Wang Jici / Professor, School of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University
Wang Jici Visual China Infographic
One
I planted the seeds of "science" in my heart from a young age, because at that time the school taught us to love science, and there was no bumpy road to climb the peak of science. My family subscribed to Science Volkswagen magazine, and the pictures of space exploration in science fiction stories I read at that time seemed to be not much different from the real images of astronauts' space life now. My classmates and I used Marie Curie as an example and made it our goal to be a scientist.
In 1958, I went to the home of a junior high school classmate in the Zhongguancun Academy of Sciences to play, when the Chinese Academy of Sciences had just been established, it was said to be modeled on the Soviet Academy of Sciences, adjacent to Peking University Tsinghua, and concentrated China's top scientists, to use science to change China's "poor and white" appearance. The Chinese Academy of Sciences has built many apartment buildings, as well as the "Zhongguancun Refreshment Department" that can compete with Moscow restaurants. That place is called "Science City".
When I graduated from high school, my table was admitted to the University of Science and Technology of China under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and later the "war readiness" needed, the University of Science and Technology of China moved to Hefei, Anhui Province, and I heard that Hefei was a "science city", because the hotel on dongxun reservoir island was taken over by the Chinese Academy of Sciences to become a "science island". In 1990, I was invited to give a lecture on the island to a institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, when there were no public halls in the four research institutes on the island. Mr. Chen Chunxian, the "first person in Zhongguancun" in Beijing, learned that I went to "Science Island" and asked me to go to the Plasma Research Institute to get a little salary.
There is also a famous science city is the nuclear industry base, commonly known as the "Ninth Academy" of the Chinese Institute of Physical Engineering from Beijing to Qinghai Haiyan County to Sichuan Ravine to conduct nuclear tests, in 1983 all the personnel of the "Ninth Academy" moved to Mianyang, became the "Science City", and later I went there, the compound where scientific and technological personnel lived was quite dilapidated.
Two
In the past two years, under the urgent situation that we must have a strong foundation to solve the "card neck" problem, the "Science City" characterized by the grand scientific development goal, the large-scale construction of large scientific installations, and the "City of Scientists" as a gathering place for high-end talents have sprouted and blossomed in Beijing, Shanghai, Hefei, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Chongqing, Shenzhen and other cities. The Science City in Seville, Spain and several other science parks abroad, and translated (translated) the technopoles of the World: The Making of 21st Century Industrial Complex, co-authored by Professor Manuel Castell of the University of California, and Pete Hall, a professor at the University of London, still wanted to talk about the construction and development of Science City.
Three
Unlike the high-tech zones, development zones and other new cities on the mainland, Science City should be a superior special space planned and built by the government and deliberately constructed to break away from the turbulent city center, this scientific environment has its own value and mechanism, which enables scientists and scholars to stimulate cohesion in the scientific community, conduct scientific exploration, devote themselves to the pursuit of scientific goals, and produce outstanding scientific achievements through the synergy of research activities.
Japan's Tsukuba and Kansai Science City are very different, and Sweden's Sista and Lund Science City are also very different. Most of the so-called "pure science cities" focus on scientific research and are not directly affected by the production environment, while others establish contacts with industrial companies or create their own commercial companies. Science City usually supports the scientific development of the country and often becomes a tool for regional development, with a view to gradually infiltrating better scientific research into the economy and society.
Four
There is a saying that the "pure science city" of the world was born in 1957 in the dream of Khrushchev, who built a science city in the birch woods of Siberia. In the beginning, seminars and workshops were held downstairs in a club involving mainly physicists, and there were often dances and cocktail parties upstairs. But then the Siberian branch of the Academy of Sciences gradually bureaucratized, and the brain drain and lack of synergy in Science City made some scientists regret the pinch between bureaucracy and market forces. Thus, a summary of the Siberian Science City said that the construction of the Science City would bring about improved working conditions and better scientific research equipment, which would contribute to research activities; The formation of new research institutions has the potential to break the shackles of bureaucracy and break the conservative concept of existing academic centers. However, unless a new type of research management organization is established, the ills of the old scientific research system will be regenerated in the new science city.
Founded in 1963, Tsukuba, Japan, is often used as a typical example of the failure of a "pure science city", or even a "scientific utopia". For more than 60 years, the Japanese government has carried out institutional reforms to Tsukuba, which initially lacked industrial support, and strengthened its market orientation. But as of 2019, nearly half of Tsukuba residents still said in a survey that they did not feel the elements of a "science city."
Japan's Kansai Science City, built between Kyoto, Osaka and Nara, adopts a multi-core development model and engages public-private partnerships to attract industrial companies and associations to provide channels for the commercialization of research results. The Goal of the Science City is to improve economic competitiveness and scientific research, integrating future basic research with industrial R&D and application from the outset.
Sweden's Sista Science City advertised at the Shanghai World Expo in 2010, when I went to visit in 2011, its construction was not yet completed, its original site is Ericsson headquarters, on the basis of mobile communication production clusters, attracted many multinational companies R & D centers, and incubated innovative small and micro enterprises, forming an innovation network jointly built by universities, enterprises and governments. The Swedish Innovation Agency (VINNOVA) manages the entire process of the national innovation project.
Five
Building a Science City is risky because it is not necessarily a powerful tool for the development of science. Without a dedicated policy to link its scientific activities to the local economy, Science City could become an enclave and create few jobs. If the place where Science City is located has economic vitality, it can also take the initiative to take advantage of the scientific and technological potential of Science City. The true integration of scientific knowledge and expertise into local business networks is a prerequisite for The City to have a direct impact on the country and the localities, and for many scientists to become economically dynamic assets.
In general, the concept of Science City was born out of idealism, and to turn its goals into reality, it not only requires advanced large scientific installations, beautiful working and living environments, and sufficient public space, but also the good scientific literacy of the people in Science City and the spirit of scientists who work hard to climb the peak of science, as well as the scientific atmosphere of cross-field, industry-university-research collaboration and team spirit of common values.
bibliography
Castel M, Hall P. 1998. World High-Tech Parks: Industrial Complexes for the 21st Century. Li Pengfei et al. translation, Wang Jici translation reviewer. Beijing: Beijing Institute of Technology Press.]
(The author is Wang Jici, Professor, School of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University)
Editor-in-Charge: Wu Yuewei Photo Editor: Shi Jiahui
Proofreader: Ding Xiao