Beijing Turen Urban Planning and Design Co.

What Beijing Turen Urban Planning and Design Co. does

Beijing Turen Urban Planning and Design Co. (Turenscape, 北京土人城市规划设计股份有限公司) is a privately-held Chinese landscape architecture and urban planning firm founded in Beijing in 1998 by Kongjian Yu (俞孔坚). Following Kongjian Yu's death in September 2025, the company is led by CEO Hongjin Yu (俞洪进). Turenscape pioneered the Sponge City (海绵城市) concept in 2003 — a nature-based urban water management paradigm that replaces gray concrete infrastructure with green sponge systems including wetlands, floodable parks, greenways, permeable surfaces, bioswales, and constructed wetlands. The Sponge City framework was adopted as Chinese national policy in 2013 with a binding target that 80% of cities absorb 70% of rainfall by 2030, and Turenscape has since delivered 600+ sponge city and ecological design projects across 200+ Chinese cities and 10+ countries (including Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Vietnam, France, and Brazil). Complementary proprietary methodologies include Ecological Security Pattern (ESP) and Negative Planning (反规划), as well as the Big Foot Revolution (大脚革命) aesthetic, which together embed ancient Chinese agricultural techniques — terraced fields, pond systems, mulberry-dyke fish ponds, floating island systems — into modern ecological engineering.

Turenscape's core products are professional services across four integrated practice areas: Landscape Design, Urban and Regional Planning, Architecture Design, and Sponge City Solutions, supplemented by Design-Build integrated delivery. The firm operates a wholly-owned Turenscape Academy (土人学社) for professional education and co-publishes the Landscape Architecture Frontiers journal. The technology stack is a proprietary design methodology and ecological-engineering module library, supported by 25+ books, 300+ academic papers, and two decades of cross-climate-zone project data; no software platform, API, or AI/ML product surface is disclosed.

The business model is project-fee-based professional services delivered through enterprise field sales to government planning bureaus, municipal authorities, and institutional clients. Primary customers are Chinese municipal planning bureaus (200+ cities), with secondary segments comprising provincial/national planning authorities, foreign governments (Saudi General Entertainment Authority, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration), private developers (Sun Group Vietnam), and educational institutions (Peking University CALA, Shenyang Jianzhu University). Pricing is negotiated per project based on scope, scale, and client, with long sales cycles tied to government budget cycles and policy mandates. Go-to-market relies on direct engagement, RFP/RFI processes, a website consultation portal, and global thought-leadership presence at IFLA, World Economic Forum, Harvard GSD, UC Berkeley, and major international media (BBC, CNN, NZZ, New York Times). The firm has received sustained international recognition including 2020 IFLA Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe Award, 2023 Cornelia Hahn Oberlander Prize, 2024 UIA 2030 Award, 2024 WAF GROHE Water Prize, and multiple ASLA Honor/Awards of Excellence between 2002 and 2025.

Name

Beijing Turen Urban Planning and Design Co.

Legal name

北京土人城市规划设计股份有限公司

Website

https://turenscape.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Beijing Turen Urban Planning and Design Co. (Turenscape) is a Chinese landscape architecture and urban planning firm founded in 1998 that pioneered the Sponge City concept for nature-based urban water management. It serves government planning bureaus across 200+ Chinese cities and 10+ countries with integrated ecological, planning, and design services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning Services

NAICS

Landscape Architectural Services (54132), Landscape Architectural Services (541320)

akta.pro primary industry

Landscape Architecture & Site Design (BPAHAKAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Urban Planning & Master Planning (BPAHAKAD), Regional & Land Use Planning (BPAHAKAE), Urban & Regional Planning (Land Use, Zoning, Master Planning) (BPAIANAD)

Keywords

• Landscape architecture services
• Urban planning services
• Ecological infrastructure design
• Sponge city solutions
• Wetland restoration design

