Spanish firm Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos have revealed the first concept images of their latest project – a 260,000 sq m football complex in Dalian, China. The expansive campus will comprise 23 regulation-size pitches, a hotel, gardens, and a select number of short-stay residential units. The US$297m (€264.7m, £235.8m) facility will also function as a training ground and academy for professional teams and youth clubs, including Dalian Yifang FC. Cruz

Dalian Wanda is celebrating the official opening of its Qingdao Movie Metropolis mega-development. The US$7.9bn (£5.7bn) scheme covers more than 400 acres and includes a theme park, 30,000sq m waterpark, yacht club and hotels, as well as the vast movie studio and film production facilities. Retail, restaurants and a huge cinema complex complete the mix. At the official opening, today (Saturday 28 April), Wanda CEO Wang Jianlin said: "This is

China’s central planning body has warned developers about the country’s ongoing theme park boom, raising concerns over potentially unpayable debts and low grade or copycat developments, as new parks continue to spring up across the country. As of the end of 2015, China had 59 parks planned or under construction, with the figure now thought to be in the hundreds. This explosion in theme park development in the country is

An international cricket stadium built using local materials and sustainable building practices has opened in Rwanda, with a design inspired by a bouncing ball and the country’s rolling hills. Cricket is Rwanda’s fastest growing sport and has been used as a tool to bring people together in the country, which was torn apart by genocide in 1994. To accommodate the growing demand and the counter the lack of purpose-built facilities,

The striking new home for Spanish football side Atletico Madrid is ready to host its first match, with construction finally completed on the 68,000 capacity Wanda Metropolitano stadium. The club has invested a reported €300m on the new ground – which replaces the Vicente Calderon Stadium, its home of over 50 years – in order to propel them to the sport’s elite level. Spanish architecture practice Cruz y Ortiz were

Billionaire Hui Ka Yan – majority owner of property developer China Evergrande Group – has announced plans to build 15 theme parks across China as the market continues to boom in the region. Branded Children's World, the Evergrande theme parks will be built across second-tier cities in China and focus on Chinese and Western mythology. Each park will target 15 million annual visitors and generate revenues of US$3bn (€2.5m, £2.3bn)

Rwandan fashion entrepreneur Teta Isibo has been appointed by ecotourism operator Wilderness Safaris to bring “a vibrant Rwandan flair” to the interior design of its Bisate Lodge, which is due to open in one of the country’s remote mountain valleys on 1 June 2017. Isibo, who is also the founder Rwandan studio Inzuki Designs, is collaborating with Nick Plewman Architects, interior designer Caline Williams-Wynn, local textile experts and the country’s

Wanda Hotels & Resorts will become the first Chinese hotel management company to export one of its brands overseas, following an agreement to open a Wanda Vista property in Istanbul, Turkey. The company will act as the hotel operator, while Turkish development firm Mar Yapi will fund the project. It will be located close to the city’s busiest shopping district and a five-minute drive from Ataturk International Airport. Wanda Vista

Wanda has announced two US$15bn (€14.2bn, £12bn) development projects in China, signalling chair Wang Jianlin’s continued efforts to make Wanda the world’s largest tourism entity by 2020. The two major projects were both announced in the space of a week, with agreements signed between both China’s Shaanxi provincial government and Changsha municipal government to build theme parks, commercial centres and sports developments in Xi’an and Hunan Province. In Hunan, a

Universal Studios has broken ground on its largest ever theme park project – a CN¥50bn (US$7.4bn, €6.65bn, £6bn) development set to open in Beijing in 2020. While Disney and Wanda battle for theme park supremacy in China, Universal has now entered the race, with the massive investment to cover 4sq km (2.5sq m) in Tongzhou – an eastern district of Beijing. With ground breaking on the development this week, once

A funding campaign to build a self-sustaining cricket ground of international standard in Rwanda is gathering momentum. Cricket is Rwanda’s fastest growing sport and has been used as a tool in recent years to bring people together in the country, which was torn apart by genocide in 1994. Despite the burgeoning interest, there are a lack of cricketing facilities in the country, and so the Rwanda Cricket Stadium Foundation (RCSF)

Wang Jianlin’s public feud with Disney continues to heat up with the Wanda chair’s latest multi-billion Wanda City to open its doors tomorrow (23 September). Located 500km (311m) west of the recently opened Shanghai Disney Resort, the US$5.2bn (€4.64bn, £4bn) Hefei Wanda City has been described as the “first Huizhou culture theme park in the world.” A tribute to the culture of the Anhui province, which dates back more than

Australian architects Crone Partners and Japanese studio Kengo Kuma & Associates will build a luxury hotel for Wanda in Sydey’s Central Business District. The pair have won an international architecture competition to design the Wanda Sydney, whose Chinese developer wants it to become one of Australia's most luxurious hotels. Located in the city’s Circular Quay, the building will feature a pixelated facade of sandstone, cascading green walls and large windows

China’s Wanda Group has taken the next step on its mission to become an unrivalled tourism entity; signing an agreement to build “the world's first culture, tourism, sports and commerce super complex.” The group has pledged to invest CN¥63bn (US$9.4bn, €8.4bn, £7.2bn) to construct Jinan Wanda Culture, Sports and Tourism City – it’s 13th mega-development in the country. Unlike its previous Wanda Cities, the new project in Jinan, Shandong province

The Wanda Group is to announce a multi-billion dollar investment into the currently under-development Europa City on the outskirts of Paris. The €3.1bn (US$3.5bn, £2.4bn) project – one of the largest ongoing leisure developments on the planet – is reportedly gaining investment from Wanda, China’s largest private property developer, and its owner Wang Jianlin. According to Variety, sources close to Wanda have said the company would confirm its role in

Chinese developer Dalian Wanda Group has opened a five-star mountainside hotel within its 5.3sq km (2sq mile) international resort in Yunnan province. Beijing architects Office for Architecture + Design (OAD) designed the hotel – the first operated under the Wanda Vista brand – drawing inspiration from the lush surrounding forests of Xishuangbanna prefecture and the traditional architecture of the region. Stone foundations, curving wooden roofs, peacock motifs, simple courtyards and

Dutch architectural firm Groosman has unveiled a new Rwandan art and cultural centre which will feature two huge cantilevered wings. The Rotterdam-based studio worked with engineers Geelhoed Group on the design of the Kigali Art & Culture Centre, which will be located on the outskirts of Rwanda's hilly capital. The cross-shaped block will be decorated with traditional African geometric patterns and will feature two cantilevered sections overhanging an elevated plaza,

China’s largest private property developer is aiming to surpass Disney as the world’s largest tourism enterprise by 2020, aiming to welcome more than 200 million people and earn annual tourism income in excess of CN¥100bn (US$16.1bn, €14.6bn, £10.3bn) with its ‘Wanda city’ plan. Speaking at the China International Tourism Investment Conference, Wanda chair Wang Jianlin outlined the ambitious goal to overtake Disney, with plans to set up culture and tourism