The theme of this urban regeneration design competition is “The Appointment between Youth and City”, aiming to focus on the positive interaction between urban regeneration and cultural inheritance in the “Old Town” of Greater Jiangnan from the perspective of youth. Taking the selected locations of the competition as samples, combined with a series of measures that emphasize both restoration and protection, as well as upgrading and renovation, it aims to establish a model case of compatibility between “historical and cultural protection” and “urban regeneration”, and create a series of new cultural and tourism landmarks for youth development-oriented cities.

The competition is open to all young designers, artists, teams of teachers and students worldwide in the fields of urban planning, architecture,  landscape, environmental art, regarding urban furniture, landscape, art design and other methods as its carriers. Meanwhile, interdisciplinary professionals and practitioners are also encouraged to participate. The competition excepts all the young designers to participate in the research of youth development city construction, and collect design works that are both pioneering, creative, practical, foresee and could lead future development. Competition excepts that all participants will break through the boundaries and start thinking around the new urban scenes and new business formats that young people like, so as to activate the regeneration of urban vitality and form the unique character, temperament and cultural tonality of the "Old Town" of Jiangnan. And finally jointly create a vibrant youth city with contemporary life and aesthetic taste.

Wuxi is located in southeast Jiangsu province, the center of the Yangtze River Delta, which is the most developed economic area of China. It is adjacent to Taihu Lake on the south, the Yangtze River on the north, 128 km to Shanghai on the east, and 183 km to Nanjing on the west.

On an area of 4,627 square kilometers, Wuxi administrates two county-level cities, namely Jiangyin and Yixing, and five districts, namely Liangxi district, Xishan district, Huishan district, Binhu district and Xinwu district. It has a permanent resident population of 7.49 million, Nominal GDP is 1.55 trillion yuan ($217 billion) in 2023 .

Boasting a history of more than 3,000 years, Wuxi is a historical city with profound cultural heritages and a large amount of talents. It's home to the Wu Culture in ancient times, and the national industrial and commercial culture in modern times. Wuxi has 31 important heritage sites under state protection, 11 sites named national intangible cultural heritage and 60 museums and memorial halls.

Liangxi District, the downtown area of Wuxi City. Liangxi District has profound cultural deposits. The ancient canal passes through the city, presenting the beautiful spectacle of "the unique part of the Grand Canal of a thousand Li ".With a history over 3,000 years, it has a number of heritages of Wu Culture, Jiangnan Water Culture and Modern Industrial and Commercial Culture. There are 13 national cultural protection units such as Donglin Academy, 38 intangible cultural heritage projects, one 5A Scenic Spots and six 4A Scenic Spots in Liangxi District. Qingming Bridge Historical and Cultural Block and Huishan Ancient Street are rated as the “Chinese Historical and Cultural Streets”. Qingming Bridge Block is also an experiential demonstration site of World Cultural Heritage. "Calligraphy Sage" Wang Xizhi, "Painting Sage" Gu Kaizhi and "Music Sage" Hua Yanjun (Ah Bing) once lived or settled in Liangxi in history. A large number of well-known figures of modern period like Xue Fucheng, Qin Bangxian, Zhang Wentian, Lu Dingyi, Qian Zhongshu, Gu Yuxiu and Wang Xuan also had the experience of living in Liangxi.