In one of the richest architectural competitions in recent times, a Chinese developer is calling on architects from around the world to submit designs for an entire town of buildings. The total prize pool for the competition is worth US$3.67 million.

As China rushes towards urbanization at break-neck speed, developer Hua Yan Group has drawn up plans for more than 200 small- to medium-sized townships across the country. The first of these will be located at Mount Lu, in the city of Ruichang, Jiangxi Province, with a current population of 430,000. The masterplan for the town includes the twenty-hectare Mount Lu Estate of World Architecture (MOLEWA), which is the subject of the international competition. The estate will be situated alongside the eighty-hectare Flower Ocean Garden, set to be the largest flower-themed park in the world. The UK-based CBA Landscape Architects won the international design competition to design the park.

Thirteen of the total eighteen plots in the estate are open to practising professional architects internationally.

The professional categories are:

Plot 1, Kindergarten: 4,000 square metres accommodating 400 staff and children, a range of indoor and outdoor children’s activities including an auditorium and a gym.

Plot 2, The Flower Hotel: 12,000 square metres including 200-300 rooms servicing tourists to Flower Ocean Garden with event facilities catering for up to 500 people. A clever interpretation of the flower theme is encouraged.

Plot 4, Gourmet Complex: 10,000 square metres including fifty food and beverage establishments, with a range of indoor and outdoor dining facilities. A clever interpretation of the flower theme is encouraged.

Plot 5, Shopping Complex: 30,000 square metres, including no less than 200 shops, which sell a variety of average priced everyday items, two standard movie theatres (200 seats), one large movie theatre (500 seats), public library (100,000 books and magazines), physical exercise facility (200 users simultaneously) and a range of food and beverage outlets (mostly fast food and snacks). The Shopping Complex is likely to be two buildings divided by a street, but they should be connected via overpasses. It should also potentially promote a new model of commerce.

Plot 7, Shopping Street: 10,000 square metres including high-end retail with a European atmosphere.

Plots 10-12, 14-15, Apartment buildings: made up of 50% three-bedroom apartments at 90-100 square metres, 30% three-bedroom apartments at 100-110 square metres and 20% four-bedroom apartments at 110-120 square metres.

Plots 16-18, Townhouses: 9,000, 4,000 and 4,000 square metres respectively. No restrictions on townhouses sizes.

Plot 6, a temple, and two further apartment plots are only open to architecture students of Chinese nationality.

Winners of each category will be invited to design a villa bearing his/her name to be located along a “Museum Street.” The villa will act as a showpiece of the architect’s vision and aspiration. The final plot is given over to a town square.

Three prizes, worth US$160,000, US$80,000, and US$40,000 for gold, silver and bronze medals respectively, will be awarded in each of the thirteen plots open to professional architects. The student categories will be awarded US$10,000 each.

The twelve-member jury consists of nine architects from around the world, and three from engineering and business fields. The competition is open until 31 March, 2015. For full details and guidelines, click here.