China's urbanization process has entered the "second half", the mode of urban transformation has changed, and the replacement of large-scale demolition and large-scale construction with "small repairs and small repairs" has become a new trend of urban governance and development.
Micro-updates can also make a big difference. Nowadays, we should think more about how to achieve "inside and face" and "tangible and spiritual" urban micro-renewal, and how to upgrade and iterate, improve quality and efficiency?
Represented by Zhang Yuan, Shanghai has witnessed the change of the mainland's urban renewal model.
Ideal city
"Lightweight" and "organic" change
In this world, thousands of people leave their homeland and run to the city to start a new life.
Come to the city, make connections, put down roots here.
But are we better at living in cities than we were hundreds of years ago?
Cities are no longer just a place for one person to live, and people have an ideal life for the city. For the "ideal city", everyone in it has their own description. Therefore, on the basis of maintaining the urban fabric, it has become more important to carry out small-scale and small-scale local transformation of existing urban space, so as to achieve spatial activation and regional revitalization.
Since the 90s of the 20th century, from Western Europe to Asia, the physical environment and social network of cities have entered a stage of renewal, and development, transformation, regeneration and reconstruction have taken place at this time, and people have begun to be more cautious about small community spaces and have begun to think about their importance to urban vitality.
In her book "Recreating Historic Districts," Masami Kobayashi, a professor of architecture at Meiji University's Faculty of Science and Engineering, has long been involved in town development and design activities, leading experts and citizens to work together to build communities. In other words, the deeper meaning of "neighborhood building" is that the event itself needs to be carefully planned and cultivated.
Different from "urban renewal", "urban micro-renewal" emphasizes "lightweight" and "organic", bringing changes in a slight gesture, easy to operate and implement, and this change can be connected with the community, and the living environment can be improved at the same time, the change can be carried out sustainably and continuously activated. The practitioners of "micro-renewal" are the government, non-profit organizations, professional developers, architects and planners, as well as community residents, and the joint participation of multiple subjects is the key to achieving the goal of "micro-renewal".
In 2000, the publication of the British Urban Renewal Handbook marked a new starting point for urban renewal in the United Kingdom. The handbook had a profound impact on cities and planning, not only in the UK at the time, but also around the world.
In the preface to the Handbook of Urban Regeneration, Peter Roberts, Professor Emeritus at the University of Leeds, points out that urban regeneration is a phenomenon that has been experienced but not well known. There is no one-size-fits-all or "one-size-fits-all" solution to the problems encountered in urban areas. This seems to be true in both developed and developing countries.
Similarly, the book "Frontiers of Urban Planning and Public Policy in the World: British Urban Renewal" also provides a comprehensive introduction to the various stages of urban renewal in the United Kingdom since World War II.
All in all, urban micro-renewal is based on the texture and style of the urban area, respects the order and laws of the city itself, emphasizes pluralistic participation, takes the current core issues of the region as the breakthrough point, and repairs and renews the local area on an appropriate scale, so as to stimulate an independent chain effect and create a more belonging space and influential culture for the region.
Historical memory
Shaping a living city
In Shanghai's Jing'an District, the "No. 1 Garden on the Sea", founded in 1882, is recreating its glory from a hundred years ago. Zhangyuan, located in the core of Nanjing West Road Landscape Conservation Area, has a history of more than 140 years. It is one of the largest, most well-preserved and richest Shikumen buildings in Shanghai, and it is also the first urban renewal project in Shanghai that has been rebuilt for protection.
In order to present the mental process of Zhang Yuan's "rebirth", in March this year, the first book of Zhang Yuan's cultural series, "Famous Gardens on the Sea: Zhang Yuan and Shanghai-style Culture", was published, and the theory of "urban cultural meta-space" was innovatively proposed.
According to Xiong Yuezhi, a researcher at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences and a research librarian at the Shanghai Museum of Culture and History, Zhang Yuan organically brings together commerciality, leisure, popularity, openness and popularity. Among them, commerciality refers to market, consumption, free and open, paid services, leisure refers to entertainment, can take a walk, enjoy the scenery, public refers to its public, no threshold, open to the public, openness refers to the world, pluralism and inclusiveness, popularity refers to changeability, avant-garde and innovation.
Xiong Yuezhi concluded that the original Zhangyuan integrated business, tourism, culture and education, and now the renovated Zhangyuan has become the center of the trend again, which can be said to be just combined with its "identity" more than 100 years ago. This is a very valuable urban micro-renewal.
City memory is the story of the city, which runs through the history of the city and is found in every corner of the city. Neighborhoods, alleys, temple ruins, etc. are all elements of the city's historical memory, carrying the common memory of the residents of this land. Attaching importance to the cultural protection and excavation and utilization of these elements can allow people to stroll through them, touch the scenery and feelings, and achieve the effect of educating people with culture and the environment.
Jane Jacobs once said in "The Death and Life of America's Great Cities": "It's easy to design a dream city, but it's hard to think about a living city." ”
Represented by Zhang Yuan, Shanghai has witnessed the change of the mainland's urban renewal model, from the "large-scale demolition and construction" after the founding of the People's Republic of China to the "diversified development" after the reform and opening up, from the "emphasis on quality and light quantity" after joining the WTO, and then to the "sustainable development" in the era of big data.
