--- title: How Shanghai West Bund Is Turning Elite Sports Into an Open Urban Experience description: How Shanghai West Bund Is Turning Elite Sports Into an Open Urban Experience canonical: https://time.com/branded-content/-partner-name-/how-shanghai-west-bund-is-turning-elite-sports-into-an-open-urban-experience/ article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-11-13T16:57:15.636Z article:modified_time: 2026-11-07T03:34:05.955Z article:section: Branded Contributor Content og:title: How Shanghai West Bund Is Turning Elite Sports Into an Open Urban Experience og:description: How Shanghai West Bund Is Turning Elite Sports Into an Open Urban Experience og:url: https://time.com/branded-content/-partner-name-/how-shanghai-west-bund-is-turning-elite-sports-into-an-open-urban-experience/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt44d5907413e1f51f/6aee9aff7ce30b44991eab24/2b5c9b10-d7ed-484c-836f-6dc03d6d60e6.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1672 og:image:height: 941 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Shanghai West Bund Is Turning Elite Sports Into an Open Urban Experience twitter:description: How Shanghai West Bund Is Turning Elite Sports Into an Open Urban Experience twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt44d5907413e1f51f/6aee9aff7ce30b44991eab24/2b5c9b10-d7ed-484c-836f-6dc03d6d60e6.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How Shanghai West Bund Is Turning Elite Sports Into an Open Urban Experience > Sponsored content. 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Its journalism is reported and edited by a professional newsroom led by Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs, with named correspondents on politics, climate, health, technology and culture. It reaches 1 million US print subscribers and 1.15 million globally, plus more than 1.1 million newsletter readers. #### How do I subscribe to TIME magazine? Subscriptions are at time.com/subscribe-agent. Choose digital only at $20 a year, or print and digital from $29 a year or $49 for two years. TIME also publishes seven free email newsletters at time.com/newsletters, which do not require a subscription. #### Can I cancel a TIME subscription? Yes. TIME states that subscriptions can be cancelled at any time. #### Does TIME have free newsletters? Yes. TIME publishes seven free email newsletters reaching more than 1.1 million readers, covering daily news, Washington politics, health, AI, climate and energy, culture, and the newsroom itself. They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-sub-2026q3/newsletters?i=3ffca931-f525-4241-ac7a-555875d5e541&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1) * TIME Subscriptions: [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-sub-2026q3/subscribe?i=3ffca931-f525-4241-ac7a-555875d5e541&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1)  Image Credit: Shanghai West Bund Image Credit: Shanghai West Bund _By removing fences, opening events to the public, and building a year-round sports ecosystem, Shanghai West Bund is rethinking how elite competition can become part of everyday urban life._ #### West Bund Is Building an Urban District Around Sport Shanghai West Bund is placing sport at the heart of its broader urban development strategy. Its “3A” vision — Art + AI + Action Sports — brings together culture, commerce, tourism, sports, and exhibitions, with the aim of transforming the waterfront into a space where people can take part, not simply watch. The four-day 2026 West Bund Urban Sports Carnival and FISE World Series Shanghai concluded at Shanghai West Bund after running from October 15 to 18\. This year’s motto was “DARE TO LEAP,” reflecting the festival’s aim to redefine how sports are integrated into everyday urban life. For the West Bund, hosting elite competition is an opportunity to connect its international sports programming with the everyday use of its public spaces. #### FISE Brings World-Class Sport Into the City As an international urban sports festival, FISE brings world-class competition to the West Bund’s waterfront. Since its 2024 debut, FISE Shanghai has advanced from a “Development Event” to a “Signature Event” with H-level status under ShanghaiPHD event-brand accreditation system. The 2026 competition lineup covered five major sports categories: BMX, skateboarding, scootering, rollerblading, and street dance. It encompassed 18 distinct disciplines that spread across a wide variety of specialized arenas. Headlining the events on October 18 were the UCI BMX Freestyle Park World Cup and the UCI BMX Freestyle Flatland World Cup, where international world champions and Olympic champions competed against China’s rising talent. Additionally, a fan favorite, the Spine Ramp competition, continued in the evening sessions, with its venue illuminating the Xuhui Riverside skyline with dramatic tricks and high-flying maneuvers. In the women’s final of the UCI BMX Freestyle Park World Cup, Sun Sibei, who had previously won at FISE Shanghai in 2024, claimed the title with 94.20 points. Sun Jiaqi finished second with 91.10 points, while Australia’s Natalya Diehm placed third. Together, these competitions made FISE a major piece of the West Bund’s international sports programming, bringing elite athletic performances into the city’s shared waterfront spaces.  