Forum opens Shekou CFD 2025

The 10th annual Shekou Community Car-Free Day (Shekou CFD) will partner with the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Cities & Architecture Bi-city Biennale · Shekou and the 922 Green Travel campaign to translate global climate concerns into local practice, as announced at the “Climate Action, Community Growth — A Future-oriented Shekou Approach” forum in Shekou on Sunday afternoon.

Attendants and organizers pose for a group photo during the “Climate Action, Community Growth — A Future-oriented Shekou Approach” forum in Shekou on Sunday afternoon. Photos courtesy of event organizer

Initiated in 2016, Shekou CFD has grown from a one-day community campaign that closed one kilometer of road into a signature sustainability initiative for the neighborhood. By teaming up with the bi-city biennale and the broader green-travel campaign, Shekou CFD aims to serve as a model of community-led climate action that makes ordinary residents’ daily choices the starting point for creating long-term change.

Held annually between September and November, this year’s program opened with a forum featuring five guest speakers who shared in-depth insights on green transport, low-carbon lifestyles, and community experiments.

Liu Daizong, chief representative for East Asia at the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, delivers a speech at the forum. 

Zhao Yixin, deputy chief engineer of the China Academy of Urban Planning and Design and director of its urban transport research center, said that an inclusive urban transport system must serve not only the young and the healthy but also the elderly, children, and people with disabilities, enabling all to travel safely and conveniently. “Car-free day is not simply ‘no cars,’ but rather a moment when everyone can travel freely,” Zhao said.

Each year since 2016, an urban road segment of at least 1 kilometer in Shekou has been closed to traffic and transformed into a low-carbon public corridor hosting art parades, community markets, and street playgrounds. The initiative has driven public-space upgrades — separated sidewalks, dedicated cycling lanes, improved street furniture, and a measurable shift toward low-carbon mobility. Residents have moved from bystanders to custodians of public spaces.

Liu Daizong, chief representative for East Asia at the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) and a visiting professor at Peking University’s School of Architecture and Landscape, told the forum that the climate crisis turns challenges for traditional industries into opportunities for emerging green sectors. "Green is not a cost, but a reinvention of value," he said, pointing to new energy, green finance, low-carbon materials, and the circular economy.

Residents take part in the Shekou Community Car-Free Day in 2023, an annual event promoting low-carbon living.

Sponsored by the Shekou Community Foundation, the initiative has introduced a range of child-friendly activities, including a children’s charity fund, family bird-protection teams, and a children’s street-design event. The participation of children has brought new vitality to the initiative, said Su Yaqi, this year’s CFD coordinator and an urban planner based in Shekou.

Organizers said the new partnerships aim to scale Shekou CFD’s community approach and inspire similar low-carbon, people-centered practices across the city.

Yuan Ye, founder of Wild Creation Design Studio, said that green travel options often struggle to match cars in efficiency, convenience, and comfort, resulting in many people still depending on motor vehicles. “Green mobility needs to rely on intelligent design so that people can ride efficiently and walk comfortably — [which is] essential to replacing some motorized trips.”