Headquarters

HQ city

Haidian

HQ country

China

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Urban Planning and Design Services: Professional fees for urban planning, master planning, city design, and regional planning engagements contracted by government planning bureaus and municipal authorities across 200+ Chinese cities and 10+ international markets.
2. Landscape Architecture Design Services: Design fees for landscape architecture projects including sponge city parks, urban parks, waterfronts, wetlands, and ecological corridors. Projects range from urban district-scale parks to city-wide green infrastructure systems.
3. Architecture Design Services: Architectural design services including buildings, pavilions, bridges, and structures integrated with landscape and planning projects, delivering architecture-landscape-interior一体化 (integrated) design.
4. Design-Build Integrated Services: The company offers design and construction management services under a design-build model for landscape and urban infrastructure projects, providing end-to-end delivery from concept through construction.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Beijing Turen Urban Planning and Design Co. (Turenscape) provides professional landscape architecture, urban planning, architectural design, and Sponge City design services for governments and institutional clients. The firm delivers integrated planning, design, and design-build services for urban parks, sponge city parks, wetlands, ecological corridors, greenways, waterfronts, and architectural structures across China and internationally. Its work centers on nature-based, ecologically driven design solutions for stormwater management, flood resilience, and urban ecological restoration.

Product overview

Beijing Turen Urban Planning and Design Co. (Turenscape) is a landscape architecture and urban planning firm offering integrated design services across four core areas: Landscape Design, Planning, Architecture, and Sponge City Solutions. The firm operates as a design studio rather than a software platform, providing professional services for urban parks, green spaces, tourism scenic areas, and historical conservation zones. The portfolio includes sponge city projects, ecological restoration, wetland parks, and urban design across 200+ cities in China and 10+ countries worldwide. Services are delivered through design consultation, planning, and design-build delivery models rather than a modular software architecture.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Landscape Design Services (景观设计) Comprehensive landscape architecture services focused on ecological design, wetland restoration, urban parks, and green infrastructure projects, implementing the firm's philosophy of 'Art of Survival' to address flood control, water management, biodiversity, and cultural heritage protection. Target clients include municipal governments and institutional developers.
• Planning Services (规划设计) Urban and regional planning services using 'Negative Planning' and Ecological Security Pattern (ESP) methodologies to protect ecological infrastructure and guide sustainable urban development. Services target municipal, provincial, and national planning authorities.
• Architecture Design Services (建筑设计) Architectural design integrating ecological protection, cultural heritage, and green building principles with contemporary design aesthetics, creating harmony between buildings and natural environments. Includes buildings, pavilions, bridges, and installation structures integrated with landscape projects.
• Sponge City Solutions (海绵城市) Nature-based urban water management solutions implementing the proprietary 'Sponge City' framework to address flooding, water pollution, groundwater recharge, and climate adaptation through green infrastructure including wetlands, floodable parks, greenways, permeable surfaces, bioswales, and constructed wetlands at multiple scales.
• Design-Build Services Integrated design and construction services covering urban parks, green spaces, residential communities, commercial districts, tourism scenic areas, and historical conservation areas, providing end-to-end delivery from concept through construction.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 500 sponge city / ecological projects completed in 200+ Chinese cities and 10+ countries over 20+ years
• +7 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered minor, core and moderate.

