The Ningbo Xiaojia River Green Belt project  and its master plan preserves the green future of a rural area of 22 sq.km within the urbanisation of the city of Ningbo. The plan aims to protect the environmental and cultural heritage and to improve the social economic position of the people in the project area. The strategy builds upon the existing unique identity of little villages, agriculture economies and water related communities. By developing new economies and ecologies with respect of the existing water networks, the Dutch-Belgian team of KuiperCompagnons, Connecting Cities and Citilinks has secured an integrated development approach for the area as a model for rural urbanisation. Key to the approach was to develop this area as a sponge for this district of the city. This new impulse, that is adding to the existing qualities, will make this part of the city attractive for visitors and citizens for Ningbo, and for the local population. Commissioned by Ningbo Urban Planning & Design Institute (NBPI), we have been  awarded in 2017 the 1^st prize for the Zhejiang Urban and Rural Planning for this project.