UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI
Date: August 9, 2007
I, Lanbin Ren, hereby submit this work as part of the requirements for the degree of: Mater of Science in Architecture in: School of Architecture and Interior Design, DAAP It is entitled: Public Space and Community Identity: A study of Residential Communities in Xi’an, China
This work and its defense approved by:
Chair: Prof. John Hancock
Prof. David Saile
Prof. Nnamdi Elleh
Prof. Shaorong Huang
Public Space and Community Identity:
A study of Residential Communities in Xi’an, China
Lanbin Ren
August 9, 2007
M.Arch, M.S.Arch
School of Architecture and Interior Design
College of DAAP, University of Cincinnati
Committee Chair: Prof. John Hancock
Abstract
In China, the relationship between public space and people’s communal life is facing challenges and becoming more complicated. This research examines how public space affects and shapes people’s attitudes and behaviors, looking for ways that this information can be made useful to planners and designers based on a study of two representative communities. One example is a historic residential community, Drum-
Tower Muslim District in Xi’an, and the other is a contemporary high-density residential community, Ziwei City Garden in the same area. By empirically comparing the shifting of public space, central public space, playgrounds, streets and entrances and social activities, the successful or questionable design approaches are critically analyzed. How to keep and develop the diverse social activities while improving environmental quality will be a key principle to be considered in the research. The conclusions highlight planners and designers’ roles and design approaches in community public space design.
iii
iv Acknowledgements
I appreciate what I have learned from my program, my school and my own life in the past two years. I would also like to thank the faculty, Prof. John hancock and Prof.
David Saile for their profound understandings about architecture. Special thanks to
Prof. Nnamdi Elleh for his enthusiasm of architectural theories and his generous assistance.
I also thank my family and friends for their strong support and trust at any time.
Special thanks to
Ms. Tamala Whitaker
Ms. Leah Gustin
Ms. Zhao Wu
Prof. Shaorong Huang
Prof. Stanley Sulkes
Dr. Mitch Leventhal
Dr. Xin Liu
Dr. Yan Yang
v Table of Contents
Abstract………………………………………………………………………………iii Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………...v Table of Contents……………………………………………………………………vi Referenced Images…………………………………………………………………viii
Chapter Ι Understanding Community: Integrity of Social and Environmental Perceptions………………………………..1 The concept of community: complexity and transformation………………………….1 Public space: making community identity………………………………………….....9 The precedent of Community Revitalization: the Kampung Improvement Project (KIP) in Surabaya, Indonesia…………………..10
Chapter II A Study of an Existing Traditional Residential Community: Drum-Tower Muslim District……………………………………………………...20 Chinese family and community: the fundamental unit of society……………………20 The organization of the family: functions and structure………………………..20 Neighborhood: from the kinship and the clan to the community……………….21
Drum-Tower Muslim District………………………………………………………...23 Introduction: the history and the development………………………………….23 Public squares: inaccessible…………………………………………………….27 Boundaries: symbolic vs. concealed…………………………………………….32 Streets: the representation of community vitality……………………………….36 Playgrounds: nowhere to play…………………………………………………..40 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………42
Chapter III A Study of Contemporary Residential Community: Ziwei City Garden…………...... 43 Contemporary urban community: development and decline…………………………43 Urban housing development: facing the shortage……………………………..43 Public space in modern community: improvement vs. change………………..44
Ziwei City Garden……………………………………………………………………46 Introduction: project background……………………………………………...46 Central plaza: tranquility and hilarity…………………………………………48 Gardens: crisis of cultural identity…………………………………………….53 Boundaries: linear breaks……………………………………………………...55
vi Pathways: a network for walking……………………………………………...60 Playground: a home zone……………………………………………………...63
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………65
Chapter IV Conclusion: Renovating Public Space: Towards Community Revival………………………...66 Community design approaches: towards the improvement of public space…………66 Square: size, location, and enclosure………………………………………….67 Boundary: alienation vs. ownership…………………………………………..72 Gateway: symbolism and size…………………………………………………77 Street: designable qualities…………………………………………………….78 Playground: location and safety……………………………………………….82 Landscaping: contribution to cultural connotation…………………………….85
Urban design approaches: towards community development………………………..92 Mixed-Use in community: the recreation of diversity………………………...92 Community density: the quality of life………………………………………..94 The city of today: the transformation and cultural identity……………………96
Bibliography………………………………………………………………………..101
vii
Referenced Images
Fig.1.1. Diagram by Author, pg8 Fig.1.2. Photograph by Dr Jeff Kenworthy Image from http://www.sustainability.murdoch.edu.au/casestudies/Case_Studies_Asia/kip /kip.htm, pg12 Fig.1.3. Ibid. pg13 Fig.1.4. Ibid. pg14 Fig.1.5. Ibid. pg15 Fig.1.6. Ibid. pg16 Fig.1.7. Ibid. Fig.1.8. Ibid. pg17 Fig.2.1. Image from http://www.chinaqw.com.cn/news/2005/1109/68/4903.shtml pg23 Fig.2.2. Original image from http://www.travelchinaguide.com/picture/shaanxi/xian Redrawnn by author, pg25 Fig.2.3. Photograph by Shulan, Wang Fig.2.4. Ibid. pg26 Fig.2.5. Ibid. pg27 Fig.2.6. Courtesy of Xi’an City Planning Bureau, pg28 Fig.2.7. Sketch by Author, pg30 Fig.2.8. Photograph by Shulan, Wang Fig.2.9. Sketch by Author, Photograph by Shulan, Wang, pg31 Fig.2.10. Ibid. Fig.2.11. Ibid. pg32 Fig.2.12. Photograph by Shulan, Wang, pg33 Fig.2.13. Ibid. Fig.2.14. Ibid. pg34 Fig.2.15. Photograph by Author Fig.2.16. Sketch by Author, pg35 Fig.2.17. Photograph by Author Fig.2.18. Ibid. pg36 Fig.2.19. Ibid. pg37 Fig.2.20. Ibid. Fig.2.21. Ibid. Fig.2.22. Ibid. pg38 Fig.2.23. Ibid. Fig.2.24. Ibid. pg39 Fig.2.25. Ibid. Fig.2.26. Ibid. pg40 Fig.2.27. Image from http://www.100md.com/html/Dir/2003/09/22/97/625.htm, pg42 Fig.3.1. Photography by Jin, Zhiyang, pg45 Fig.3.2. Image from http: http://www.lzfx.org/tw/uploadfile/200551418442703.jpg Fig.3.3. Original image from http://zwcshy.xa-home.com/mapbar/map.asp?page=2 Redrawn by author, pg47 Fig.3.4. Ibid. Fig.3.5. Image from http://tesugen.com/archives/04/06/corbus-city-of-tomorrow
viii Fig.3.6. Image from http://www.ziwei.com.cn/old/xm/cshyxg.htm Fig.3.7. Image from http://tesugen.com/archives/04/06/corbus-city-of-tomorrow, pg48 Fig.3.8. Photograph by Author Fig.3.9. Image from http://www.ziwei.com.cn/old/xm/cshyxg.htm, pg49 Fig.3.10. Photograph by Shulan, Wang Fig.3.11. Ibid. Fig.3.12. Photograph by Author, pg50 Fig.3.13. Ibid. Fig.3.14. Ibid. pg51 Fig.3.15. Ibid. Fig.3.16. Ibid. Fig.3.17. Ibid. Fig.3.18. Ibid. pg52 Fig.3.19. Ibid. Fig.3.20. Ibid. pg53 Fig.3.21. Image from http://www.ziwei.com.cn/old/xm/cshyxg.htm, pg54 Fig.3.22. Photograph by Author Fig.3.23. Ibid. Fig.3.24. Ibid. Fig.3.25. Ibid. pg56 Fig.3.26. Ibid. Fig.3.27. Ibid. Fig.3.28. Ibid. pg57 Fig.3.29. Ibid. pg58 Fig.3.30. Ibid. Fig.3.31. Ibid. Fig.3.32. Ibid. pg59 Fig.3.33. Ibid. Fig.3.34. Ibid. pg60 Fig.3.35. Ibid. Fig.3.36. Ibid. pg61 Fig.3.37. Ibid. Fig.3.38. Ibid. pg62 Fig.3.39. Ibid. Fig.3.40. Ibid. pg63 Fig.3.41. Ibid. pg64 Fig.3.42. Ibid. pg65 Fig.3.43. Ibid. Fig.4.1. Image from http:// www.hzsqw.gov.cn/.../wenjiaoshequ/index.jsp, pg66 Fig.4.2. Sketch by Author, pg68 Fig.4.3. Ibid. Fig.4.4. Image from http://www.ziwei.com.cn/old/xm/cshyxg.htm, pg69 Fig.4.5. Sketch by Author, pg70 Fig.4.6. Ibid. pg71 Fig.4.7. Ibid. pg72 Fig.4.8. Image from http://www.chinahighlights.com/map /changan-in-tang-dynasty-map.htm, pg73 Fig.4.9. Image from http:// kepu.gzkj.gov.cn/NewsDetails.aspx?News_ID=10050, pg74
ix Fig.4.10. Image from http:// html.szhome.com/00/339/6954/3396954.htm, pg75 Fig.4.11. Sketch by Author, pg76 Fig.4.12. Photograph by Author Fig.4.13. Image from http:// kepu.gzkj.gov.cn/NewsDetails.aspx?News_ID=10050, pg77 Fig.4.14. Sketch by Author, pg82 Fig.4.15. Courtesy of PBBC Program, 2005. pg84 Fig.4.16. Image from http://www.lcyl.cn/2006/9-22/983.html, pg87 Fig.4.17. Photograph by Author, pg88 Fig.4.18. Image from http://www.qunxianzhuang.com.cn/old/xm/cshyxg.htm, pg89 Fig.4.19. Ibid. pg91 Fig.4.20. Image from http://mitbbs.com, pg96 Fig.4.21. Photograph by Author, pg97 Fig.4.22. Ibid. pg99
x Chapter One: Understanding Community:
Integrity of Social and Environmental Perceptions
The concept of community: complexity and transformation
The concept of community has become more sophisticated and complicated
due to the changing nature of functional patterns and the cultural fluidity. The survival
functions of community in contemporary times are much more complex than in the
past and in many ways are less well understood.1 “The community is more in tune
with the hopes of its residents and can clearly address their inhabitants’ problems.” 2 I shall explain the understandings of community in two different ways: from a social point of view and an environmental point of view.
Understandings: based on social philosophy
“When the term community is used, the first notion that typically comes to mind is a place in which people know and care for one another...Communities speak to us in moral voices. They lay claims on their members. Indeed, they are the most important sustaining source of moral voices other than the inner self.”3 ––Tom Foremski
Both social planners and sociologists stress the social dimensions of a community. They have viewed the community in terms of its symbolic and cultural
1 Stephen Carr, Mark Francis, Leanne G. Rivlin, and Andrew M. Stone. Public Space (Cambridge University Press, 1993), 128 2 Ibid. 3 http://www.siliconvalleywatcher.com/mt/archives/2005/10/kill_the_sacred.php (accessed 12 Nov. 2006)
1 aspects and emphasized shared activities and experiences, the resulting social groups,
and common values and loyalties.4
Sociologist David M. Hummon, in his book, Commonplaces: Community
Ideology and Identity in American Culture, 5 suggests that popular views of
community life should be translated within the context of shared understandings about
places and those understandings, are sustained and have meaning within social groups.
He indicates, “In traditional community, the place is not chosen by the individual; it is
regarded as something naturally determined and unalterably given by birth.” He also
believes that every individual’s environment must consist of enablers that allow them
to access chances and upgrade their current position in society.
Some other sociologists describe the concept of community based on studying
both traditional and contemporary communities. For example, in Herbert J. Gans’
book, The Urban Village: Group and Class in the Life of Italian-Americans,6 he conducted research on a traditional community where ethnographic studies indicated
that some people do have significant social ties to places and that these, in some cases,
nourish emotional attachment to those places. These places, he argues, such as small
restaurants, clubs and stores, provided hangouts for men who were not visibly
employed, and for others who stopped by after working or shopping. In addition, the institutions served as centers for the exchange of news and gossip.
In Etienne Wenger’s book, Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and
4 Hester, Randolph T. Planning Neighborhood Space with People (New York : Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., 1984) 5 Hummon, David Mark. Commonplaces: Community Ideology and Identity in American Cculture (N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1990) 6 Gans, Herbert J. The Urban Village: Group and Class in the Life of Italian-Americans ( New York: Free Press; London: Collier Macmillan Publishers,1982)
2 Identity,7 he argues in modern society, people work longer hours and move more often, making them more transient members of their residential community. Contemporary community tends to be simply a residential area especially for some higher class groups, since commercial establishments and other social activities are not part of
community any more. Residents have no chances to meet their neighbors in stores,
small restaurants, or other public space. Face-to-face communication networks have
been replaced by private, electronic methods. Therefore, sometimes individuals are experiencing seriously considerable grief and psychological loss of the sense of place.