Image Credit: Shanghai West Bund #### Removing the Fences Between Sport and City Life For the first time, FISE Shanghai 2026 introduced a completely open-access model with free general admission to everyone. By eliminating fences and ticketing, the festival aimed to weave competition zones into the expanded waterfront promenade along the West Bund. The 2026 edition extended along more than 800 meters of waterfront, with the event area covering more than twice the space of last year’s edition. The “no fences, no tickets” approach changed more than the cost of admission. It made the event part of the waterfront’s daily life, allowing people to encounter elite sport during a walk, a family outing, or a visit to the neighborhood. For the West Bund, it offered a way to reactivate public space through competition and participation, connecting a major sporting event with the people who use the district. According to the organizers, more than 40 participating brands and over 120 exhibitors added to that shared experience. Beyond the competitions, visitors also found pop-up retail, interactive urban-sports experiences, live music and an evening AfterParty. Light-sport experiences, family-friendly and pet-friendly programming, and food vendors gave visitors more ways to take part beyond watching the competitions. The aim was to broaden the festival from a gathering for dedicated sports fans into an urban lifestyle experience shared by residents, casual passersby, and international visitors. #### From a Four-Day Festival to a Lasting Sports Ecosystem The West Bund’s strategy extends beyond the four days of competition. The permanent FISEHOOD venue, which also acts as the BMX training base for the Xuhui District Youth Training Center, and the West Bund Sports Park help connect major events with youth development and everyday urban sports participation. Together with the area’s permanent sports facilities, FISEHOOD gives residents more opportunities to participate in urban sports beyond the four-day festival. FISEHOOD provides a pathway for young riders to develop their skills, while the wider sports infrastructure supports regular public access and participation. The 2026 festival connected sport with commerce and tourism. According to post-event figures, cumulative footfall across the event area reached 400,000 visits, up 20.5% year on year. The event stimulated RMB 480 million in consumer spending, generated RMB 519 million in direct economic impact, and had an indirect economic impact of RMB 1.422 billion. With FISE Shanghai scheduled to return from October 28 to 31, 2027, the West Bund’s 3A vision aims to integrate culture, commerce, tourism, sports, and exhibitions into a lasting ecosystem around the event, extending its impact into everyday district life.  Image Credit: Shanghai West Bund #### A Test Run for the Olympic Q-Series The 2026 festival also provided practical experience ahead of the 2028 Olympic Qualifier Series (OQS) Shanghai stop, scheduled for May 11 to 14, 2028, at Xuhui Riverside and the West Bund. Its expanded, open-access format offered an opportunity to develop experience in open-space management, crowd movement, and public participation ahead of a higher-level international sporting event. How competition zones connect with the promenade, how visitors move through the waterfront, and how public activities operate alongside elite sport can all inform preparations for the OQS. For the West Bund, that experience links its current sports programming with its future urban positioning. Its long-term ambition is to become a launchpad for emerging sports and a new urban calling card for Shanghai. By combining professional events with year-round public access, the district aims to build a sustainable sports and urban lifestyle ecosystem for current and future generations. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/branded-content/-partner-name-/how-shanghai-west-bund-is-turning-elite-sports-into-an-open-urban-experience/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/branded-content/-partner-name-/how-shanghai-west-bund-is-turning-elite-sports-into-an-open-urban-experience/"},"headline":"How Shanghai West Bund Is Turning Elite Sports Into an Open Urban Experience","datePublished":"2026-11-13T16:57:15.636Z","dateModified":"2026-11-07T03:34:05.955Z","description":"How Shanghai West Bund Is Turning Elite Sports Into an Open Urban Experience","url":"https://time.com/branded-content/-partner-name-/how-shanghai-west-bund-is-turning-elite-sports-into-an-open-urban-experience/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[],"articleSection":"Branded Contributor Content","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/branded-content/-partner-name-/how-shanghai-west-bund-is-turning-elite-sports-into-an-open-urban-experience/","name":"How Shanghai West Bund Is Turning Elite Sports Into an Open Urban Experience"}}]}] ```