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Urban renewal is the product of urban development to a mature stage, that is to say, when the city scale, total, function, industry, population, etc. enter a relatively stable state, urban construction needs to be transformed from the original incremental expansion, demolition and construction mode to enrich functions, improve quality, optimize layout, improve supporting facilities based on urban renewal "channel", which is also what we call the main way to enter the stock era, urban construction and development. It is not a blueprint of a blank piece of paper, but how to make the existing picture more beautiful.
Therefore, urban renewal needs to be systematically updated in all aspects such as concepts, ideas, standards, techniques, and paths, otherwise, it is inevitable that habitual "wearing new shoes, walking the old road", "hanging sheep's heads, and selling dog meat".
For example, the "functional zoning" of traditional urban planning divides the construction land into different properties, such as industry, commerce, scientific research, office, residential, education, medical care, public construction, etc., and the architectural functions formed on it must naturally be consistent with the nature of the land. Later, due to the emergence of composite functions, on a piece of land, there are more and more phenomena of using different colors of "slashes" to indicate its multiple functions, such as expressing the nature of a piece of land: commercial / office / research and development / hotel / and so on. It should be said that this is not a small progress, and it is an innovation to conform to the trend of multi-industry integration in society.
However, under the "unprecedented changes in a century", the changes in the market, society and enterprises are often more unexpected, and a large number of new formats, new models, new combinations, and new technologies are changing with each passing day. How can land and buildings as "real estate" keep up with this rapid change and proactively adapt and serve? It seems that the increase of "slashes" alone is far from keeping up with the speed of change of the times. What to do about it? It is advisable to understand and adapt to the laws and trends of this change from the conceptual, cognitive, and source aspects, and many specific confusions will be solved.
This law and trend is that the functional transformation of architectural space may become a "new normal", and there is no linkage relationship with the nature of the land where it is located, it is neither originally planned, nor does the nature of the land change due to the functional transformation. Does the management need to treat this trend of separating the functional transformation of building space from the unchanged nature of the land, and do the management departments need to treat it in a more inclusive, flexible and reasonable way?
From the actual situation, the functional transformation of this architectural space is at least the following:
First, the functional transformation of industrial buildings. The earliest conversion in this area at home and abroad, the largest number of cases, and the widest field, such as the transformation into museums, art galleries and other cultural categories; Some have been converted into R&D centers, software bases, science and technology parks and other scientific and technological innovation categories; Some have become shopping malls, hotels and other commercial categories; Some have been changed to pure office classes, and some have been changed to apartments, houses and other residential categories. In short, due to the large number of industrial buildings, coupled with strong plasticity and solid infrastructure, its space changes according to urban development, and it is still an important subject of the transformation of urban architectural space functions in the coming considerable period. However, many foreign industrial buildings have been converted into hotels, shopping centers, high-end apartments, etc., and there are still many taboos that need to be broken in China.
Singapore's St. James' coal-fired power station is now transformed into a Dyson global headquarters © network
Second, the functional transformation of commercial buildings. In the past, the saying "one shop for three generations" was deeply rooted in people's hearts, indicating that commercial space is very expensive. Especially in the era of planned economy, not only is there a shortage of goods, but also a shortage of commercial space. After the reform and opening up, especially in the past two decades, commercial buildings have grown rapidly. At present, the per capita commercial space in many cities has exceeded that of developed countries, and there is a clear disconnect from consumption, coupled with the increasing popularity of online shopping, the problem of excess space is increasingly apparent.
FIUFIU Gallery © on Yuyuan Road network
Therefore, the functional transformation of commercial buildings has also begun to increase: for example, it has been transformed into cultural functions such as art museums, movie theaters, and art centers; Turning into the popular science function of new technology and new product display; Conversion to various educational and training functions; Transform into medical beauty, specialty, fitness and other health functions; Transform into co-working spaces featuring co-working and other features; Others have been transformed into digital, intelligent, and light processing-based new manufacturing spaces. With the intensification of the surplus of physical commercial space, in addition to the continuous innovation of business itself, it is imperative to transform the functions of a considerable part of commercial space.
Now networked ©
Third, the functional transformation of office building space. There are many reasons for the high vacancy rate of office buildings, but in addition to the economic environment, the large number of cities and regions and the rapid adoption of online working methods are important factors. Influenced by the "Manhattan thinking" more than a hundred years ago, regardless of the size of the city, they are keen to build a "central business district" with many office buildings, and in super-large cities, there are also a number of "urban sub-centers" with a building volume of millions of square meters in different areas. As a result, supply is much greater than demand. Interestingly, the functional transformation of office building space began in Manhattan, New York. There, office buildings are converted into apartments, hotel functions; Convert into scientific research testing carrier function; Convert to new manufacturing space features and more.
Street Easy, a 1 Wall Street condominium © converted from an office building
In Shanghai, the functional transformation of office buildings is also beginning: for example, the transformation into cultural functions such as art museums, galleries, and performing arts, has been settled in the area of Sichuan Middle Road; In Asia Tower, there are nearly 20 "new performing arts spaces". In addition, the transformation of office buildings into long-term rental apartments; The introduction of office space into museums, medical treatment, training, catering, live broadcasting, beauty and cosmetics, light manufacturing and other formats is even more large. From the trend point of view, with the completion of a number of new office buildings on both sides of the Huangpu River, the functional transformation of a larger number of old office buildings will be accelerated, the content will be more diversified, and the iteration cycle will be shortened.