However, people still look for community; as Wenger implies, “an individual needs a
community in order to keep his or her social positions and cultural identities within
the larger contexts of the city, state, and country in which he or she lives.”8
The communities needed now should balance both diversity and unity. As
Robert Sommer has noted, “…to prevent the wholeness from smothering diversity,
there must be a philosophy of pluralism, an open climate for dissent, and an
opportunity for sub-communities to retain their identity and share in the setting of larger group goals.”9
In general, sociologists understand community as a group of people who live
in the same area and have social ties to the places where they can keep their social and
cultural identities. However, the next question will be, what kind of place can help
create the social ties among people? How can the physical environment sustain
7 Wenger, Etienne. Communities of Practice:Llearning, Meaning, and Identity (Cambridge, [England]: Cambridge University Press,1998) 8 Ibid. 39 9 Sommer, Robert. Social Design: Creating Buildings with People in Mind (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1983), 29
3 people’s social and cultural identities? This will lead to another understanding of community, from the environmental point of view.
Understandings: based on people-environmental relationship
“My point is that space robs identity. Place, on the other hand, nurtures it, tells you who you are — either “I belong” or “This is foreign to me, and I am an outsider.””10 —Klapp 1969
Community, as a geographical place, can be understood as a group of people living in the same locality and under the same government. “One reason that some communities routinely fail at creating active social and physical environments is that the community is not involved in establishing a vision for the place from the beginning.”11 Instead, officials, designers and planners use a project-based approach, which they believe what is wrong with a street, square, playground or other public space, and make the necessary “improvements” without truly considering the people-environmental relationship.12 However, understanding people-environmental relationship is a prerequisite to understanding community environment.
Amos Rapoport’s book, Human Aspects of Urban Form: Towards a
Man-Environment Approach to Urban Form,13 is the first book to synthesize much of the man-environment literature applied to urban form and urban design. It includes
10 Klapp, Orrin Edgar. Collective Search for Identity (New York, Holt, Rinehart, and Winston,1969), 39 11 Ibid. 47 12 Alperson, Philip, ed. Diversity and Community: an Interdisciplinary Rreader (Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2002), 37 13 Rapoport, Amos. Human Aspects of Urban Form: Towards a Man-Environment Approach to Urban Form and Design (Franklin Book Co; 1st ed edition, 1977)
4 the general perceptions of people-environment researches, dealing with the major categories in their mutual inter-relationships.
In his book, Rapoport argues that, within the physical or geographical environment there is an operational environment within which people work and which affects them. “Within that is the perceptual environment of which people are conscious directly and to which they give symbolic meaning and within that is the behavioral environment of which people are not only aware but which also elicits some behavioral response.”14
People use different criteria in comparing alternatives. Rapoport’s studies
indicate that, urban environments must match the environmental quality criteria and
imagery of their intended occupants and the specific spatial and other organizations of
cities. The matching of environments against ideal images suggests that people react
to environments globally and affectively before they analyze them and evaluate them
in more specific terms.15 Therefore, the success of environments depends on their
congruence with appropriate images.
Planners see planning as the creation of better environments based on an
understanding of land-use requirements and certain ways of organizing space while
users see it very differently.16 While they also see planning as leading to improved
environmental quality. Therefore, Rapoport believes that, the usefulness of a single set
of planning and design standards seems doubtful in view of our discussion-variable
14 Ibid. 190 15 Ibid. 211 16 Ibid. 131
5 standards.17 The definition of comfort and the value attached to it vary and this affects
architectural standards of lighting, acoustic separation, heating, storage and so on.
Other spatial arrangements may also be evaluated quite differently on the basis of
attitudes to friendliness.
Rapoport notes, differences in complexity preference are among individuals
and populations. Also, the activity and context play a role in desired levels of
complexity. Therefore, this could be used to explain the differences in environmental
evaluation of residents and visitors. This has important design implications suggesting complexity levels for different areas. Thus entertainment, downtown, shopping and children’s play areas should probably be extremely complex, and change over time to
maintain novelty, whereas residential areas should be at middle levels of
complexity.18
Rapoport’s studies argue that socio-cultural variables play a major role in
urban environments. It is more useful to see different groups as dividing their
conceptual, social and behavioral spaces differently, maintaining different social
networks and using different environmental symbols. 19 For instance, there are
situations where rigid hierarchies exist, relying on mutual knowledge and creating
clear definition of public and private domains, where physical space is highly
congruent with social and conceptual structure.
Rapoport’s perceptions have profound influence on examining the current
community situation theoretically among other western planning studies. The term
17 Ibid. 195 18 Ibid. 266 19 Ibid. 270
6 “community” is understood as a combined social and spatial sense, referring to an
aggregate of people who occupy a common and bounded territory within which they
establish and participate in common institutions.20 In England, Ruth Glass’s studies
recognized both an area with physical characteristics and a territorial group with
primary social interaction. Also, Terence Lee proposed that the urban community
should be defined as a socio-spatial schema, which is a definition that most clearly
combined the social and physical components of community into a unified conception.
Many planners, designers, and social scientists have since tried to define community by relating human behavior and geography, land development and social predictions, and city planning and social change.21
Community and neighborhood: the differences and similarities
Many people equate the concepts of neighborhood and community. Are they
the same thing? There has been much discussion of what a neighborhood is. Robert E.
Park and E. W. Burgess introduced the idea of neighborhood as an ecological concept
with planning implications. Their work stressed the physical features of a
neighborhood environment: land use, density, street patterns, “natural” boundaries,
condition of dwelling units and amount of open space.22 Neighborhoods are generally
accepted as a proper concern of urban designers. Recent interest has shifted from the
idea of creating neighborhoods to that of creating residential communities. Sidney
20 Ibid. 143 21 Hester, Randolph T, Planning Neighborhood Space with People (New York : Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., 1984), 5 22 ______. Neighborhood Space (New York: Halsted Press, 1975) , 11
7 Brower, in his book, Designing for Community,23 indicates, “Neighborhoods, whatever else they are about, are about geographic areas, while communities, while communities are about social relationships. A neighborhood may house a single community, or several communities, or none at all; and a community may cover part of a neighborhood or several neighborhoods. Sometimes the boundaries of a community coincide with those of a neighborhood.”
In her book, As Various as Their Land: the Everyday Lives of
Eighteenth-Century Americans,24 Stephanie G. Wolf explains that, the notion of community includes two quite different concepts: neighborhood, which has to do with geography; and network, which involves relationships. However, in today’s world, she concludes, “there is very little difference between community and neighborhood: neighborhood also knows few limits for quick movement as well as community, from one nation to one world to one universe; network has the option of almost immediate contact, at least with someone’s answering machine (Fig.1.1).” 25
COMMUNITY
RELATIONSHIP
GEOGRAPHY
NEIGHBORHOOD
Fig.1.1 The relationship between community and neighborhood
23 Brower, Sidney. Designing for Communities. Staunton VA: Center for American Places, scheduled for publication in 2008. Part of the content is available at http://www.greenwood.com/catalog/author/B/Sidney_-_Brower.aspx (accessed 17 Oct. 2006) 24 Wolf, Stephanie Grauman, a sVarious as Their land: the Everyday lives of Eghteenth Century Americans (New York : HarperCollinsPublishers,1993) 25 Hester, Randolph T. Neighborhood Space (New York: Halsted Press, 1975), 49
8 Public space: making community identity
“The design of residential neighborhoods contributes to identity through the location of neighborhood parks and civic buildings such as churches and schools. Public places are important identity elements because they provide gathering places for the community and help foster a sense of place. Whether it is a church, school, park, public plaza or simply a sidewalk or neighborhood street, the design and location of public places are important decisions that can enhance or detract from community’s identity.”26
Public space has changed in concept and design over the years, depending upon the declines and improvement of economic development and social conflict. In the present era, public space is defined as both publicly owned and open to the entire population which includes streets, squares, parks, malls, libraries and museums, etc.
Public space is an important spatial characteristic in community, which involves the development of neighborhoods with connections that stabilize and create a feeling of comfort and security — words that people use to describe their local areas.27 Public space in community usually includes inside public place, such as a community center, gym and church; and open public space, such as streets, squares and lawns.
In my thesis, public space in community addresses open public space. It has a close relationship with residence, has some amount of natural amenities such as trees, shrubby, water; and some amount of built features including seating, tables, play equipment, services, and amenities that support and encourage particular types of activities such as eating, sitting, reading, chatting, and playing games.
26 http://www.ci.northfield.mn.us/assets/c/cp_6_Community-Identity.pdf (accessed 26 Oct. 2006) 27 Hester, Randolph T. Neighborhood Space (New York: Halsted Press, 1975), 69
9 Most talk about the concept of community and how to make community
identity, either from social philosophy or from an environmental point of view, is
based on observations and researches in the western world. As the biggest eastern country in the world, China is in the peak of community shifting under the rapid urban development/redevelopment, what do Chinese people understand about community?
What is the situation of community public space in China? In response to explore the current situation of Chinese communities, two studies will be introduced explicitly in next two chapters. Before turning to the Chinese case studies, we will examine an
Indonesian precedent for its value in exposing the nature of community, and a variety of questions and challenges which are similar to China’s situation.
The precedent of Community Revitalization:
the Kampung Improvement Project (KIP) in Surabaya, Indonesia
Project overview
Kampung is the native name for informal and self-planned (unplanned)
settlements that constitute a large share of urban settlements in Indonesian cities.
Kampungs are not "slums" but are usually ill serviced and low-income housing areas
with regard to sewerage systems, garbage collection and other public services.28 Since
the late sixties, efforts to improve the living environment in these kampungs were
carried out by governments in Indonesia. “The basic goal of the program was to
28 Notes: KIP was introduced in 1924 by colonial government in Surabaya and Semerang to prevent the spreading of diseases from Kampungs to the neighboring middle and high-class residential areas.
10 provide a basic level of service and to improve physical infrastructure and
environment through community involvement.”29 This program is considered to be
one of the best urban poverty relief programs, one reason is the low level of
investment needed per person, which is US$118 in Jakarta to US23 in smaller cities.
Design background
The program is dealing with the improvement of living environment. Most of
the people are coming from the rural area of the hinterland, bringing their local culture, custom and tradition to the city. They built their houses without guidance and mostly following their traditional way (Fig.1.2). Their living condition is destitute.
The local government is trying to find a solution to improve the condition without disturbing the economic and social life of the people.30
Surabaya received The Aga Khan Award for Architecture (1986), the UNEP
Award (1990), and The Habitat Award (1991) for its achievements in the Kampung
Improvement Program. It is a successful program of urban revitalization and experts
believe that the program has led to greatly enhanced sustainability of the communities
participating in the scheme, not only from a physical perspective but also in social,
cultural and economic terms.31
29 1993 estimation. Cities of the Future – Successful Housing Solutions in Singapore and Surabaya, Building and Social Housing Foundation, UK, 1993. 30 Urban Ecology in Indonesia, available at http://www.sustainability.murdoch.edu.au/, (accessed 29 Oct. 2006) 31 Ibid.
11
Fig.1.2 Looking down on the kampong
Foot-paths improvement: the continuity of environmental vitality
The research, Urban Ecology in Indonesia 32 shows that the kampung
environment presents a rich, dense tapestry of self-built houses of varying quality and size, narrow paths and lanes alive with people walking, riding bikes and talking,
children playing, residents selling tropical fruits, fish and other produce (Fig.1.3).
In the research, researchers describe, “Foot-paths are the most important part of the KIP program, absorbing one-third of the total cost. They improve access within the kampong and stimulate the improvement of the individual houses by the families themselves. Due to high population density, foot-paths have many other social functions, such as play-grounds for children, street markets in the morning, and cloth and other household drying ground… If a family has a party, foot-paths can also be covered for the guest; tolerance among neighbors is high. Street vendors ply the footpaths with their bicycles selling a variety of foodstuffs and other wares from elaborate, multi-level, purpose-built contraptions sitting astride the rear of the bike. Home industries such as traditional
32 Ibid.
12 mask-making and footwear manufacture spill out onto the paths in these spatially constrained living environments.”33
Fig.1.3 People meet on the street
Physically, kampungs consist of low rise, extremely compact, small houses,
each with a doorway directly onto the pathway (Fig.1.4). This improvement expresses
that the mix of transportation, economic, social and cultural understandings which
was common in the pre-automobile city of the west, but which has been lost for recent automobile-occupied years.