Today, Shanghai has entered the era of "Urban Renewal 4.0", the core concept of this period is "organic renewal", which regards the city as an organic life that is always in the midst of metabolism, and human intervention should follow its texture and be gradual and gradual.
Cultural field
Integrated design of urban spaces
As one of the first batch of urban village renovation projects in Shanghai, after 8 years of planning and 4 years of construction, Panlong Tiandi has transformed from a "dirty and messy" suburb to an "Internet celebrity check-in place".
The "second façade" of the Bund is also taking on a new look, and now the "Bund Central" project is close to the people and fashionable, with cafes, restaurants, jazz centers, and ...... Citizens can walk in to rest, play, and feel the beauty of the old buildings.
The 136-acre "Cloud Granary" is also a vivid sample of Shanghai Songjiang micro-renewal, which has been gorgeously transformed into a new humanistic landmark integrating science and technology, cultural creativity and sports innovation, and has introduced creative formats such as exhibitions, performing arts theaters, cultural training, leisure and entertainment, and sports, which are full of vitality.
Only by making good use of and protecting the blocks and buildings with historical and cultural value can we further highlight the characteristics and diversity of urban culture. The height and texture of the buildings in the historical and cultural characteristic areas, the scenes of streets and alleys, the natural style and other characteristics are used to create a distinctive atmosphere, so as to achieve "gathering micro into a network" and continue the context of urban growth.
In the book "Water-City Symbiosis: Changes in the Cultural Space on Both Sides of the Huangpu River in Shanghai in the Context of Urban Renewal", Ding Fan, deputy director of the Academic Development Department of the School of Arts and Media, Tongji University, and Wu Jiang, professor of the School of Architecture and Urban Planning of Tongji University, discuss the trends and characteristics of the development of the Huangpu River.
The case selection in the book covers four typical waterfront cases of the Huangpu River, namely the Bund, Lujiazui, Xuhui Riverside and the waterfront area of the post-Expo Park, and analyzes the development history of urban renewal in each region, the characteristics and conflicts in the waterfront regeneration at the spatial level, and the urban renewal strategy, which has important reference value for the study of urban renewal and urban waterfront culture in mainland China.
Zhao Ying, vice president of Tongji University Architectural Design and Research Institute (Group) Co., Ltd., called the above case an integrated design concept. The so-called integrated design concept refers to breaking through the boundaries of design professions in the traditional field of planning and architecture, exploring the new model of "design +" to cope with the new proposition of urban renewal, and creating a unified and integrated, cross-professional and cross-field integrated urban renewal service system. Its purpose is to take planning and design as the core, coordinate and balance multi-disciplinary elements, and promote the organic renewal and vitality of the city.
In "Humanistic Cities: Theory and Practice of Urban Renewal in Europe", we can also see such a case: Barcelona's urban renewal process has lasted more than 30 years, and its first stage is the "micro-renovation" period, with the old city and the urban fringe area as the core, and the implementation of "urban acupuncture". "Urban acupuncture" refers to the selection of important nodes in the city for spatial activation and architectural transformation, and the "point renewal" to drive the whole area. The Barcelona government proposed a strategy of "shaping the city's public space through sculpture", and a large number of artworks by masters have sprung up in the old town.
The Spanish poet Federigo García Lorca once painted "the only street in the world that I hope will never end", and the slightly updated Las Ramblas take on this responsibility. Once known as the "Wanderer's Street", this boulevard connects the city's landmark, Plaça Catalunya and the Columbus Monument, and becomes a street that never ends.
Endogenous power
People are the main body of urban micro-renewal
"I'm walking under the drum tower / The road is jammed / The sun is scattered after the rain / People are coming out / There are a lot of persistent and confused literary and artistic young people / If I'm bored, I'll come here to sit and sit. "Zhao Lei's song "Drum Tower" made the Bell and Drum Tower a new check-in place in Beijing. While tourists are weaving, the area around the bell and drum tower is also vacating and renewing.
Similarly, the Baita Temple in Beijing has undergone this process. In the observation of Zhao Yimin, assistant professor of the Department of Urban Planning and Management of Chinese University of China, such urban micro-renewal pays more attention to the demands of residents and strives to achieve the "greatest common divisor".
There are many cases like this in "Urban Micro Renewal: Urban Stock Space Design and Transformation", and the author Li Tao believes that the most important thing to pay attention to in urban micro renewal is people. Residents are the main body of urban life and the main body of micro-renewal, and we must adhere to the "people-oriented".
In Shanghai, when you walk in the well-known Hengfu Scenic Area composed of Anfu Road, Wukang Road, Julu Road, Changle Road, etc., you can really feel the beautiful scenery of the historical and cultural area. However, Cao Liqiang, secretary of the Xuhui District Party Committee, said that the focus of urban renewal in the Xuhui Hengfu District is to protect the historical and cultural features, but also to preserve the city's fireworks, and most importantly, to improve the living conditions of the people.
