1 Introduction An important historic event in China's recent urban planning was the introduction of hi-tech parks (often interchangeable with the term `science parks') in the early 1990s. Hi-tech parks are new urban construction units in China which represent a product of reform and `opening up'. The State Council officially approved the establishment of the first twenty-six state-level hi-tech development parks in 1991 (Fang et al, 2002). Another twenty-five hi-tech and new-technologies parks were approved in 1992. At present, there are fifty-three state-level hi-tech parks in China, together with the Yangling New and High Agro Technology Development Park and the Beijing New Technology Experimental Park. The development of hi-tech parks was associated with many important missions in the thoughts of the State Council of China. Eight goals can be identified with these parks (Fang C, 2000; Fang Y, 1996; MacDonald and Deng, 2004): (1) to be pioneers in economic reforms and opening up; (2) to stimulate and accelerate economic growth; (3) to be magnets attracting foreign direct investment and advanced technology; (4) to be key cradles for China's new hi-tech industries; (5) to be major bases for transforming scientific results and incubating new and hi-tech enterprises; (6) to `radiate' the transformation and upgrading of tradi- tional industries; (7) to be important bases for attracting and fostering talent for the industrialization of China's new and high technologies; and (8) to advance towards `new communities' of a new era, featuring both material and cultural prosperity. Site planning and guiding principles of hi-tech parks in China: Shenzhen as a case study Chuanglin Fang Institute of Geographic Science and Natural Resource Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 11A Datun Road, An-wai, Beijing, 100101 China; e-mail: fangcl@igsnrr.ac.cn Yichun Xie ô Department of Geography and Geology, Eastern Michigan University, 205 Strong Hall, Ypsilanti, MI 48197, USA; e-mail: yxie@emich.edu Received 6 March 2005; in revised form 11 October 2006; published online 27 November 2007 Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design advance online publication Abstract. Recent institutional changes, marketization, and globalization have combined to bring about rapid economic growth in contemporary China. One of the direct outcomes is the rapid expansion of large cities and the recurring birth of new cities from small towns and rural villages. Clustered construction cranes are popular scenes in many Chinese cities. One of the noticeable city landmarks is the specialized economic development district, such as a hi-tech park, industrial park, commerce park, high-standard apartment complex, and designated port district. Along with the development of these new types of urban blocks, the Chinese policies and practices of urban planning and city design have been dramatically reshaped. This paper, on the basis of our participatory observation of the planning process of the Shenzhen Silicon Peak Software Ecological Park, examines site planning and design of hi-tech parks in China. The paper discusses the seven principles guiding the development of hi-tech parks, and the four implementation strategies directing planning and design practices. It also illustrates the adoption of GIS techniques, the new eco-community planning approach, and the classic Chinese cosmology öharmonious wind and water ( feng shui ) öthrough the case study. The paper concludes with discussion of the changes of Chinese values and practices of urban planning in the context of hi-tech parks in the transitional period. DOI:10.1068/b32064 ô Corresponding author.