33 Case Studies, available at http://www.sustainability.murdoch.edu.au/casestudies/Case_Studies_Asia/kip/kip.htm, (accessed 26 Oct. 2006)
13
Fig.1.4 A doorway directly onto the pathway
Looking down on the kampung, the narrow paths are almost invisible,
identified only as lines of green, fruit-bearing trees which shade these public accesses
from the tropical heat (Fig.1.5). Houses are mixed together with an intense variety of
other uses such as schools, mosques and small shops. “The paths which knit the urban
fabric together, as might be imagined from the activities they support, are almost
exclusively for non-motorized traffic, mainly pedestrians, bicycles, the traditional
three-wheel bicycle taxis which still ply the streets of Surabaya, but which have been
banished in Jakarta by the central government.”34
34 Case Studies, available at http://www.sustainability.murdoch.edu.au/casestudies/Case_Studies_Asia/kip/kip.htm, (accessed 26 Oct. 2006)
14
Fig.1.5 The pathway after KIP
Ringing most kampungs in Surabaya are major traffic arteries along which
residents of the kampungs travel to other destinations within the city, mostly on foot
or bike or by using the overcrowded mini- and midi-buses.35 “Buses, along with a
burgeoning fleet of private cars, trucks and motor bikes, help fulfill the main roads
with noise and black diesel fumes and contribute to an increasingly hostile and
dangerous world for pedestrians and bicyclists (Fig.1.6).” Each kampung has a direct
entrance open to the main street from one of its small paths or lanes and the entrance
is decorated with an entry statement bearing the name of the kampung and signs
which display some basic rules of the community, such as speed limits, visit rules and
curfews (Fig.1.7).
35 Case Studies, available at http://www.sustainability.murdoch.edu.au/casestudies/Case_Studies_Asia/kip/kip.htm, (accessed 26 Oct. 2006)
15
Fig.1.6 Bicycles on the small path.
Fig.1.7 Gateway as boundary
The research addresses the contribution of non-automobile. For example, inside the kampung away from the main road, and in an environment which is entirely pedestrians, there is little noise, other than human sounds and the songs of the many birds which are kept in bamboo cages hanging outside the entrances (Fig.1.8). The air is also a good deal more breathable than along the main roads, filtered by the vegetation along the paths and reduced in pollutant load. Moreover, in constructing the new footpaths, almost continuous side-borders of garden beds are also provided.
The small scale landscaping also contributes to the comfortable environment.
16
Fig.1.8 The footpath is welcomed
Implication to other cities
The program has potential application to other cities in Indonesia and
elsewhere where un-serviced and unplanned compact low-lying settlement problems
exist.36 The approach used in this program to deal with issues facing low-income
groups might be useful in solving similar problems and questions which are being faced in many Asian urban areas as well.
The KIP involves ongoing discussions between the city and the community
and neighborhood representatives from the planning to the implementation stage to ensure close agreement on what is to be done, how it is to be done and how the costs will be shared. As a general rule, architects will lead a group in which members are all
experts from various professional fields. Suggestions from residents or the public are
only references during the design process. However, the KIP has a special situation,
the architects’ role here is to provide the guidance to modify or rebuild the house.
36 Ibid.
17 Architects have no right to make a final decision without community. This requires that architects need to understand residents’ specific needs carefully before interpreting them into design suggestions.
In the case of KIP, the legalization of such squatter land might be a problem as, in most cases, the residents do not own land legally for their potential application to urban low-income areas.37 In some countries, the government may hesitate to run such a program, particularly in terms of infrastructure improvement, with the communities that are on illegal land. In China, thousands of traditional communities face this difficult situation as well. For government, it is easy to change traditional communities into modern ones over night rather than improve them gradually.
However, the KIP program provides a significant example.
In the KIP program, the important move was made in transferring of land rights to dwellers; then the government work with communities to improve their living environment. The model of community-involvement is likely to work well in other cities in and out of this region. In any case, KIP is a community based development effort where communities are empowered in decision making and identifying their own priorities and problems.38
Before improvement, kampungs were served by urban facilities and utilities to a limited extent only. In addition to use as dwellings, some 60% of kampung houses are used as production areas.39 Therefore, from the beginning to the end, the most important issue of the KIP program is to improve the physical environment, while at
37 Ibid. 38 Ibid. 39 Ibid.
18 the same time, keeping residents staying other than force them leaving their homes to flock to another kampung.40 That means the improvement is implemented gradually not tearing down all the old houses over night which has been operated in other countries and caused a series social problems. The KIP provided urban housing and offered “a significant support in alleviating urban poverty”.
40 Ibid.
19 Chapter Two: a Study of an Existing Traditional Residential
Community: Drum-Tower Muslim District
Chinese family and community: the fundamental unit of society
“If the family lives in harmony, all affairs will prosper.” — A Chinese saying
In Chinese philosophy, the country and families have a similar structure.
“Chinese family has been the most important unit of organization in production, for
not only has agriculture been almost exclusively a family undertaking but also in industry and commerce the family has been the most numerous organizational unit in economics and society.”41 In China’s group-oriented society, the family is more
important than the individual. Family ties survived through thousands of years, and
loyalty to family is still an important pivot of society. There is hardly any major aspect of traditional social life that is not touched by the ties and influence of the
family.42
The organization of the family: functions and structure
“The traditional Chinese family, called a ‘chia’ by a few English writers, was a
patrilineal, patriarchal, prescriptively virilocal kinship group sharing a common
household budget and normatively extended in form.”43 Family life has always been
41 C.K. Leung and Norton Ginsburg eds. China:Urbanization and National Ddevelopment (Chicago: University of Chicago, Dept. of Geography, 1980), 16 42 Olga Lang, Chinese Family and Ssociety (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1946), 136 43 Ibid. 137
20 extremely important to Chinese culture as Chinese lived in large family units.44 The
ideal was "five generations under one roof.” For the last two decades, Chinese
families have gone through numerous dynamic changes. In 1979, the One Child
Policy was established to limit China’s population growth; most urban families are
allowed to have only one child. Much of the old structure and many of the old values
of the traditional Chinese family have been replaced by a new structure and new
values of the modern Chinese family.45
Neighborhood: from the kinship and the clan to the community
“Better a neighbor that is near than a brother far off.” — A Chinese saying
In China, “community” mean a residential area or a neighborhood in a city and
in official terminology, a “community” often refers to a "basic unit of urban
residence" – for example, a residential complex or estate with a residents' committee
chosen through direct election by its residents for self-governing.46 Before 1990, the concept of community was not well developed, since then it has become a concept to nurture a new kind of culture and sense of belonging; new social and human relationships are consciously maintained and created.47
44 Saso, Michael R. Velvet bonds: the Chinese Family Carmel (University of Hawaii Press, 1999), 53 45 Chinese Culture: Role of Family, http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/GenerateContent?CONTENT_ITEM_ID=777&CONTENT_ITEM_TYPE=0&ME NU_ID=10080&EXPAND=10071 (accessed 10 Nov. 2006) 46 China Development Brief, in Listening to the community is the main ingredient in Chinese NGO recipe for city governments, Mar.2,2006 http://www.chinadevelopmentbrief.com/node/486 (accessed 9/16/2006) 47 Xue, Charlie Q. L. Building a Revolution: Chinese Architecture Since 1980 (HK: Hong KongUniversity Press, 2006), 93
21 Traditionally, Chinese community is based on the Kinship Group and the Clan.
The "kinship" part of this means that members of the family were related
genealogically, i.e. either by having common ancestors or by being married. The
“group” part means that they had known boundaries and shared activities or resources
with each other that they did not share with outsiders.48
A clan, as the term is used today by anthropologists, is a property-holding
group made up of descendants of the same ancestor. In China, clans were created on
the basis of a common surname, usually asserting common descent from a real or
fictitious ancient person of that name.49
Contemporarily, Chinese family structure is mainly a nuclear one with
husband and wife living with their children and sometimes their parents. Only a small
number of Chinese families may have relatives living in their proximity. Meanwhile,
the kinship group and the clan have disappeared in urban areas while only a few still
exist in some rural areas that are far away from urban development.50 Without the
kinship group and the clan, the Chinese family no longer performs the function of
providing mutual help with child care and care for the elderly outside their immediate
relations. However, the Chinese continue to emphasize the values of family and to
maintain close social links. The Chinese family starts to seek assistance from and
bond with the community more than before.51
48 Olga Lang, Chinese Family and Society (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1946) 145 49 The Traditional Chinese Family & Lineage, http://weber.ucsd.edu/~dkjordan/chin/hbfamilism-u.html, (accessed 10 Nov. 2006) 50 Author translated from Shi Shen Me Gai Bian Le Lin Li Guan Xi http://www.pxnews.cn/news/html/2005-1-22/200512295018.htm (accessed 01/15/2007) 51 Author translated from Chinese Family: from Tradition to Modern http://news.xinhuanet.com/overseas/2005-05/18/content_2969389.htm (accessed 9/07/2006)
22 The traditional community environment was primarily based on public space,
in the middle of a dense and ancient neighborhood, including streets, alleys, yards, markets and amenities that support and encourage particular types of activities, such as eating, sitting, reading, chatting, and playing games together to enhance people’s social links and to increase the sense of belonging (Fig.2.1). However, in the rapid urban development, the traditional community public space is facing many challenges.
How have the new trends changed it? What are the people’s responses to the shifting?
The following case study will explore the current situation of traditional community.
Fig.2.1 Section of Qing Ming Shang He Tu, depicting the streets in Bianjing city in Qing Ming Festival, artist: Zhang, Zeduan, Song Dynasty, 960-1279AD
Drum-Tower Muslim District
Introduction: the history and the development
Xi’an is a traditional city with a long history over 5000 years. As one of the
23 six ancient capitals in China, Xi’an served as the seat of 12 imperial capitals for 1,120
years after Chinese society had entered the civilized stage. One significant imperial
period is the Tang Dynasty (618–906 A.D.).
In the Tang dynasty, Islam was first introduced to China by the Arabian
merchants. The Muslims who immigrated to China eventually began to have a great
impact and influence on the country. Persian tongue was a common part of daily life
and Muslim food was popular.52 In time, the Muslims began to speak Han dialects
and to read in Chinese. Some of them married Han people. Well into the Ming era, the
Muslims could not be distinguished from other Chinese other than by their unique
religious customs.53 Muslims gradually became fully integrated into Chinese society.
Many Muslims settled down in Chang’an (Now Xi’an) the capital of the Tang
dynasty, which was one of the major stops along the Silk Road that stretched from
modern-day Afghanistan across the mountain, steppe, and desert regions of China all
the way to Beijing. Now there are 50, 000 Muslim in Xi’an, most of them live in the
areas around mosques.54 The biggest Muslim community in Xi’an is the Drum-Tower
Muslim District. The Drum-Tower Muslim District is located in downtown Xi’an
which is marked by a series of narrow streets and alleys with 10 mosques, residential
houses and businesses (Fig.2.2). Currently 5,000 people live in this area, 94% are
Muslim (Fig.2.3).55
52 Author translated from Bai Shouyi ed., Zhongguo Huihui Minzu Shi (Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 2003), 129 53 Michael Dillon, China's Muslim Hui Community: Migration, Settlement and Sects (Richmond, Surrey : Curzon, 1999), 163 54 Author translated from Ma Qicheng, Ding Hong and Gao Zhanfu, Huizu (Beijing: Minzu Chubanshe, 1995), 23 55 Lipman, Jonathan, Familiar Strangers: A History of Muslims in Northwest China (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1997) 112
24
Fig.2.2 The location of Drum-Tower Muslim District is in downtown Xi’an.
Fig.2.3 Looking down on the Drum-Tower Muslim District
The Great Mosque is the biggest mosque in this area and it is the center of the community geometrically and spiritually. The Mosque is located at the Huajue Lane in the center of the city, is the largest and one of the most important Islamic mosques in China. Its construction started in 742, the first year of the Tianbao period of the
Tang dynasty, and additions were made during the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing
25 dynasties.56
The Mosque is a combination of traditional Chinese architecture and Islamic art (Fig.2.4). In Chinese style, it is constructed as a series of pavilions and buildings with four courtyards between them. The wall, however, is decorated with Islamic art.
It is the only Mosque that in the country is open to visitors, though non-Muslim visitors are not allowed to enter the main prayer hall. The Great Mosque was added to the UNESCO Heritage List in 1985.57
Fig.2.4 Shengxin Lou in Great Mosque
56 John Obert Voll, Islam, Continuity and Cchange in the Modern World (Colo.: Westview Press, 1982), 325 57 Liu Zhiping, Zhongguo Yisilanjiao etc., Islamic Architecture in China (Urumqi: Xinjiang Renmin Chubanshe, 1985), 223
26 The cultural blend is not only represented by architecture. Muslim customs of
dress and food also underwent a synthesis with dominant Chinese culture, however,
they were not entirely compromised. 58 The Islamic mode of dress and dietary restrictions were consistently, but partly, maintained. The mixed culture makes the
Drum-Tower Muslim District unique where people can learn contemporary Muslim culture, life and community. Millions of tourists therefore from all over the world are attracted to it every year. It has become the heart of downtown Xi’an (Fig.2.5).
