We want to talk about the planning and construction of our urban park in the three directions of "beautiful park, livable community, and perfect urban function", and it is very valuable that the original intention of the Expo Park Park in Handan "never ends" includes the above considerations.
In terms of community and urban function, our city residents need to have two contents in the park: sports venues and children's playgrounds.
We must also adopt an ecological-first landscape strategy, adhere to sustainable development, low energy consumption, high resilience, and give the urban landscape a longer-term time scale.
The upgrading of urban quality is to connect the needs of urban construction, harmonious social and economic development, as well as local culture, community emotions and people's local experience. At the same time, let more community groups, market forces, non-governmental organizations and public welfare organizations participate in the decision-making process of urban construction, and jointly build a harmonious society of "government and people" and a livable city where residents "live and work in peace and contentment".
- Li Baozhang
Garden landscape design is an important part of urban garden construction, with the development of the economy and the improvement of people's living standards, people's aesthetic needs are getting higher and higher, and the requirements for the quality of garden landscapes are also constantly improving. During the International Academic Exchange Conference of the Fourth (Handan) Garden Expo in Hebei Province, Mr. Li Baozhang, Chairman and Chief Designer of Aoya Design, was interviewed by Guangming Daily, China Landscape Architecture Network, World Architecture, International Design Network and other media, the details of which are as follows.
Q: The theme of this year's Garden Expo is "Shanshui Handan Green Rejuvenation", and the location selection is also quite meaningful, what do you think about this?
A: It makes a lot of sense that this garden expo will be built on the ruins of old industry. We have always believed that "China's land is vast", but we don't have much land east of the Huhuanyong Line, and we must also protect the land needs of basic farmland and natural systems, so there are not many places for parks in important cities in our country. Therefore, how we make the most of the existing places and increase our park land without occupying other land is an important challenge for modern cities. In accordance with international practice, the practice of converting industrial land into parks is a concrete approach to this idea. Therefore, it is a very good thing that a famous historical, cultural and industrial city like Handan can transform the old industrial land and use it as the construction site of the Garden Expo Park.
Q: You also mentioned that Handan is an industrial city, so what is the significance of such an approach for the transformation of an industrial city like Handan?
A: A livable and beautiful living environment is the brand image of the city and the competitiveness of the city. In recent years, local governments have used policies to attract people, such as providing housing and job opportunities, but the real competitiveness of cities is the living environment. For example, in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and other first-tier cities, housing prices are high, work pressure is high, and the population must be evacuated to surrounding cities, where will people choose to go? A good environment is definitely an important choice, in the Central Plains, Shijiazhuang, Zhengzhou, Handan, Luoyang and other cities have great potential. At this time, a beautiful urban living environment is an important factor in attracting high-end talents. We are about to see that the next step in the development of the city is packaged with the comfort of the living environment. The transformation and reuse of "brownfield land", that is, the former industrial land, reflects the development of an urban construction to a new stage, and the transformation of "brownfield" into parks with the principle of ecological design is a new practice of cities with heavy industrial heritage in the world. The site selection significance of this Handan Garden Expo is very important, which directly affects the improvement of the city's image, the improvement of the living environment and the improvement of the city's competitiveness.
Q: That is to say, this transformation is of great significance to Handan, determines its future destiny, and is an attractive move.
A: In fact, the development of any place must do a good job in this matter, in the past, it was "where the enterprise goes, where the talent goes, where the wealth goes", and now "the talent comes here, and the enterprise and wealth also come here". Therefore, building a beautiful and livable urban environment can be said to be the best measure to ensure that high-end talents and enterprises are not lost. Handan has a population of nearly 10 million, and in the past few years we have witnessed a large number of people migrating from cities like Luoyang, Kaifeng, and perhaps Handan to central cities such as Zhengzhou, Shijiazhuang, and Xi'an. Therefore, it is imperative to build myself from a city to my hometown of Luoyang and Handan. Urban upgrading will allow more young people to stay here. Similarly, I think there must be this kind of healthy competition between cities, and we can make our own cities better in this healthy competition.
Q: This year's Garden Expo focuses on the concept of "urban double repair and rural revitalization" to make the industrial heritage green transformation, what role do you think industrial heritage has played in the transformation and development of the city?
A: Most of the large parks are built on the edge of the city, which can be said to be an important starting point for "urban double repair". The planning and construction of urban green space will drive the development of surrounding villages. Urban construction has reached the level of design and planning, and it is packaged with industry. A park can initiate the development of an area. Specifically, if the garden expo is built in a certain direction of the city, the motivation for the city to develop in that direction will be more sufficient, and the countryside of that place will have the opportunity to transform into a very good city. In addition, our work is not only to do a good job in the environment, but also to bring the blessing of industry, such as cultural activities, etc., and add content to our parks that reflect social needs, such as sports venues and children's parks, which is what all parks in China have to do. In recent years, Chengdu has put forward the concept of "park city", which actually means that urban parks and green space systems are also part of urban infrastructure, "so that parks can better connect urban communities, so that park construction can drive the development of surrounding communities and the upgrading of urban industries.".
Q: This Handan Garden Expo is the fourth Garden Expo in Hebei Province, what are your views on the future innovation and development of the Garden Expo?
A: I think the most important thing is to try to be "sustainable". That is to say, after the garden expo park is built, it becomes part of the city park, and I think this positioning is very good. I hope that we will plan and build all the garden fairs and world garden fairs according to this idea. In addition, of course, our garden expo and world garden fair will also have some common diseases, such as:
First, the planning and construction cycle of the park is too short, and it needs to be continuously improved and upgraded in the future.
