradition and design in its Fifth Garden project, a 11.2-hectare (27.7-ac) planned community containing 1,000 high-end for-sale residential units, a small commercial core, generous amounts of public open space, and parking for 750 cars.