Fig.2.5 Welcome sign on the street
Public squares: inaccessible
Public space and public life go hand in hand. They are shaped and molded by
one another. Without the public space there would be no public life and without the
public life the space would be worthless. In community, the squares, streets and
playgrounds provide the flow of social exchange.59
58 Author translated from Zhang Xinglang ed., “Zhong Xi jiaotong shiliao huibian” Vol.4, (Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 2003), 12 59 Hiss, Tony. The Experience of Place (New York: Knopf, 1990), 78
27 People need public squares. A square is an open area commonly found in the heart of a community used for residents’ gatherings, small crowds, festivities, bonfires, carnivals, speeches and dancing.60 Even though Drum-Tower Muslim District is regarded as the representative of traditional residential community in Xi’an, it is difficult to find a real public square for people to chat, rest, play — to provide regular communal life.
The situation of squares in the Muslim District has greatly changed over time.
With the growth of population, changing family structure and size and changing ownership or users’ rights, land subdivision happens very often. Moreover, under the city development goal of “attracting more tourists”, the everyday construction changes the community texture rapidly (Fig.2.6). Each open space is expected to be filled with buildings, restaurants and souvenir shops, to make money. At this point, public squares are not a part of residents’ lives, even though they do exist.
Fig.2.6 Community texture, the grey part is constructed in last two decades.
60 Safety and Public Space, Available < http://www.pps.org/info/placemakingtools/issuepapers/safety_security> (accessed 8 Nov.2006)
28 There was a small public square in front of the Great Mosque years ago, very
small, about 3,000 sqft (Fig.2.7). The small square seems treated as a leftover which
looks unplanned and without order. It was enclosed by old three-story houses,
interrupted by several pathways; no chairs, no lights, no vending machines, or other
amenities, and had only two small trees. But it contributed greatly to the quality of
communal life.
Because the mosque was not open to non-Muslim Chinese, the prayers were only Muslim residents. Some of them tried to keep their regular ritual; they went to
the mosque to pray regularly. The square afforded them a chance to be known and to
know others intimately (Fig.2.8). They, most are adult males who would chat a little
bit outside the mosque before or after praying. There was a natural tendency for old
people to gather together in the square — they frequently went to the square after
lunch. Everyone knew each other, its urbanity and hospitality guarantee a certain
safety, fear was eliminated by proximity. At night, lights from windows made the
small square bright, so residents could easily pass by it to get home. It provided a
similar, male dominated place for residents who grew up in a traditional family to
recall the time when males were the most important person in the family. This was a
place that residents could gain a sense of strong social identity.61
61 edited by Irwin Altman and Joachim F. Wohlwill , “Public Places and Spaces” in Human Behavior and Environment: Advances in Theory and Research V10 (New York : Plenum Press, 1976), 85
29
Fig.2.7 Left The small square in front of the Great Mosque
Fig.2.8 Right People go to Mosque for a funeral
Later, the mosque was opened to non-Muslims (except for the prayer hall). In order to attract tourists to stay longer, a Muslim street market with transparent plastic grid ceilings was built outside the mosque which gradually occupied the square
(Fig.2.9), and the street heading up to the Mosque became crammed with people selling all kinds of souvenirs, such as bridal outfits, caftans, jewelries, and shirts.
However, the market forces the square to move to the edge of the community
(Fig.2.10). Residents can not stay at the square leisurely as before because of commercial occupation. Now the new square is closed to the Drum Tower, which is designed to be surrounded by some new three story shops. It is almost the same size as the old one, but the residents have gone and no tourists stay. It is an empty place in
“the sea of humanity”.
30
Fig.2.9 The small square has been occupied by market
Fig.2.10 New Square is near the edge.
There is another open space in Drum-Tower which has not been filled by buildings, Beiyuanmen Square, around Beiyuanmen Paifang (Fig.2.11). It is supposed to be open for people; however, it is used as a parking lot because it is the only place big enough near the main area of the community. Meanwhile, most of the restaurants are closed in the middle of the night; obviously, it is occupied by vehicles most of the
31 time which makes it inaccessible for people. The only people who stay in this place
are those persons with the red armband, in charge of parking fee.
Fig.2.11 Beiyuanmen Square
Boundaries: symbolic vs. concealed
Drum-Tower Muslim District has a unique type of boundary between the city
and community which is a drum tower, the southern boundary of the community. The
Drum Tower, initially built in 1380, is located northwest of the Bell Tower, across the
Bell Tower and Drum Tower Square (Fig.2.12). Both of them are called the ‘sister
buildings’ or ‘morning bell and dark drum’. In ancient China, especially from the
Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), the drums were used to signal the running of time and on
occasion were used as an alarm in emergency situations.62 In modern times, the Drum
Tower is not used as a timer any more; nevertheless, it provides musical performances
reflecting the power of ancient Chinese culture. The architectural style of the Drum
Tower is a combination of the styles of the Tang Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty. The
62Drum Towe: Xi’an Tourists Attractions, Available http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/shaanxi/xian/drum.htm, (accessed 15 Nov.2006)
32 arched doorway marks the entrance to the Muslim District. For tourists, Drum Tower is the beginning of their visit, since there is no parking space for the coaches; tourists begin to walk into the community (Fig.2.13).
Fig.2.12 Left The Drum Tower
Fig.2.13 Right The arched doorway marks the entrance
In the same axis with Drum Tower, the northern boundary of the community is
Beiyuanmen Paifang (Fig.2.14). Paifang (a traditional style of gateway) mirrors feudal ethics and traditional norms in ancient China. It acted as a physical manifestation of ethics; the inscriptions carved on the beams of the Paifang reflected the people's life aspirations.63 Beiyuanmen Paifang was built at the beginning of community redevelopment in the 1980s, to commemorate the old doorway that once existed in the community symbolically. It is a representation of ancient modeling art and sculpting art to indicate the local architectural culture.
63 Gin-Djih Su, Chinese Architecture: Past and Contemporary (The Sin Poh Amalgamated, Hong Kong, 1964), 27
33
Fig.2.14 Beiyuanmen Paifang
Two main roads are boundaries between the community and the city on the
eastern and western sides, lined on both sides by shops displaying their goods under
canopies in front of the storefronts (Fig.2.15). These shops are bigger than the shops
inside the community.
Fig.2.15 Shop as a boundary
Inside the community, the boundary between public space and private space,
the residential area, is secluded. It’s a narrow lane between restaurants and shops which leads to a residential area, or a back door between front commercial facilities
34 and back residential area (Fig.2.16). Only residents, most of whom are restaurant and
shop owners or whom work there, know how to enter the residential areas (Fig.2.17).
For outsiders, clients, customers and tourists, they will ignore or can not find where
the residential area is. This type of concealed boundary makes the residential area
safer even though thousands people are around every day. Because the narrow lane
and back door are the only way to enter the back yard, if some strangers walk though, they are easily to be found out by neighbors. The concealed boundary maintains the
residents’ normal life style behind the bustling commercial business.
Fig.2.16 Lane between shops leads to residential area
Fig.2.17 A lane leads to the residential area
35 Streets: the representation of community vitality
“Environments with a strong sense of place are distinctive. They connect residents and visitors with what is unique about their setting and history. These places tell stories; they invite people to linger and learn about landform, soil and climate, even what good food is produced locally.”64 —Alexander, 1977
Communities that maintain and enhance their unique sense of place offer a
better quality of life for residents and visitors. The environment tells visitors what the
people that live there, what they have done with their lives, and what they think is
important. Streets play an important part in making this connection (Fig.2.18).65
Fig.2.18 Beiyuanmen Street
Xi'an retains the same rectangular shape that once characterized Chang'an, with streets and avenues forming a neat grid pattern. The best known landmark in
Drum-Tower Muslim District is its streets. Streets are narrow and maze-like, bustling with bearded men, vendors, bikes, carts, and restaurants. One particular area comes
64 Alexander, Christopher. A pattern Language:Ttowns, Buildings, Construction (New York: Oxford University Press, 1977), 297 65 http://www.class.uidaho.edu/communityresearch/inentity.htm, (accessed 15 Nov.2006)
36 alive at meal time, its sidewalks crammed with an endless variety of meat meals,
cakes and Muslim sweets. Two kinds of tourists, the local and those from other places,
no matter where they are from, have the same goal here — to eat, inside the
restaurants, or on the sidewalks (Fig.2.19, 20, 21).
Fig.2.19 Lunch time on the street
Fig.2.21 Tourists on the street
Fig.2.20 Dinner time on the street
In spite of how many tourists are on the streets, the streets still belong to the residents. Adults are the majority in this community, but they are the group who use the public space less than any other age group. Most males work everyday, including weekends, because restaurants and shops are very busy especially at weekends and
37 holidays.66 They do not have time to do exercises on the square or rest at other public
spaces.
However, the street is still part of their life. Almost every restaurant, no matter how small or big, cheap or elegant, has outdoor cooking equipment on the sidewalk which is a directly visible attraction for tourists. Some of the chefs work on the streets
— their workplaces other than inside small kitchens (Fig.2.22). Between meals, they can take a short break, sit outside in a bamboo chair on the sidewalk, with a cup of tea in hand, individually or with neighbors, chat, look at the vehicles and people or listen to their birds singing in cages which are hooked on the branches (Fig.2.23). “I work, it’s cooking actually on the street…only happiness comes in from the street. I feel my home extends to the whole block.” Said Aimin Jia who is a chef, and owns a small restaurant on Beiyuanmen Street. Their activities on the streets become a part of the cultural impression in the tourists’ cameras.
Fig.2.22 Cooking on the street
Fig.2.23 Resting on the street
66 Ma Qicheng, Ding Hong and Gao Zhanfu, The Hui Nationality (Beijing: Minzu Chubanshe, 1995), 112
38 Most adult women work in the souvenir shops or temporary outside stalls. All shops open to the streets; most of their time is spent standing on the streets fetching in tourists (Fig.2.24, 25). They have their lunch and dinner on the streets while there are fewer tourists. Women could take a break outside, but not as well as men, drinking a cup of tea with neighbors, like they do at home. Women just stand or sit on the outside stairs, always prepared to go back to work, like they do at home, ready to serve to others. Traditional family roles for men and women have a deep influence on their behaviors even in the public space.
Fig.2.24 Left Woman selling tourist items on the street
Fig.2.25 Right Woman selling items they made on the street
The elderly, sometimes treated like outsiders, have increasingly clustered
together for mutual support or simply to enjoy themselves. Since the old small square
has moved and the elderly are not familiar with the new square, they have lost one of
their public spaces. The street is the only outdoor place they have. “Another family
relationship of great significance for the aged has been the commonly observed
39 intimate association between the very young and very old…. Care of the young has
thus very generally provided the aged with a useful occupation and a vivid interest in
life during the long dull days of senescence.”67 Some elderly still work, selling snacks,
some sit under the shade, keeping an eye on children playing or watching groups of
tourists (Fig.2.26). The street is a place for the elder and the young to stay together.
Fig.2.26 The elder selling snack on the street
Playgrounds: nowhere to play
Playgrounds are a fundamental part of the childhood experience. They should
be safe havens for children. It is a proven fact that children are the major uses of the
outdoor environment in residential areas of the city.68 Nowadays in China children are
losing many traditional social supports and suffering restrictions on their free-range opportunities. 69 Public playgrounds are threatened with extinction. Poor
environmental quality goes hand in hand with a poor safety record. But children have
67 Leo W. Simmons, the Role of Aged in Primitive Society (New Haven: Yale Uniersity Press, 1945), 199. 68 edited by Irwin Altman and Joachim F. Wohlwill , Public Places and Spaces, Human Behavior and Environment: Advances in Theory and Research V10 (New York : Plenum Press, 1976), 85 69 Solomon, Susan G. American Playgrounds: Revitalizing Community Space (New Haven: University Press of New England, 2005), 165
40 a basic human right to play.
In China, places for children to play safe and happy are shrinking, according to a national survey.70 About 53% of the 2,500 primary and middle school students responding the survey said their homes were their constant play sites, while 45 percent of the respondents said they often played around residential areas or in parks, showed in the survey. 19 percentage of students surveyed said they seldom did sports because “there are no appropriate sports sites”, it showed. "Children often play at home because they have few other choices," said one of the survey organizers Wang
Xiaobo, an associate researcher with the Tianjin Academy of Social Sciences, noting there are fewer places in Chinese cities where children can play.71
The situation of playgrounds in Drum-Tower Muslim District is following this tend. As a residential community of 5000 people, children can not be seen at outdoor places where they used to play because of the downtown’s scarce land resources.
