Bian Lanchun: Urban renewal is not only about upgrading physical space, but also about reshaping lifestyles

Bian Lanchun, executive director of the Urban Planning Society of China, professor of the School of Architecture of Tsinghua University, and president of the China Urban Research Institute

Zhongfang Daily reporter Li Ye reported from Beijing

"Urban renewal is the eternal theme of urban development, which constantly adjusts its goals, objects and practice models with the changes and successions of the socio-economic background of the city at each stage. Bian Lanchun, executive director of the Urban Planning Society of China, professor of the School of Architecture of Tsinghua University, and president of the China Urban Research Institute, said.

On April 27, the 2024 China Urban Renewal Innovation and Development Summit Forum with the theme of "More Future - New Qualitative Power in Urban Renewal" was held in Beijing, and Bian Lanchun delivered a keynote speech on "Generalized Urban Renewal and Multiple Implementation Paths" at the meeting.

In his speech, he reviewed the evolution of urban renewal and pointed out the basic laws and stage characteristics of urban renewal. Combined with the practical needs of contemporary urban development, the future urban renewal is prospected. "Urban renewal not only needs to pay attention to the quality and upgrading of physical space. How to reshape a new way of life through the overall planning of events and activities, form a new value consensus, and promote the continuous participation of different subjects in the process of placemaking while renovating and transforming the physical space is the key issue of activating public space and public life. ”

"The evolution of a city is not just a change in scale"

Bian Lanchun opened her speech with a set of data, showing the evolution of urbanization

"In 1900, the world's population was 2 billion, of which only 200 million were urban, accounting for about 10% of the world's total population, and there were 8 cities with a population of about 1 million; in 2000, there were more than 300 cities with a population of 1 million or more, and 40 cities with a population of 15 million, more than half of the population lived in cities; in 2020, China's urban population exceeded 60%. ”

Bian Lanchun said frankly that under the surface of the continuous development and change of the scale of the city, it is the growth, change and metabolic process of the city as a complex living organism. He said that the development and transformation of cities usually encompasses the transition from an agrarian society to an industrialized society, and then to a post-industrial society, as well as further evolution in the context of globalization and informatization. In this process, the achievements of the city and the problems that arise go hand in hand. Therefore, it is very important to understand the development law of the city, study its past, observe its present, and think about its future.

In the early years of industrialization, the influx of people into cities led to overcrowding, which led to the deterioration of urban living conditions and public health. In the middle of the 19th century, many European cities underwent large-scale renovation and expansion to meet political and economic needs, as well as urban municipal facilities and living environments that needed to be improved.

In the 20th century, especially in the decades following World War II, as industrialization matured, cities in many developed countries faced problems caused by overindustrialization, suburbanization, and the decline of urban centers. During this period, urban renewal strategies began to shift from purely urban beautification and economic development to a greater focus on community engagement, historic preservation, and environmental sustainability.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, globalization and informatization have had a profound impact on urban development. On the one hand, because cities are widely affected by the global economic pattern, population movements, and climate change, the development of cities needs to be considered in the context of the global network of urban agglomerations. On the other hand, the continuous upgrading of information technology has become the cornerstone of building a new platform for urban operation and social governance, the continuous expansion of scientific and technological innovation has become the core driver of industrial upgrading and urban competition, and information technology and artificial intelligence have also continuously and fundamentally changed the social lifestyle and the quality of life of residents.

Bian Lanchun believes that by the middle of the 21st century, cities will shift their focus to the stage of sustainable development with green energy and low-carbon development as the core. With the severe global climate change problem and the pressure on the living environment of highly concentrated megacities, how to improve the climate adaptability and disaster response capacity of cities is the key to building safe and resilient cities in the future. At the same time, in the process of moving towards a healthy city, it is necessary to emphasize all-age friendliness, especially in the face of the challenges of an aging society, and to ensure the health and livability of the city as the fundamental goal.

"A country or region transforms from one development model to another that is more sustainable, efficient, and quality-driven through reform and innovation, with the aim of achieving long-term economic growth and social progress. This kind of transformation and development of cities is not only the law of the development of the times in the replacement and evolution of human society, but also the practical need to resolve contradictions in a specific period. He said.

Three characteristics of "urban renewal in the broad sense".

In terms of China's urbanization evolution, Bian Lanchun said that in 1978, China's urbanization level was less than 11%, in 2011, China's urbanization level reached 50%, and in 2024, China's urbanization level will exceed 66%.

Bian Lanchun pointed out that in China, with the continuous improvement of urbanization, the urban development model is shifting from incremental development to stock renewal. In a broad sense, urban renewal must emphasize the basic value orientation of people-oriented, and in the face of the future connotative growth and sustainable operation of the city, it undertakes many tasks such as the optimization of the efficiency of land use and spatial organization, the transformation of economic production mode, and the improvement of the quality of urban life.

How to understand "urban renewal in the broad sense"?