Second, I think all the Expo and Expo should further reduce the display function and increase the practical function.
Third, to better interact with the city, we need a beautiful park, and we need to build a sound community and a livable city. From this point of view, the amount of buildings in the garden expo should be further compressed, so as to make the attractions of the park more exciting and durable.
Fourth, we also need to consider future operations. There are always two elements missing in the construction of public facilities in our country: sports facilities and children's parks. Can we think about adding similar facilities to the Garden Expo park in the future to make it more accessible to the people and serve the city? I remember that there was a basketball court in Xujiahui, Shanghai, and I could play basketball until two o'clock in the morning every day. In addition, the "China Tangshan Shadow Puppet Theme Park" designed and built for the Tangshan World Garden Association Nanhu Park is very popular with everyone.
Tangshan Shadow Puppet Theme Park, China
Q: China has begun a new round of urbanization, with more emphasis on ecological and cultural services, what opportunities and challenges do you think the landscape industry is currently facing?
A: China's modern landscape has only just begun, and it is completely unsustainable that modern landscapes are not based on ecology. We're all talking about lowering the water table, sponge cities, sustainability, etc., but most of the landscape design is not sustainable now, such as transplanting big trees and building large lawns. It is hoped that from now on, we will adopt an ecological-first landscape strategy, adhere to sustainable development, low energy consumption, high resilience, and give the landscape a longer-term scale, rather than only focusing on the "scenery" and "view" of the visual experience. To give the landscape back to the way it is, it requires a larger ecological pattern, as well as a longer-term timescale. China's urban space, including urban parks, should also emphasize "use", that is, how to be better used by people and how to better play a role in building livable communities. The landscape must return to its ecological and social attributes, back to "practical and useful", back to "pragmatic and humanistic", back to dialogue with the context of the world.
I think China's modern ecological and socio-cultural landscape has just begun. We are at a turning point in the construction of a park, and from now on, high-quality urban development should return to the context of modern society, and strive to open up the relationship between practicality and emotion, international vision and cultural heritage, industrial development and a better life. If we can integrate the emotion and poetry of Chinese landscape architecture, as well as the interpretation of nature and humanistic care of Chinese into the practice of modern landscape, our modern landscape may be more "reasonable", more "intimate" and more "pleasing to the eye".
Q: At present, garden ecological projects such as "green corridors" and "wetland parks" have begun to emerge everywhere, and the landscape industry has also begun to integrate garden construction services and landscape design.
A: I think this is a good trend, originally there should be a variety of options for the construction of urban parks. For example, Beijing, Shanghai and other cities have a good urban planning and management team, can be as a party A to ask the design enterprise to do planning and design, and then according to the bidding procedure to let the construction enterprise to do the construction. Other cities, itself, may not have to build their own management agencies, then there are two options, one is to hand over to an engineering enterprise, who is responsible for asking the design company to take over the subsequent planning and construction. The second is to hand over to a design company, and they will lead the construction team to build the park, which is the ePC model. EPC, that is, the design-led engineering general contracting model, is an effective engineering design and construction mode that uses professional design management to build non-standard projects. In fact, Aoya Design has successfully completed the Tangshan Shadow Puppet Theme Park project, the Chengdu OCT Huanglongxi project and many cultural tourism projects. In the recent ePC project, Aoya also hopes to be responsible for the post-operation of these cultural tourism projects, because we recognize that only the design and construction of subsequent operations is pragmatic and sustainable. Going back to the beginning, I think a mature design and construction market should give party a lot more options.
Chengdu OCT Huanglongxi Agricultural Creative Industry Expo Park
Q: You have said that "social and humanistic care" is the essence of the work of landscape architects, hoping to enable ordinary people to return to nature and social space in the cities where they live. Can you talk about the impact of the space creation of "ecology, production and life" at the Handan Garden Expo on the local people?
A: The site of this Handan Garden Expo was transformed into a park from industrial land, and I don't know much about the details and planning before and after. However, I think that a park or landscape planning and design should be long-term, for example, what is the plan for the venue after the garden expo? Should there be a children's playground function, should it be added to sports facilities, should cultural and educational institutions be invited to participate in the planning of use, should there be an event organization department to continue to provide activity planning and organization for the park, and how can the existing attractions be used more fully?
For example, in Shenzhen's Xiangmi Park, there is a park enthusiasts association, this public welfare organization as a bridge between citizens and government management departments, to explore the follow-up use of the park, such as those venues can be temporarily leased out, how to use the wedding hall and art museum in the park? I think that many public facilities in Chinese cities, including libraries, parks, art galleries, and museums, are not too few, nor are they badly built, but they have greater potential for people to use well and play a greater role in the cultural life of the city. Speaking of my hometown Luoyang, when we did landscape improvement design for the "Sui tang Luoyang Jiuzhou Pond", the Luoyang Historical and Cultural Protection and Utilization Development Group of the project clearly proposed that this garden was part of the "Luoyang 8 o'clock evening" tourism plan.
This garden expo put forward the concept of "ecology, sharing, innovation and wonderful", as long as the ecology, sharing and innovation are well executed, it will bring excitement. Landscape is a matter for the whole society, and there is a saying called "landscape is everything" that means "landscape is the sum of all things", which I think is particularly good. In fact, it should be reversed "everything is landscape" that is, "everything is landscape", and then sublimated to "landscape is for everybody" that is, "landscape is for everyone", and then "everybody is for landscape" that is, "everyone is responsible for a better urban landscape". Therefore, we must promote the improvement of spiritual civilization through the construction of a good environment, and in turn promote the further improvement of the environment.