More and more outdoor sports places in the community have been occupied for urban development, that is, construction for commercial use.
Children has nowhere to play, therefore, streets become the last place where they can play. Once or twice a day, on the streets, in the empty places between buildings, children play on their way back home. Because schools are very close to home, most of the elementary school students walk back home for lunch and dinner without their parents’ supervision. They chase each other, buy a little snack, or play some easy games together. This street play is not allowed by parents, but when they
70 Research Report on Children and Culture, China Youth and Children Research Center, Beijing, 2006 71 Public Policy for Children, Tianjin Academy of Social Sciences, 2006
41 play, parents are not around. Children make friends on the streets (Fig.2.27).
Sometimes they cannot avoid being hit by speeding cars when they chase balls or each other on the streets. And cracked and uneven pavements cause injuries when they are playing.
Fig.2.27 Children play on the street after school
Conclusion
The main purpose of this chapter is to address how these public spaces affecting or being affected by people’s daily lives in an existing traditional community. It is each of these specific compounds, which act as a basic unit of spatial organization of the community and play an essential role in incorporating diverse social activities into a coherent whole. In this chapter, I have examined four salient features of public space in Drum-Tower Muslim District. However, the correspondence between diversity of social institutions and the physical embodiments is losing in the rapid transformation of society. This realization leads to the conclusion of the design approaches toward community revitalization in Chapter Four.
42 Chapter Three: a Study of a Contemporary Residential Community:
Ziwei City Garden
Contemporary urban community: development and decline
Urban housing development: facing the shortage
Chinese cities began their rapid growth in the late 1970s due to the reform and opening policies. China’s urbanization rate reached around 60 percent within 20 years. Statistics show that China now has 668 cities, three times more than 20 years ago. However, the one-sided pursuit of economic growth caused environmental issues to a greater or lesser degree in these cities.72
Housing development is always represented as one of the environmental issues in China’s urbanization. The housing problem comes hand in hand with population growth. Some big cities in China are now encumbered with a rising population.
Housing shortage problems have attracted much attention from the Chinese government. The Chinese government has launched many policies in succession, such as the Welfare Housing Project, affordable housing policy, and low-rent housing policy. Since 1996, more than 600 million square meters of residential houses have been completed in China’s cities and towns each year. In 2005, urban residents have bade farewell to serious house shortage and ushered in a new period featuring increased private living space and community public space.73
72 C.K. Leung and Norton Ginsburg eds. China: Urbanization and National Development (Chicago: University of Chicago, Dept. of Georraphy, 1980), 23 73 Notes from 6th China Urban Housing Conference, Beijing, China. March 26-28, 2007
43 Public space in modern community: improvement vs. change
In response to the high construction speed and the rapid urbanization process,
the relationship between public space and people’s communal life is undergoing
enormous change. This relationship has become more complex and interactive and
there is an urgent need to examine existing communities built environments to
understand how people’s attitude and behaviors are largely affected and shaped by
environment. No work has yet been done in this field in China.
In contemporary high-density residential communities, however, improvement is regarded simply as change. The traditional communities are replaced and simplified by modern communities. There are fewer types of public places for people to communicate; the community heritage is lost which excludes residents from many of the attributes of urban life that are critical to full citizenship.74 For example, Shanghai
Xintiandi, the first development in the Taipingqiao Redevelopment Project, is an
urban community improvement with the city's historical and cultural legacies.
Xintiandi has won the national “Innovation China 2001 - Architecture Award”, “AIA
Hong Kong Citation 2002” and “2003 Award for Excellence” from the US-based
Urban Land Institute.75
However, good design does not automatically generate good environment.
After improvement, most of the original residents can not move back because their
old “Shikumen” houses, a special old form of building architecture only found in
Shanghai, have become luxurious serviced apartments. Moreover, their familiar
74 Amos Rapoport, Human Aspects of Urban Form: Towards a Man-Environment Approach to Urban Form and Design (Franklin Book Co; 1st ed edition, May 1, 1977), 99 75 Shanghai Xintiandi, http://www.shuion.com/eng/SOL/pptdev/xin.asp, (accessed 27 Nov. 2006)
44 community public space, nongtangs, corners, and small gardens, where they met neighbors for years (Fig.3.1), has gone, replaced with modern squares, and a manicured lawn with a “do not enter” sign in it (Fig.3.2).
Fig.3.1 Left to right, Shikumen before and after improvement
Fig.3.2 A lawn with a sign “please protect my (grass) life”
Despite the mushrooming high density buildings, the qualified provision of public space still falls far short of demands. Since the world is advancing, people are no longer reconciled to living in shabby shelters and their requirement for a
45 qualitative environment is higher than before. They look forward to proper public
places which can maintain and continue their social connections.
Ziwei City Garden
Introduction: project background
Developed by Ziwei Estate, a famous real-estate company of Xi’an, Ziwei
City Garden is a modern eco-friendly residential area and is located in the southern
suburb of Xi’an which hosts about fifty universities and colleges and is known as the culture and education center of the city (Fig.3.3). Next door to the west of Ziwei is the
National Hi-Tech Development Zone and the upcoming CBD is on the east side.
The design of Ziwei City Garden was deeply influenced by the 20 century
utopian city planning concepts (Fig.3.4). Le Corbusier advocated a high-density urban
design in his "Contemporary City for Three Million People" of 1922. The centerpiece of this plan was the group of sixty-story cruciform skyscrapers built on steel frames and encased in huge curtain walls of glass. These skyscrapers were set within large, rectangular park-like green spaces (Fig.3.5).76 In Ziwei, this approach to “the city of
tomorrow” came into reality after 70 years. The group of sixty-story cruciform
skyscrapers is replaced by 28 eleven-story apartment buildings, but the central public
space, a large, rectangular park-like green space has not been changed from planning
theory to real practice (Fig.3.6).
Currently Ziwei is the biggest residential community in Xi’an. It hosts fifteen
residential buildings, eleven-story, totally 700 apartments and 44.7% of green land,
76 Le Corbusier, City of Tomorrow and Its Planning, Dover Pubns. Jun 1987, P 121
46 which includes one central plaza. The construction was finished in 1996. In
September 2000, the Garden was named by the Ministry of Construction as the
Demonstration Garden for the National Comfortable Residential Area nationwide and it enjoys the reputation as the only one in the category nationwide.77
Fig.3.3 Location of Ziwei City Garden Fig.3.4 The site plan
Fig.3.5 Le Corbusier model of city of tomorrow, 1922 Fig.3.6 Rendering perceptive of Ziwei
77 Translated from http://house.shaanxijs.gov.cn/modules/contents_7/front/Leaf_info.asp?leaf_id=445, (accessed 12 Nov. 2006)
47 Central plaza: tranquility and hilarity
A public space can be not only a place to understand and relate to natural
environment, but also it can be a place for social and cultural exchange. Central public
space is an essential component in transforming and enriching the community
(Fig.3.7). Central public space usually is the biggest public space in the community
which is composed of “hard” space and “soft” space. “hard” space, such as plazas,
provides settings for public activities of all kinds. “soft” space, such as lawns,
provides essential relief from harsh urban conditions and serves as space for
recreational activities (Fig.3.8). These amenities increasingly influence which
community will be perceived as a desirable place to live.78
Fig.3.7 The central public space in Le Corbusier Fig.3.8 The central public space in Ziwei model of city of tomorrow, 1922
Observing how the central place is used and measuring people’s perceptions of it are also key elements in understanding what changes can be made to transform a
78 Amos Rapoport, Human Aspects of Urban Form: Towards a Man-Environment Approach to Urban Form and Design (Franklin Book Co; 1st ed edition, May 1, 1977), 176
48 plaza safe place.79 A safe central place provides a range of things to do — there is a number of activities for different ages and types of people to use without any interruption. The central public space in Ziwei is a big central plaza which is surrounded by apartment buildings semi-circularly. Designed pathways cut the big plaza into small areas which host various activities for the whole community (Fig.3.9).
In the very early morning, old people do all kinds of exercise on the plaza – dancing, singing, Tai Chi, etc.; in the afternoon, people sit around the central plaza – chatting, reading or playing Chinese chess (Fig.3.10,11). Even though people sing and talk in the central plaza, it’s still a peaceful place most of the time.
Fig.3.10 People play Tai-chi in the morning
Fig.3.9 The site plan of central plaza in Ziwei
Fig.3.11 People on the wheelchair enjoy the sunshine in the central plaza
78 Ibid. 123
49 There is a kindergarten in Ziwei which is located on the first floor of
apartment building16 (Fig.3.12), close to the central plaza, however, there is not enough outdoor space for the children (Fig.3.13), therefore, the central plaza becomes children’s open classroom and theater.
Fig.3.12 The entrance of the kindergarten
Fig.3.13 Children in kindergarten usually stay inside.
On a sunny morning, the kindergarten invited a local puppet play to perform
for children in the central plaza (Fig.3.14, 15). About 50 3-4 year-old children were
sitting on the small chairs around the simple foldaway stage. They laugh aloud,
50 clapping hands heartily, answering the questions which the puppets ask. This play is not only welcome by children (Fig.3.16, 17, 18), but a number of other residents, people who work in the community and, some adults enjoy the play as well as the children, they stand, or sit a little bit behind the children. For the elder, watching the children’s jollification is as enjoyable as watching the play (Fig.3.19). After the puppet play, the children come back to the kindergarten to begin their regular in-class plays or learning.
Fig.3.14 Prepare puppet play behind the stage Fig.3.15 Puppet play was about to start
Fig.3.16 Left A sick children watched the play, but away from other children.
Fig.3.17 Right The sick child’s friends’ came to play with him in the break of the play
51
Fig.3.18 Children watch the play Fig.3.19 Adult was also attractive to the play
Even though people do not know each other in a big community, the central
plaza is still a homey place for gathering. There is sunshine, grass, chairs; amenities
that provide a park-like environment. However, most adult residents never spend their
time at the central plaza (Fig.3.20). They work on weekdays and some of them work
in the evening or even on weekends, they go to the recreation center or stay at home
in their spare time. Being busy is a reason, however, the careless-designed plaza is not attractive enough to them. They spend their time with family at home or out of community, not in the pubic space in community. It is not surprising that adults never
know their neighbors even though their children are friends or maybe their mothers
are dancing partners.
52
Fig.3.20 Most adult residents never spend their time in central plaza though environment is friendly
Gardens: crisis of cultural identity
The garden is one of the important types of architectural art. It is essentially
aimed at organizing an environment rich in temperament and interest and full of the beauty of artistic conception. 80 Chinese gardens carry out processing and
transformation of the original land form by following a principle of “making it seem
like nature”, in order to satisfy people’s feeling of getting close to the nature.
Even if designers say their design concept of gardens which are enclosed by
apartment buildings is a place for residents to “get close to nature”, they abandoned
the concept of Chinese gardens, instead, either in landscaping or sculptures, western
gardens models are advocated (Fig.3.21). One of the small gardens which is close to
apartment buildings 6 (Fig.3.22), is entitled Paris Garden (Fig.3.23). However, except
that the lawn is cut geometrically and a sign says “Paris Garden”, the characteristics
of French gardens can not be found. All of small gardens in Ziwei, are named by
European gardens. This is not only happening in Ziwei, but in the majority of Chinese
80 Lee, Sherman E. Chinese Landscape Painting (Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1962) 135
53 new communities, western style, from architecture to landscape architecture, is popular and highly recommended. What’s more, “Paris Garden”, as well as other small gardens in the community, is not allowed to trample (Fig.3.24).
Fig.3.21 The site plan of garden
Fig.3.22 A garden close to apartment building 6
Fig.3.23 Left The sign says “Paris Garden”
Fig.3.24 Right The sign says “Do not trample”
54 Boundaries: linear breaks
“There are boundaries between two phases; linear breaks in continuity.” —Kevin Lynch
There are two types of boundaries in a community. One is entrances; the main
entrance is a boundary between city and community; the residential buildings’
entrance is a boundary between public space and private space. The other is soft
boundary; vegetation or facilities are used to divide places for different functional
purposes. Lynch reported that users understand their surroundings in consistent and
predictable ways.81 If the boundary is reinforced more clearly, residents might be able
to feel safer.