• SACAP (South African Council for the Architectural and Landscape Architectural Professions)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 September 2026Dong Wang, Director General of Turenscape's Eco-city Design Center and Deputy Director of the NbS Innovation Center at Peking University's CALA, will deliver a keynote at the SACAP Education Conference 2026 in Cape Town, South Africa.
• International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) / French Federation of Landscape Architects (FFP)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 12 September 2025Kongjian Yu delivered a keynote at the 61st IFLA World Congress in Nantes, France, themed 'Guiding Landscapes.' The congress is organized by IFLA with the French Federation of Landscape Architects (FFP), hosting over 230,000 architects and urban planners worldwide.
• UK Landscape Institute / Construction Industry Council (CIC) Climate Change CommitteemoderateStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 June 2025Kongjian Yu delivered the keynote at the UK CIC Climate Change Committee Workstream 8 webinar hosted by the UK Landscape Institute on climate adaptation and resilience, focusing on water management, biodiversity, and urban thermal environments through nature-based solutions including Sponge Cities.
• Waterfront Alliance / AECOMcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 13 May 2025Kongjian Yu delivered the 2025 Heather M. Morgan Climate Risk Adaptation Lecture at the Waterfront Conference in New York. AECOM (represented by Lauren Micir) co-sponsored the lecture and facilitated a dialogue session with Yu. This is part of AECOM's endowed fund to bring top speakers to the Waterfront Conference.
• The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 May 2025Turenscape founder Kongjian Yu was featured as the 2023 Cornelia Hahn Oberlander Prize laureate in TCLF's Soak It Up global summit, a multi-session program examining water infrastructure as integral to resilient landscape design. TCLF produced five videotaped interviews and a live panel with international landscape architecture leaders from Germany, Netherlands, Thailand, and the US.
• Berkeley Water CentermoderateStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 March 2025Kongjian Yu delivered the keynote lecture at Berkeley Water Day 2025 at UC Berkeley's Banatao Auditorium, addressing water challenges of a changing climate. This engagement positions Turenscape as a thought leader in academic-water sector collaborations and supports the company's international academic network.
• Biodiversity Committee of the Chinese Academy of Sciences / IUCNmoderateStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 February 2025Kongjian Yu spoke at the International Symposium on Urban Biodiversity and Sustainable Development (Asia Region) co-hosted by the Biodiversity Committee of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in Xiamen, China. Yu presented on the Chinese Model for Nature Based Solutions.
• Peking University College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (CALA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTurenscape founder Kongjian Yu was founding dean of Peking University's College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. Turenscape maintains deep institutional ties with PKU, sharing faculty, research, and talent. The NbS Innovation Center at CALA operates in close coordination with Turenscape's practice. Dong Wang, Turenscape's Deputy Director, holds a position at CALA's NbS Innovation Center.
• Turenscape Academy (土人学社)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTurenscape operates its own Turenscape Academy (turenscapeacademy.com) providing professional education curriculum, training, and community programs. The academy serves as an internal talent development and thought leadership platform, reinforcing the company's educational mission and professional network.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• SWA Group: Internationally recognized landscape architecture and urban design firm of comparable vintage and project scale; directly competes for master planning and ecological infrastructure engagements with government and institutional clients.
• Sasaki: Integrated design practice spanning landscape architecture, urban planning, and master planning; comparable footprint, multi-disciplinary model, and public-sector client base make it the closest US analogue to Turenscape's services offering.
• James Corner Field Operations: Landscape architecture and urban design firm recognized for signature ecological infrastructure and public realm projects (e.g., High Line); directly competes with Turenscape for award-winning sponge-city-style waterfront and urban park commissions.
• OLIN: Landscape architecture, urban design, and planning practice delivering ecologically driven cultural and civic projects; positioned similarly to Turenscape at the intersection of ecological infrastructure and placemaking for government/institutional clients.
• SCAPE Landscape Architecture: Nature-based, climate-adaptive landscape architecture firm working on coastal resilience, urban ecology, and living infrastructure projects; directly overlaps with Turenscape's sponge city and ecological restoration portfolio across municipal clients.

Broad incumbents

• AECOM: Global engineering and design firm with a substantial landscape architecture, urban planning, and resilience practice; AECOM co-sponsored Waterfront Conference talks with Turenscape leadership and increasingly competes across the nature-based solutions pipeline.
• Arup: Global engineering consultancy with urban planning, landscape, climate adaptation, and resilience practices; Arup's water and cities teams are increasingly positioned in the sponge city / NbS category where Turenscape operates.
• Snøhetta: Multi-disciplinary design firm with integrated architecture and landscape architecture practice on climate-adaptive and cultural projects; overlaps with Turenscape on the aesthetic and ecological design quality for international public-sector and cultural commissions.
• HASSELL: Asia-Pacific integrated design practice with landscape architecture, urban design, and planning capabilities; comparable international footprint and similar role as a regional incumbent that competes for sponge city and waterfront commissions in Australia and the Pacific.

Emerging players

• STOSS Landscape Urbanism: Boutique US landscape urbanism practice working on waterfront, climate-adaptive, and post-industrial reuse projects; an emerging comparable focused on a narrower set of urban-scale ecological engagements.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/100066673238430
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/turenscape

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Beijing Turen Urban Planning and Design Co.