At present, a number of transformations have been completed in the Hengfu style area, and Xuhui is speeding up the transformation of the "three olds" into "three new", that is, "let the old houses wear new clothes, the old communities have a new look, and the residents of the old communities live a new life".
Rebuilding the neighborhood is a top concern for residents, and Wang Siqin, who is now retired, admits that for her and her friends, the community's park is very important. Community parks are high-quality public spaces where residents can gain more leisure, social experience and relaxation, and the redevelopment of the neighborhood features is to enhance the participation of the community without changing the attributes of the existing green space, thereby promoting community building.
Rebuilding the Neighborhood: The Apocalypse of Community Gardens and Community Building is a summary of the results of the 2019 and 2021 International Symposiums on Community Gardens and Community Design, which brings together the new perspectives of community garden and community planning researchers from all over the world and the recent experimental cases of front-line practitioners, which has important direction exploration and practical significance for China's urban renewal and social governance.
Now, the "Urban Microspace Revival Plan" initiated by architect Yu Ting has been advancing for seven years. As a native of Shanghai, he has always tried to express his understanding of Shanghai with rational architectural tools and "activate" the "lost" space of the city.
Yu Ting said: "Micro-renewal is embedded in the urban body, and it has a direct relationship with specific people. Micro-renewal requires a fairly skillful approach from the city's policymakers, implementers, and designers. Once done well, the positive impact of micro-renewal on the lives of urban residents is more direct and obvious than large-scale renewal. When a certain number of micro-renewal projects accumulate, a new look of the city emerges that we cannot currently predict. Micro-updates appear one after another like small flowers, just like when you walk on the streets of Shanghai in the rainy season, and suddenly smell a hint of magnolia flowers. At this time, the development of the city is more reassuring than the previous kind of high-spirited entry. ”
The challenges are constant
Renewal is the eternal state of the city
Urban micro-renewal also faces challenges.
We can see that there are certain problems in the micro-renewal of some cities: they either ignore the excavation of historical and cultural values, and a large number of resources are not effectively utilized, or there is a lack of integration of various cultural resources in the city, and the local characteristics are not prominent enough, or the degree of public participation is insufficient, and the transformation lacks a sense of identity......
The challenge we face is fragmented micro-updates, as opposed to large-scale updates that require a lot of capital investment. Urban renewal can be dangerous because it constructs a binary opposition – on the one hand, the new and beautiful urban landscape imagined in the mind, and on the other hand, the othering of the urban landscape that exists in the here and now, that is, the urban landscape that is not considered worthy of existence here.
If we want to make urban renewal more inclusive, breaking away from this dichotomy should be the first step.
From March 2023, Zibo, Shandong Province has become popular all over the country due to barbecue, triggering a big discussion on the topic of urban governance. Subsequently, Tianjin, Harbin and other cities have been concerned by the public one after another, ushering in the "pouring wealth" of traffic.
In the face of traffic, each city has its own unique story, what we see on the surface is the prosperity of traffic, but we don't know that to catch this "traffic test", there is a deeper urban governance logic behind it.
"City Affairs in the People: Urban Governance and Reform Behind the Zibo Phenomenon" is such a vivid and vivid textbook of urban micro-renewal. The governance of the city is not based on the flow of money, but the long-term return to the people-oriented.
Yu Ting found that in the practice of trivial urban renewal, architects must not only have strong concepts and ideals, but also know how to listen to the noisy and fragmented voices and desires around them, have an open mind, be able to tolerate mistakes, be able to adapt, and integrate everything to implement in order to better realize the transformation.
In the micro-update, what architects and designers represented by Yu Ting want to say is to get rid of standardization. Because each city, each community, each project and even each road are more or less different from each other, and each project has its "fingerprint attributes", so one thing and one policy, one policy along the way is the "close" attribute of urban renewal, and standardization cannot achieve the target that meets the needs of different types of cities, communities, projects and roads.
Therefore, experts such as Yang Jianqiang, director and professor of the Department of Urban Planning of the School of Architecture of Southeast University, suggested that in the process of urban micro-renewal, it is necessary to highlight the people-oriented and return-to-human scale, strengthen the in-depth participation of the public in the micro-renewal work, and establish a sound micro-renewal guarantee system and long-term mechanism.
At the same time, the development of technology will also help urban micro-renewal, for example, why do people like or hate a certain street? In the book "Eye Tracking Diagnosis of Urban Renewal", the author Chen Zheng found that eye tracking technology can help us better analyze how people read and understand the environment, and the use of this technology in urban renewal will help more people to design and transform the environment more scientifically based on human activity scenes. The book aims to establish a "slow motion" to observe people's behavior and feeling formation process in various environments, explore how eye tracking attention data can help designers achieve specific design purposes, understand users' feelings and motivations, understand and diagnose people's feelings and behaviors in specific spaces, and construct research and support design decisions around typical design problems in urban renewal.
The life of a city lies in the vitality that is constantly renewed and continues to burst out, and renewal is the eternal state and unchanging theme of the city. Today, we need to rethink the future of cities, and our future, which is closely related to us.
(Source: Jiefang Daily)