There is a main entrance of Ziwei City Garden which is a magnificent gateway
(Fig.3.25) and several automobiles’ entrances which are only for residents’ vehicles,
cars(Fig.3.26) and bicycles (Fig.3.27). The big gate and other entrances are
boundaries between the city and community. The gateway makes residents feel safer
when they go in because they know they belong to the place, the sense of place has
been built up in their mind. Visitors are required to show their identify card at the entrance. This is a method to keep the whole community safe. However, if somebody really wants to get into the community, gates and entrances may not be an obstruction.
81 Lynch, Kevin. A Theory of Good City Form (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1981), 21
55
Fig.3.25 The gateway of Ziwei City Garden
Fig.3.26 The entrance of residents’ automobiles
Fig.3.27 the sigh leads to bicycles storage
56 Besides the gate and several vehicles’ entrances, Ziwei is surrounded by shops or other commercial services (Fig.3.28) opening to the streets and bar-fences. As a soft boundary, shops make the boundary friendly to the outsiders. In China, most places have boundaries, like walls and bar-fences. There is a wall around a school, a bar-fence around a government building. Ziwei is not an exemption, a bar-fence keeps outsiders away from the community. The bar-fence is clearly saying the community is not open to the public; it’s a private place only for the community (Fig.3.29). This ensures residents’ security and addresses their ownership (Fig.3.30). Moreover, through the bar-fence, insiders can know what happens in the streets while viewing the plaza and gardens, where installations and landscaping are presented in the community. Between public spaces, plaza and paths, paths and gardens, vegetation has been used to draw the boundaries between each other (Fig.3.31).
Fig.3.28 Commercial services as boundary
57
Fig.3.29 A person looks at the grass inside the community behind the bar-fence
Fig.3.30 The bar-fence between community and city. The sign says: “private area, do not enter.”
Fig.3.31 Vegetation has been used to draw the boundaries between public spaces, plaza and paths, paths and gardens.
58 Residential buildings’ entrances are the last boundary between public space
and private space (Fig.3.32). In front of each entrance, there is a very small place
which is welcome by residents. Residents say hi to each other when they meet here,
sometimes they talk for a while with groceries in hand at dusk; children play around
while their parents are talking with schoolbags on their shoulders, knowing this is the
last time in the day they can play outside (Fig.3.33), after this, they have to stay at home to finish homework at night. Sometimes the elder, who is not in very good health, can not walk long, so they just walk slowly around the entrance (Fig.3.34).
Fig.3.32 The boundary between public space and private place
Fig.3.33 A child played alone when her grandmother was talking to their neighbors in front of building entrance.
59
Fig.3.34 A lady is exercising outside the building entrance efore going to the market.
Pathways: a network for walking
In community, pathways serve as a source of personal social identity. The
pathways have always been considered to be collective heritage and a theatre of expression for citizens carrying about their communal lives (Fig.3.35). This “universe
of life” vision is being undermined by changes in lifestyles. Nowadays people feel
more comfortable at home in front of their television or in their car faced with a sense
of insecurity outdoors.
Fig.3.35 People on the pathway nearby the central plaza
60 The pathway is more important than any other space in Chinese people’s lives because Chinese people can not live without walking. People used to walk to work, to market, to play, to any place (Fig.3.36, 37). Nowadays cities are getting bigger and bigger, people are not able to walk to their work place anymore, but they still walk to market, moreover, they keep walking as a very important exercise, for some people, walking is the only way to do exercise.
Fig.3.36,37 The main pathway and exercise facility, a Pingpang table aside, people can walk while playing Pingpang ball which is the most popular game in china.
In Ziwei, all the vehicles are parked underground, therefore the pedestrian
pathway network provides more space for walking and other activities. The elderly
play Chinese Chess under the trees (Fig.3.38), children walk to school, and women
chat on the pathways after work. But at night, the pathways become a dangerous place,
the same as the central plaza. Personal security on the pathways is of crucial
importance. If people do not feel safe, they won’t venture out on foot at night. The
pedestrian network pathway is long but does not host any activities at night. That
61 means when people pass by at night, nobody is around, which might cause feelings of fear.
Fig.3.38 The elderly play Chinese chess
Moreover, the sub-pathway, which is close but separated from the main pathways, is also an esplanade running the entire community, which is a modulating series of gardens (Fig.3.39, 40). In summer, pathways and gardens provide all kinds of activities for all ages. Children ride bicycles, adults run or do various exercises, and old people take a walk after dinner. Seats along the esplanade offer natural surveillance; even when people do not know each other, eyes upon activities strengthen their sense of safety.
Fig.3.39 The network of pathways
62
Fig.3.40 From main pathway to sub-pathway
Playground: a home zone
Today’s playground normally is defined by a sizable, colorful piece of commercial equipment that links steps, deck, and slides.82 It is topped by pyramidal roofs, rests on a resilient surface, and is cordoned off from its surroundings by fences and gates.83 Playgrounds no longer function as a hub of community activity and rarely attract a variety of participants over the course of a single day.
The playground is designed well and welcomed by residents of all ages. There are a number of playgrounds in Ziwei, the central playground is a part of the central plaza, and some small separated playgrounds are close to each residential building.
In the central plaza, the playground is a platform covered by wood to encourage parents to play with children (Fig.3.41). Playgrounds are designed as diverse, exciting, and as accessible as the play opportunities elsewhere in the child’s habitat. Because many injuries are associated with inadequate supervision on playgrounds, it is important that parents become proactive in playground supervision.
82 Hayward, Richard, and Sue McGlynn, eds. Making Better Places: Urban Design Now (Boston: Butterworth Architecture, 1993), 97 83 Ibid. 101
63 Some surfaces of playgrounds are covered by grass, mats and rubber tiles to protect children from injuries.
Fig.3.41 The playground in the central plaza
A small playground which is close to residential building 9 is called “home zone” by residents (Fig.3.42). Home zone is an open area where priority is given to local residents and activities like children's play. There is a slide ladder, a small fountain, a small grass platform and a tree which provides home-yard feelings for mixed age groups of children. Children from the same residential building play together and parents get to know each other while they watch the children play
(Fig.3.43).
64
Fig.3.42 A home zone is close to residential building 9
Fig.3.43 A home zone is close to residential building 12
Conclusion
The main purpose of this chapter is to address how people adjust their communal lives to the modern community. The types of public spaces in the modern community are various but the design still needs to be improved to meet people’s increased requirements. This realization leads to the conclusion of the design approaches toward community revitalization in Chapter Four.
65 Chapter Four: Conclusion:
Renovating Public Space: Towards Community Revival
Community design approaches: towards the improvement of public space
To create more livable communities, we need to make sure that our
communities are designed in such a way that they address the needs of all residents
and improve their quality of life. According to this understanding, the design needs to
give attention to the changes in the range and possibilities of people’s contacts and movements. It is here that issues of place and of the quality and the experience of public space can be located.84 Community design approaches are going to enunciate
how to build the bridgework to link the physical and social fabric (Fig.4.1).
Fig.4.1 A retired lady teaches social studies in Wenjiao Community, Huangzhou, China
84 Reza H. Ali, "Urban Conservation in Pakistan: a Case Study of the Walled City of Lahore," Architectural and Urban Conservation in the Islamic World, Papers in Progress, vol. 1 (Geneva: Aga Khan Trust for Culture, 1990),79
66 It is widely accepted that social context has a profoundly important influence on physical environment design. Public spaces should be designed to encourage the
attention and presence of people day and night. In everyday practice, revitalization
schemes as a series of civilizing projects have aimed to improve the community’s
social life and have become the top priority of community design.85 Community
design does not directly generate crime but badly-designed schemes can foster uncivil
behaviors or make people lose the sense of community.86
The success of a built environment is affected by various factors, social,
political, economic or institutional legitimacy, however, in the absence of any of these
factors, what design approaches can create a more welcoming and pleasant public
space?
Square: size, location, and enclosure
Reviving squares has become a major issue in public space improvement in
communities because the square is a fundamental component of community public
space. In the case of Drum Tower Muslim District, squares have to be moved out of
the central area and squeezed into the edge of the community (Fig.4.2). Moreover, this
has not just happened at Drum Tower incidentally. Today it becomes a common
situation in existing traditional communities, sometimes it’s even worse, squares are
replaced by centers of commerce or other supplementary instruments, which means, squares are gone forever.
85 edited by Irwin Altman and Joachim F. Wohlwill , Public Places and Spaces, Human Behavior and Environment : Advances in Theory and Research V10 (New York : Plenum Press, 1976), P87 86 Ibid. 89
67
Fig.4.2 Central square (marked in black) has been squeezed into the edge of the community, meanwhile, some small squares (marked in grey) nearby housings have been filled with new housing or commercial services in the last ten years
Squares are moved out or disappear, consequently, people’s local life style have to be changed as well. Disabled or old people can not meet their neighbors as before because they can not walk that far to the new squares; even if somebody can go, like young people, they still do not hang out there because nothing can make them stay (Fig.4.3).
Fig.4.3 The square on the edge is enclosed by new commercial buildings on two sides, but nothing in the square
In contrast with Drum-Tower’s situation, Ziwei has a central square and several gardens around apartment buildings as small public spaces. Obviously, it is not difficult to design squares in an entire new community. Nevertheless, can these new squares fulfill people’s social needs as well as they do in traditional communities?
68 Facing the rapid urban development, under the pressure of population growth, what can design do to sustain the vitality of public squares in communities?
The answer is that there should be something design can do. In the case of
Drum Tower, because most existing traditional communities are low-rise but high density housing areas, the very central area could be transformed to commercial services to meet the economic requirement. It is not necessary to create a big central square for residents. The size of the square could be small. The question is, how small is the right size?
In traditional low rise communities, a square with a diameter of around 50 feet is big enough for approximately 5 to 8 people to practice morning Tai-chi as a group; for 4 to 5 elder to chat, play Majiang, play cards or Chinese chess in the sunshine; for
5 to 6 children to play together while their parents or babysitters watch them playing at dusk; for 10-15 neighbors to set off fireworks in the middle of the night to celebrate the Chinese Spring Festival (Fig.4.4). This size is much smaller than architects would think at first imagining, however, it works.
Fig. 4.4 Elder play morning Tai-chi as a group
69 In the highly populated community like Ziwei, even though there are much more residents, a small square is also sufficient for the activities because the majority
of the residents go to work outside of community. Moreover, if there is a special event,
like a puppet show for children or a fireworks display, the central square will be used.
In terms of a central square, it becomes a pattern in contemporary high density
community design. However, for some reason there is a temptation to make it too
large. It looks good on drawings and a realtor uses it as a selling strategy to imply
how good the environment is to attract people to purchase the apartment. As a general
rule, central public space should be small but bigger than squares around residential
buildings. The specific size should be contingent upon the size, population and the
land use of the community (Fig.4.5).
Fig.4.5 The section of public space in Ziwei City Garden
Make a square much smaller whether in a traditional community or a modern
high density community, it could be a street corner or a broader pedestrian pathway or a space between houses (Fig.4.6); moreover, make more squares in the community
70 because a small square applies only to a couple of neighbors within a 3-5 minute walking distance.
Fig.4.6 The location of small squares, marked with dots.
The location, close to the edge of the community, is one of the reasons why the new square is not well used in Drum Tower Muslim District. It is far away from most of the users’ houses. The small square should be close to residents and be surrounded by something vertical, fences, plants or houses at least on two sides. In a traditional community, it could be enclosed by houses, groceries stores, restaurants or other commercial facilities. In high density community, the surroundings could be apartment buildings, stairs or trees, bushes, or something that can attract people to stay.
A public space without a middle focus is quite likely to stay empty.87 In
Drum Tower, a new square is surrounded by new commercial facilities; nothing in the square makes people unwilling to stay. Therefore, in the small squares, something could be chosen to stand roughly in the middle, in Chinese understanding, it could be
87 Alexander, Christopher. A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction (New York: Oxford University Press, 1977), 606
71 a tree, a parterres, shrubs, bamboos or rockeries, a stone table (or a couple of stone
tables) with stone seats, which is more welcome by residents (Fig.4.7).
Fig.4.7 A square is surrounded on two sides and there is a rough middle in it.
Boundary: alienation vs. ownership
Many parts of a town have boundaries drawn around them. In ancient China,
most of the cities have city walls as boundaries. The Xian City Wall is not only the
most complete city wall that has survived in China, but it is also one of the largest and
most complete ancient military defense systems in the world. “The boundary is not
only present physically in the world but also exists in people’s minds, marking the end
of one kind of activity, one kind of place, and the beginning of another. In many cases,
the activities themselves are made sharper, more vivid, and more alive.”88
In a pattern language: towns, buildings, construction,89 Alexander indicates, the strength of the boundary is essential to a community. A human group, with a
specific life style, needs a boundary around it to protect its idiosyncrasies from
88 Ibid.203 89 Ibid.
72 encroachment and dilution by surroundings. He also argues, if the boundary is too
weak, the community will not be able to maintain its own identifiable character.
