Shenzhen Civic Square (outdoor exhibition space) and its underground space (indoor exhibition space) will be the main venue for the Biennale. This area is the political, financial, cultural and business center of Shenzhen. The Civic Centre, located at the north side of the Civic Square, contains the municipal governmental offices (the Civic Centre is a city hall).

The entire central district of Shenzhen is defined by a strong north-south axis. It begins at Lotus Mountain Park to the north, a popular tourist attraction. At the top of the mountain there is an observation platform orientated directly along this axis, providing views of the entire central area and most other parts of the city. There is a statue of Deng Xiaoping at the center of the platform facing south.

Following Deng’s gaze, the 360m-long roof corridor of the Book Mart store in the North Square is prominently visible. To its west is the Shenzhen Library and the Concert Hall, and to the east is the Children’s Palace and the ongoing MOCAPESZ project.

The north-south axis runs through the huge void in the middle of the Civic Center under the “blue wave” roof, across the monumental stairs and through the Civic Square. Further south of the Civic Square is the Shennan Avenue, the most important east-west artery of Shenzhen. Towards the south of Shennan Avenue is South Square, a well-planted park in good condition. The exhibition venue is divided into two parts: outdoor and indoor. The outdoor space will be used to accommodate large commissioned installations and comprises of the Civic Square, and possibly, the roof corridor of the Book Mart on the North Square, the South Square and the two parks to the east and west of the Civic Square. The interior exhibition space located underneath the Civic Square is the shape of an inverted letter F, with the spaces between occupied by parking. The three exhibition halls are axial and rectilinear, each is divided by glass doors.