Bian Lanchun explained that urban renewal is a process of continuous improvement and transformation of the built environment in different stages, different needs, different mechanisms and different modes of urban development in the face of the basic needs of urban development. At the same time, urban renewal is a complex process covering the whole life cycle of cities, which is not only the renewal of the built physical environment in urban space, but also a social action to promote economic development, balance social needs, improve environmental quality and improve quality of life, including multi-dimensional considerations of political considerations, economic development, cultural inheritance, social inclusion and environmental improvement.

He highlighted three characteristics of urban renewal in the broad sense.

Feature 1: It is not only necessary to go beyond the understanding of incremental development and stock renewal in the process of urbanization, but also to cope with urban transformation and development, pay attention to mechanism transformation, explore renewal models, and realize the fundamental goal of urban healthy operation under the concept of full life cycle and sustainable renewal.

Feature 2: In the first half of urbanization, urban renewal is accompanied by urban extension expansion and incremental land development, and the incremental development model based on land economy inevitably forms a high dependence on land finance.

Feature 3: Urban planning adapts to the growth process of land economy, and urban renewal should realize the new qualitative empowerment of spatial value. In the second half of urbanization, urban renewal must conform to the transformation of urban development, face the optimization from land economy to spatial value, become the core of urban planning and urban design, and lead new life and create new value. The focus of future urban design is based on the action of urban renewal under the common vision, urban design is not only the control of urban style and the shaping of spatial form, but also the guidance of social life.

"Urban renewal is gradually and widely recognized as an integrated vision and implementation action involving multiple actors that seeks to make lasting improvements to the economic, physical, social and environmental conditions of a region. Bian Lanchun said that in order to achieve sustainable urban renewal, it is necessary to have a deep understanding of the common vision of multiple actors in order to effectively promote urban renewal actions.

Multiple implementation paths for urban renewal

Based on the theoretical elaboration of generalized urban renewal, Bian Lanchun further pointed out the multiple implementation paths in the face of urban renewal.

The first is the creation of ecological leisure space: to achieve green life and sustainable development in ecological restoration.

In terms of policy, emphasis is placed on land use control and the transfer of development rights to create a new type of open space. From the perspective of domestic innovation practice, the gradual opening of country parks in Beijing's green isolation areas, the gradual opening of public spaces in Shanghai's riverside, and the emergence of a large number of urban greenways and community small and micro parks are important symbols of urban planning leading the optimization of urban opening quality. From the perspective of international experience, "taking the High Line Park in New York as an example, the abandoned elevated and abandoned railroad has been transformed into a greenway and ribbon park, and local residents have voluntarily established a non-profit organization (Friends of the Highway) to maintain and reuse the park. ”

In terms of mechanism, it emphasizes social incentives to achieve placemaking in the development process. "Taking the urban pocket park in Manhattan, New York as an example, in view of the importance and shaping of the park system in the high-density built environment, more public spaces (i.e., POPS) operated by private entities are created through incentive zoning, and the POPS open to the public is basically the open space in front of the house and behind the house, providing precious leisure space for urban residents. ”

The second is the creation of community living space: strengthen local characteristics and all-age friendliness in community construction.

Ø Emphasizing the establishment of a mechanism with residential communities as the basic governance unit of the city and improving the comprehensive strength of the city to meet the challenges and opportunities, the future urban renewal must shift to pay attention to large-scale overall maintenance, but also to achieve high-quality urban system operation through a systematic urban renewal process, and to renew residential areas based on meeting the needs of residents' daily life.

It is necessary to emphasize consensus and build a framework for the common goals of multiple subjects and members of society to pursue social, economic and environmental benefits, balance interests and strengthen mechanisms for negotiation, consultation and reconciliation among various contradictions, and maintain flexibility to face future uncertainties with flexible policy action procedures and implementation proposals.

The third is the upgrading of production and consumption space: strengthen functional compounding and creative innovation in industrial upgrading.

Bian Lanchun believes that the advent of the post-industrial era and the era of knowledge production has put forward an urgent need for the transformation and renewal of urban space. As the main mode of global urban transformation in the post-industrial era, urban renewal should aim at the repositioning of urban functions and the rediscovery of urban kinetic energy, and achieve a balance between the whole and the part through urban renewal.

"Cities need to maintain sustainable prosperity, reconstruct and reconstruct industrial space, and realize continuous urban competitiveness with innovative new urban spaces and business formats. In terms of space, we should pay attention to the construction of innovative urban areas and the space needs of new industries, and create intelligent residential, office, commercial and other spaces, and be good at combining new technologies, such as with the support of massive big data and new technologies, to carry out refined index evaluation, and apply new technologies such as green buildings, green transportation, and clean energy technologies to construction activities. ”

In addition, urban renewal should pay special attention to the protection and rejuvenation of historic districts, and realize cultural identity and social sharing in protection and innovation. It is necessary to pay attention to the renewal of systematic social service facilities and municipal infrastructure: to ensure health, safety and social resilience in smart governance, so as to improve its protective function and supporting role, the optimization of municipal infrastructure should put bottom-line constraints and safety resilience at the core.