However, what kind of boundary will be proper to enforce ownership but avoid alienation in Chinese current communities?
It is necessary to go through the brief history of the community boundary
retrospectively before using it as a community design approach. In Chinese ancient
cities, the institution of “Li fang” was using walls to divide up cities into pieces. As
the capital of the Tang Dynasty, Chang’an (current Xi’an) was the representative city
of the institution of “Li fang”: every community was enclosed by tall brick walls to
separate it from the next door neighborhoods (Fig. 4.8).
Fig.4.8 The city map of Chang’an during the Tang Dynasty, the city was divided into a number of “Li fang” strictly.
73 During the Song Dynasty, the institution of “Li fang” was abandoned with the
development of handicraft industry, commerce and international trade business. The
wall was torn down and all kinds of shops were allowed to open to the public instead
of walls. The sharp and harsh boundary was transformed into a “soft” type — where
communication is possible (Fig.4.9). In Drum Tower Muslim District, the boundaries
are shops and restaurants which physically separate the community from the city. It is
easy and natural to meet with people.
Fig.4.9 Section of Qing Ming Shang He Tu, depicting the shops around the community in Bianjing city in Qing Ming Festival, artist: Zhang, Zeduan, Song Dynasty, 960-1279AD
While the boundary between the traditional community and the city such as
walls or fences were gradually becoming less visible or disappearing, the
establishment, such as a bar or a wall served to reify and address the difference between the modern community and the city. In Ziwei, part of the boundary is shops,
and part is the bar. It addresses the safety concern to use bar or wall as a boundary,
74 besides a feasible means of heightening intensity, and of giving a city a sharp, clear form, as ancient walls apparently did with ancient cities, is the safety issue. (Fig.4.10).
It clearly indicates alienation, to keep outsiders away from the community, to keep the community safe.
Fig.4.10 The wall around Garden City Residential Community in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China
However, if there is no bar or wall, does it mean that the community is not safe? Drum Tower is not literally walled off from the city as well as most traditional urban communities; it opens to the city and the access is subtly restricted. There are only several roads into the community, the other roads all dead ends in T junctions immediately at the edge of the community (Fig.4.11). The result is that people do not come into the community unless they have business there, and when people are in the community, they recognize that they are in a distinct part of town.
75
Fig.4.11 T junctions around Drum Tower
In a high density community like Ziwei, it is difficult to limit access to the community because the location is near the edge of the city. It will take years to finish
the surroundings’ facilities (Fig.4.12). Therefore, a boundary is important to
community safety, a formation of a boundary around each community is encouraged
to separate it from the neighbor communities; however, a bar is not necessary. A
boundary should be friendly not only to the community, but to the city. It should bring
insiders the ownership and the sense of belonging, however, not at the cost of the
outsides’ alienation.
Fig.4.12 Next door to Ziwei on the south side is Shanmen Village, which will be replaced by another high-rise, high density community soon.
76 Gateway: symbolism and size
Every successful community is identifiable because it has some kind of gateways which mark its boundaries: the boundary comes alive in people’ minds because they recognize the gateways.90
The gateway has a symbolic meaning in Chinese philosophy. For the Chinese
live as a family, a closed gateway gives a complete sense of finality; a opened
gateway shows that the inside must be very precious to be guarded so well
(Fig.4.13).91 Moreover, the design of the Chinese gateway is particularly individual.
From the Forbidden City to the residential community, the shape, color and decoration
of a gateway indicates the owners’ social status. In the Qing dynasty, yellow was not forbidden to be used on a regular gateway because it was the royal color.
Contemporarily, the gateway is still used as a boundary to address different precincts, a community, a building complex or some other areas.
Fig.4.13 The gateway of Gao residence, Xi’an, Qing Dynasty
90 Colborn, Fern M, the Neighborhood and Urban Renewal (New York, National Federation of Settlements and Neighborhood Centers, 1963), 12 91 Lip, Evelyn. Feng Shui: Environments of Power: a Sstudy of Chinese Architecture (London: Academy Editions, 1995.) 69
77 In Drum Tower Muslim District, even though the access is restricted, the few
points where access is possible, will come to have special importance. The entrance of
Drum Tower and Beiyuanmen, mark the passage into the community as well as the
main gateway in Ziwei.
A gateway can have many forms — a gate, a bridge, a passage between
narrowly separated buildings, an avenue of trees, or a gateway through a building.92
Nevertheless, currently there is a temptation to make the gateway bigger in any precinct, a gateway in front of a university, a government building, a museum, even a community. The problem is that the large size and form burst into the scale of the urban context, moreover, ironically, make the gateway itself inaccessible. No matter how big it is, it has the same function: mark the point where a path crosses a boundary and helps maintain the boundary. Hence, it is not necessary to design a large gateway for a community, but it should be recognizable and amiable.
Street: designable qualities
“Streets moderate the form and structure and comfort of urban communities. Their sizes and arrangements afford or deny light and shade…They may have the effect of focusing attention and activities on one or many centers, at the edges, along a line, or they may simply not direct one’s attention to anything in particular. ”93 – Allan, 1993
92 Alexander, Christopher. A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction (New York: Oxford University Press, 1977), 405 93 Jacobs, Allan B. Great Streets (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1993), 123
78 In community, streets also serve as a source of personal identity. There are circumstances where group members show great concern for how they may be regarded by others. By their long-term involvements in streets, the men make a social investment in the extended primary group and in the particular social order they create.
It’s a big part of their life.
A good street should help make community: should facilitate people acting and interacting to achieve in society what they might not achieve alone.94 It is not surprising that, different streets in different communities have flexible roles in urban life, multiple services or simple utility, bustling or peaceful. In my observations, streets in Drum Tower Muslim District, even the smallest lanes are overflowing with people, whenever day and night. While in Ziwei City Garden, the pathways serve as a social place, where neighbors could say hi to each other. After the study, I am wondering what the comparable information, beyond function requirements (which can not decided by architects or designers) about physical qualities of the good streets
— plans, patterns, details could be provided as design approaches? What are the physical, designable characteristics of streets to maintain or continue the livability of the community?
First, in a very elemental way, streets allow people to be outside.95 Although the subject of street width and shape has long been a concern of architects and city designers, the primary focus has not really been on considering. In the case of Drum
Tower and other traditional communities reviving projects, existing sidewalks are the
94 Jacobs, Allan B. Great Streets (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1993) 23 95 Girling, Cynthia L., and Kenneth I. Helphand. Yard, Street, Park: the Design of Suburban Open Space ( New York: J. Wiley, 1994) 12
79 first to be sacrificed to make more parking spaces, broaden roads or arrange much more outside stalls. This might attract more visitors, tourists and some people who do
business here, however, the local neighbors are losing their place, the place where
they can meet people — which is a basic reason to have cities in any case and it is a
great deal of local social life.
Therefore, a continuous, certain width of sidewalk should be maintained for a
certain length so that people can walk safely and leisurely, without worrying about the
traffic. Within a certain length, the sidewalk should not be interrupted by any facilities,
stalls, bicycles storage or even landscaping. The width of pedestrian path should be
determined by the length of the street, the scale of the community and the usage of
facilities along the street.
Second, the interplay of human activities with the physical place has an
enormous amount to do with the greatness of a street.96 In response to a study of
design professionals aimed at finding out that, arranging access could be an efficient
and workable approach to endue the street with social ingredient: make people stay or
go away.97 In Drum Tower, every store, restaurant, or residential area has an entrance
or stairs directly open to the street. Easy access has a significant impact on street
livability, therefore, the movement between rooms in outdoors, not just movement
between buildings.
While in Ziwei, along the pathways, settings play the same role as arranged
access — the exercise facilities, chairs, newspaper exhibition shelf, the intersections,
96 Jacobs, Allan B. Great Streets (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1993) 21 97 Girling, Cynthia L., and Kenneth I. Helphand. Yard, Street, Park: the Sesign of Suburban Open Space ( New York: J. Wiley, 1994) 52
80 the gardens. Those all invite participatnts. Residents stop to talk or sit or watch, as
passive participants, taking in what the street has to provide. Participation in the life
of a street involves the ability of residents, at this point, social or economic status is
not a requirement for joining in, only desire.98 Whether in Drum Tower or in Ziwei, in
low-income or in high class community, residents have the same aspiration to have a regular and comfortable street life.
Third, the network of streets works better than an individual street in the
community. In Drum Tower, every street is connected to another with a mixed-use of
residential and commercial. The network of alleyways and lanes that each street
formed, as well as the allocation of space to particular uses and sizes of buildings,
therefore, became an overt expression of the total gamut of behavior characteristic of a criterion residential community with its jurisdiction (Fig.4.14).99 In Ziwei, every
pathway is linked to each other to form a secondary pedestrian network running along the main pathways. There will be more separate intersections in the network which would provide more chances for people to meet, to watch or to be seen. These intersections could form a small square or a small garden which have been mentioned in the square section.
98 Jacobs, Allan B. Great Streets (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1993) 31 99 Tianshu Pan, Historical Memory, Community-building and Place-making in Neighborhood Shanghai in Restructuring the Chinese city: Changing Society, Economy and Space. ed. Laurence J.C. Ma and Fulong Wu (London; New York: Routledge, 2005), 127
81
Fig.4.14 The street network in Drum Tower
Ultimately, a street is more than public utility, it is a symbolic, ceremonial, and social complexity.100 To have achieved all the physical characteristics of the street, it will have been put together well, artfully. This is a growing challenge for architects and designers which will lead to the contribution of improving communal life.
Playground: location and safety
Community has impacts on young children as well. On the one hand, heavy
population within a community can negatively influence child development.
Obviously Drum Tower is a higher population density area. The direct negative
influence is that there are no playgrounds for children, so children play on the streets
which might be dangerous as discussed previously.
On the other hand, it has been well documented that even in the most
constraining environments children will keep the play potential from whatever is at
100 Jacobs, Allan B. Great Streets (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1993) 121
82 hand; street furniture, parked cars, vegetation, found objects, etc. It offers children a maximum opportunity to explore, to discover, to acquire knowledge of themselves
and their surroundings through interactions with the environment where they develop
that sense of autonomy and self-esteem so critical to individual well-being.101 As a
bustling community, children in Drum Tower have much more opportunities to
observe and learn from society, the settings, the people and the events. The challenge
is discovering what design can do to keep streets safe enough so they can still be
playgrounds for children.
In Drum Tower’s situation, it is important to maintain the width of sidewalks
and to clean some spots on the streets to create playgrounds with simple play
equipment, which won’t cost much and can be finished by residents voluntarily. There
is a precedent in Zeyreck, which is a low-income residential area in Istanbul, Turkey
that has a similar situation as Drum Tower. Some students from the People Building
Better Cities (PBBC) Program which is a program of UIA Istanbul 2005 helped the
local residents clean a spot for children to play when they conducted their slum
research in Zeyreck. Then some intensive games, such as playing ball and slides can
occur in a bigger and safer place.. Children still can play less intensive games on the
streets. Moreover, because the spots are between houses, parents can easily keep their
eyes on the children (Fig.4.15).
101 Brower, Sidney N. Design in Familiar Places: What makes Home Environments Look Good (New York: Praeger, 1988), 110
83
Fig.4.15 An empty space between houses has been cleaned and paved for a playground.
The availability and accessibility of high quality resources in the community is
a key issue for both parents and children. Location is more important than play
facilities. Playgrounds are more welcome when they are closed to residents’ homes
and far away from main traffic. This is why small playgrounds which are close to
residential buildings are called “home zones” by residents in Ziwei. When easily
accessible to children’s homes, play facilities are well used. Location identity makes people feel a sense of security.
The playground serves as a gathering place therefore, it’s important that
playgrounds also provide settings for parents, such as a small lawn, a couple of open
stairs where parents can keep an eye on children’s play, meanwhile, still feel like they
are in a group and secure. Playgrounds need to be as diverse, exciting, and accessible
as the play opportunities elsewhere in the child’s habitat. Playgrounds must
compensate for the restrictions of traffic dangers and parental apprehension and
function as a valuable social asset in children’s lives.102
There are two types of safety issues at the playground. One is social danger,
102 Rubin, Herbert J. Renewing Hope within Neighborhoods of Despair: the Community-based Development Model (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2000) 126
84 such as fear of attack or fear of kidnapping, which makes parents bring their children
to the small playgrounds close to home as discussed above. The other is physical
danger, that is, playground injuries. According to the United States Consumer Product
Safety Commission (CPSC) statistics in 2006, it is estimated that nearly 200,000 playground- related injuries requiring emergency room visits are now occurring each
year. About 150,000 of those injuries occur on public playgrounds.103
Because many injuries are associated with inadequate supervision on
playgrounds, it is highly recommended that parents become proactive in playground
supervision. They should visually inspect the equipment for potential safety problems
and make sure that children do not play on any unsafe equipment.104
Landscaping: contribution to cultural connotation
Direct physical access to nature and natural areas, for all people, the young,
the adult and the old, is another design and planning necessity. Grassroots urban
gardening initiatives in the community illustrate well this potential. In Ziwei, there are
a number of gardens around apartment buildings. Even if they are small, the gardens
provide residents a chance to reconnect to nature. Moreover, they are only 3 minutes
away from each apartment building’s entrance, where all age groups can meet.