Asia Tower © network
Fourth, the transformation of the function of living space. For a long time, "resettlement and non-resettlement" has always been "clear and insurmountable". Today, that line is becoming more and more blurred. For example, if teachers are teaching video at home and students are video teaching at home, is the space they are in a residential function or an educational function? Someone opens an online store at home to do live broadcasting, is he in a living space or a commercial space? If someone is working from home, is this "office" a living space or an office space? And so on, it is estimated that it is not clear. As a traditional residential function transformed into cultural tourism, commercial and office functions, it not only retains the original flavor of old buildings such as Shanghai Shikumen, but also gives the market and social needs functions. It belongs to one of the few residential areas with centralized transformation, of course, the overall transformation of residential functions is also Jianyeli, etc., but the cost of this conversion is high, the cycle is long, and it is difficult to pay back, which is a special case. In general, the form of residential function transformation is subtle, asymptotic, and the scattered flowers of the heavenly women are everywhere.
In fact, the largest amount of residential function conversion in Shanghai is the ground floor of residential buildings on both sides of the street, especially a large number of after-sales public housing. In the era of housing allocation, those who were lucky enough to get a house, even if they were allocated to the bottom floor of the roadside, were like treasures. But time has passed, and from today's point of view, the housing on the bottom of the roadside, whether from environmental noise or privacy and security, may not be suitable for people to live in. The most suitable and reasonable function should be commercial functions, especially various community commercial facilities that serve the "15-minute living circle". Therefore, for a long time, a large number of residential floors along the street in the central urban area have been "transformed", opening a variety of small shops, which greatly enriches the functions of the community and facilitates the surrounding residents. Of course, it is inevitable that there will be disturbances in the process, which belongs to the category of how to improve management and will not be discussed here.
Leshan community after renovation
Unfortunately, a few years ago, a huge "demolition of violations" movement will be swept away after years of evolution, and all kinds of "small and elegant", "small and special", "small and beautiful" street shops that have gradually standardized and matured will be swept away, and "one by one". Ironically, a few years after this wind blew, countless small shops re-emerged on the ground floor of many closed streets, some doing business from windows, some trading through fences, and others posting advertisements in front of the windows, and people entering through the back doors. In short, wildfires are endless, spring breezes blow and grow, and the nature of doing business on the ground floor on the street seems difficult to kill. However, the image is much worse, because the merchants cannot design and beautify the appearance of the store in a dignified manner, these tenacious survival small shops look like rural stores in fifth- and sixth-tier cities, and the image of Shanghai's magic capital is very different.
Talking about the transformation of the function of living space is not to encourage people to change the use of living, but to express two meanings: first, the function of living space has indeed been highly composite and overlapping with other functions; Second, it is most necessary to transform the function of the living space, mainly the underlying space of the residential area along the street, should the urban management department also keep pace with the times, although the function of the planning was indeed to live, but decades later, the environment has changed dramatically, should the function also be adjusted accordingly? If there is a plan, residents of these places are allowed or even encouraged to transform their residence into a commercial function through functional replacement, leasing, etc. As for the problem of disturbing the people, it can be solved by improving management. In this way, it can not only improve the living environment and increase income of this part of the citizens, but also greatly enrich the commercial formats of the community and provide a more suitable space for the "15-minute living circle".
12th Street on Laoshan Road, Pudong
Fifth, the functional transformation of comprehensive space. Generally speaking, public spaces include outdoor squares, parks and green spaces, municipal facilities, transportation stations, cultural and sports venues, as well as government offices, schools, libraries and other spaces for the public. In the past, these spaces had specific functions and meanings. Today, it is also constantly compounding, merging and transforming. For example, in the past, the public space under the viaduct was converted from road houses, garbage stations, and parking lots to sports and fitness venues; The school site became a public parking lot at the wrong time; The park's green space adds a cultural tourism function; The office space of relevant government units and institutions in the historical landscape reserve has been transformed into commercial, cultural and corporate headquarters functions through replacement. With the implementation of the national spirit of further revitalizing stock assets and expanding effective investment, the effective use of public space and the transformation and reshaping of functions will have greater actions.
Space under © the Suzhou Creek Central Bridge Changning, Shanghai
Through the introduction of the above spatial function transformation, it can be seen that in the stock era, the iterative replacement and composite integration of the original spatial functions will become a "new normal" of urban renewal, which not only gives new content to the original space, but also adds new vitality to the urban space and brings new impetus to urban development. Paying attention to the dynamics and trends of urban spatial function transformation, grasping the relationship between physical space, functional transformation and land nature, adapting to this changing trend in management and planning, and improving and adjusting corresponding policies and standards should be the problems that urban management and planning departments and practitioners in the field of urban renewal should pay attention to, study and solve.
Source: Shanghai Urban Renewal, author: Xia Yu