However, the problem is that all the gardens have been named with western names,
which is described at length in Chapter Three, Paris Garden, Seattle Garden, Rome
Garden…no matter what kind of native plants are in it, the gardens are designed as a
103 http://www.peacefulplaygrounds.com/resources.htm#cat1, (accessed 26 Feb. 2007) 104 Playground Inspection Guide, http://www.playgroundsafety.org/safety/inspect.htm, (accessed 21 Apr. 2007)
85 representative of western life style.
Retrospectively, there are a lot of arguments about how China loses cultural
identity by significant modern architecture in metropolitan cities during the
globalization. For example, in Shanghai, as the building boom is underway again,
Pudong district has been developed as a playground with a proliferation of towering
skyscrapers bursting into the existing local staid residential area. 105 This huge
physical transformation has raised many attentions and anxieties. Compared with big
urban transformation, minor environmental changes have been ignored often. Equally
serious is the way in which our cultural identity is lost in our intimate surroundings,
like in our community gardens.
The careless landscape is to imply western life style, but without western features, for instance, there is no French parterres in Paris Garden or it just parodies the gardening feature, which could lead to a specific cultural misunderstanding and confusion for the most vulnerable populations in our community — the very young,
because community environment is an informal open classroom beyond the school,
where they can learn much, sometimes, more than in school.
Surprisingly, Chinese gardens are built all over the world, in Portland, in
Seattle, in Vancouver, however, except in China. It’s time to think about bringing
vernacular gardens back to people’s daily life in response to the sustained indigenous
lifestyle as a part of cultural identity. Therefore, designing new urban community and
regenerated areas with specific landscaping in mind is another important
105 Shanghai Xintiandi, http://www.shuion.com/eng/SOL/pptdev/xin.asp, (accessed 27 Nov. 2006)
86 place-strengthening move.106
Qun Xianzhuang is a modern native residential community in Xi’an designed by the well-known architect, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering,
Zhang, Jinqiu and the design group. The designers aim to build Qun Xianzhuang to a
Garden of spirit and nature, and the architecture contains the traditional style of the
Tang Dynasty and adopt the “New Tang Style-simplism” to rediscover and collect the historical and cultural contents to plan and grade the scenery of the whole garden
(Fig.4.16).107
Fig.4.16 Qun Xianzhuang Residential Community
The main garden is designed so that it is possible to visualize the natural environment which people used to live in. In the main garden, close to the main entrance, the hills, waterfalls and a lake, which are significant traditional Chinese gardening patterns,108 are chosen proportionately in scale with the size of the land
(Fig.4.17). The principal is to bring nature under control without this appearing too evident. These natural features are used instead of artificial means to produce the
106 Beatley, Timothy. Native to Nowhere: Sustaining Home and Community in a Global age (Washington, DC: Island Press, 2004), 133 107 Author translated from “the Modern Vernacular Dwelling-The Xi'an Qun Xianzhuang Area”, Zhang, Jinqiu, yuyu zhang, Architectural Journal, Vol1 2003: 27-29 108 Notes: traditional Chinese gardening patterns are mainly divided into two parts: one is private garden with ponds, shrubs, bamboos and rockeries which are small scale landscaping patterns; the other is royal garden with great lakes, waterfalls, and hills which are large scale ones.
87 dramatic landscapes so loved by the Chinese.109 Accessibility to nature even becomes a selling point of the community.
Fig.4.17 Compared with the entrance fountain of Ziwei (below), the main garden of Qun Xianzhuang (above) has incorporated the traditional Chinese gardening patterns significantly.
109 Lee, Sherman E. Chinese Landscape Painting (Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1962), 115
88 There are a number of small gardens surrounding the apartment buildings in
Qun Xianzhuang as well as in Ziwei. Landscape gardening in miniature is the idea of these small gardens. However, in traditional garden courtyards, there was no grass and no flowers, but they were laid out with pine trees and shrubs and with curious rockeries. In response to create a modern pleasing and homey garden, the designers arranged some flowers instead of rockeries to avoid children getting hurt by rocks
(Fig.4.18). The design approach has been integrated with modernity and tradition.
Fig.4.18 The small garden around apartment building has been designed with modernity and tradition
Greenness, or the presence of nature in all its possible forms, is one essential place-fixing element, and we have much quantitative and anecdotal evidence of the power it exerts on our place sensibilities. This greenness can take many forms and be expressed in many ways.110 In Drum Tower, packed with traders, the street is flanked by splendid two- or three-story shops catering to a much wider range of business. Not surprising, fewer gardens and plants are found here because of high land values and
110 Beatley, Timothy. Native to Nowhere: Sustaining Home and Community in a Global Age (Washington, DC: Island Press, 2004), 120
89 the normal desire of traders to keep “nonessential” overheads down.111 Therefore, in
terms of landscaping design approaches, there are less that designers can do in an
existing traditional community than in an entirely new contemporary community.
Nevertheless, one element should not be overlooked, it is street trees.
Chinese philosophy believes the world is not an antagonism of fractured
differences, but a continuous holistic world. At any moment in our existence, our life and nature are inextricably intertwined and completely involved in each other.112 As
one of the inevitable street characteristics, street trees make the community more
amicable. In Drum Tower, adults cook on the street under the trees, where the elders
listen to the birds singing in the cages that are hooking on the branches. The children
play in the consistent shade where female vendors sell homemade products. Trees serve to create a frame around a street, and such “outdoor rooms” are recognized as
being very conducive to enhancing the pleasant environment.113
It is urgent to make a guideline or policy to maintain the street trees or if possible, plant more in the existing traditional communities in order to maintain the sensibility of the place. Street trees are somewhat the compensation to the natural environment that we are losing day by day in the peak of construction. We can not expect that street trees could contribute to the ecological environmental system, however, at least, they provide a sense of nature in the highly human occupied place.
What’s more, the species of trees should gain more attention. Proper plant
111 Chinese Tourism, http://www.chinainfotravel.com/Chinese_Tourism.htm, (accessed 25 Apr. 2007) 112 The Transformation of Chinese Cities in Times of Accelerated Economic Development, available at http://www.technepress.nl/pdf/12.more.pdf (accessed 8 Nov. 2006) 113 Rubin, Herbert J. Renewing Hope within Neighborhoods of Despair: the Community-based Development Model (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2000), 126
90 selection is one of the important elements in successful landscaping. They are also elements that can be used with purpose such as screening, shade, erosion control, dividing, focal points, noise control, etc. Therefore, choosing the right plants for the street is helpful for environment-friendly looking and manageable landscaping.
Populus simonii used to be planted along the streets as the native specie in Xi’an for years. It grows fast and is easily to be planted, however, its seeds are floating in the air in the spring, which makes some people allergic and those seeds are difficult to clean (Fig.4.19). As a rule, plants with finer textures should be used in greater numbers than plants with coarse textures.114
Fig.4.19 The floating seeds of Populus simonii cause trouble in the spring
Design does count. A successful community environment does not just happen.115 Overwhelmingly, it is derived from a conscious act of conception and creation of public space, the central plaza, the boundary, the street and the playground as a whole environment-oriented system which contributes to the urban context
114 Plant Selection: Choosing the Right Plants, available at http://www.the-landscape-design-site.com/plantselection.html, (accessed 19 Nov. 2006) 115 Jacobs, Allan B. Great Streets (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1993), 314
91 magnificently. The hands of decision makers, sometimes of specific designers, are
visible.116 Nevertheless, there are as many or more environment-isolated communities
that have been designed. By contrast, the environment-friendly communities, in
general, get designed and then are cared for, continuously.117
Urban design approaches: towards community development
There is no doubt that the vitality of community public space is based largely on community design. Ultimately, how will community development meet the master demand of urban development? What alternative ways are there of improving the community without threatening the continuity of the urban fabric? It is also a prerequisite to take urban design approaches into account as well as applying the communities design approaches in specific projects, either in traditional community revival or new community design.
Mixed-Use in community: the recreation of diversity
Jacobs advocated for “mixed-use” urban development – the integration of
different building types and uses, whether residential or commercial, old or new.118
According to this idea, cities depend on a diversity of buildings, residences, businesses and other non-residential uses, as well as people of different ages using areas at different times of the day, to create urban vitality. She saw cities as being
116 Jacobs, Allan B. Great Streets (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1993), 314 117 Ibid. 118 Jacobs, Jane. The Death and Life of Great American Cities (New York: Random House. 1961), 127
92 “organic, spontaneous, and untidy,” and views the intermingling of city uses and users as crucial to economic and urban development.
Currently, in opposition to “mixed-use” urban development, a different phenomenon is emerging. There is an intention to create the purity of the community, which is excluding any other services, especially commercial utilities from residential communities because “mixed-use” is defined as tumultuous and insecure for residents.
It is reasonable to some purpose; however, social activities have been limited when
“mixed-use” is abandoned. This is one of the important reasons why people lose their sense of place in an entirely new community. For example, residents in Ziwei have no chance to talk with their neighbors in the grocery stores as well as residents do in
Drum Tower.
Adopting urban planning principles, new growth areas in communities, as well as redevelopment of older areas, can be designed in ways that resist unique function, and promote the fine-grained visual diversity that characterizes cities.119 Commercial services could be applied in the community prudently, to create “mixed-use” but not baffling the peaceful community ambience. In other words, it is important to control the balance carefully between the commerce and the residence. Communities have more regulatory power to resist chain store sameness and commercial homogeneity than they sometimes realize, are important tools for strengthening place.120 For instance, besides some commercial services around Ziwei City Garden which are open to the city, within or around the central public space, small grocery stores or dry
119 Beatley, Timothy. Native to Nowhere: Sustaining Home and Community in a Global Age (Washington, DC: Island Press, 2004), 91 120 Ibid. 93
93 cleaning stores could be designed as a social place for residents, to change a pure residential area into a “mixed-use” neighborhood. Along pathways, small playgrounds, art work or vending machines can attract people to stop by even at night or in the winter.
A beautifully designed space is not worth anything if people don’t use it. In
China, public participation is almost impossible.121 The challenge for designers is to understand people’s needs, then to create more diverse, textured land use patterns in which people do have places they can meet each other. It needs to be designed with flexible uses in mind, planning for uses and activities in this way promote sustainability and use, and therefore diversity.
Community density: the quality of life
Chinese people lived in single-story houses for thousands of years, then moved to multi-storey dwellings with the industrial development in recent hundred years. In response to globalization and urbanization, people have no choice but to live in high-rise, high density communities in the last twenty years from internationalized metropolis, such as Beijing and Shanghai, to secondary province capital cities, such as
Xi’an. Today, there are still some low-rise communities, some of them are the old traditional communities in the central urban areas; some others are new in the suburbs, but only for a few very wealthy people, no more than 1% of the population.
121 Notes: In China, the regular design process is that architects and planners listen to the government or the clients, the public never has chance to participate the projects. The government is trying to get the public involved some projects especially for community improvement; however, it will take time to achieve the goal of public participation.
94 Traditional communities in China, currently, are not as bad as slums, but most of them are occupied by low-income families. However, now the urban renewal program aims to eliminate or remove them. Once they have been eliminated or removed, traditional public space has gone, at the same time, people’s traditional life styles have gone.122 Understanding it as an urban metabolism, even though people still have the memory of their pleasant, livable traditional community public space in mind, they have begun to adjust to live in the new high density communities.
Although orthodox planning theory had blamed high density for crime, filth, and a host of other problems, Jacobs disproved these assumptions and demonstrated how a high concentration of people is vital for city life, economic growth, and prosperity in the 1960s. While acknowledging that density alone does not produce healthy communities, she illustrated through concrete examples how higher densities yield a critical mass of people that is capable of supporting more vibrant communities.123
A society does not belong to a few people but to all who live in it and contribute to it. Since the high-rise, high density residential community is the major destination in China’s current situation, the quality of its public space has a profoundly important influence on the quality of people’s daily life. It is impossible and improper to rebuild the traditional public space exactly in new communities; nevertheless, it is necessary and important to design the environment which can recall people’s sense of the place (Fig.4.20). A highly walkable, reliable and flexible-use
122 Colborn, Fern M, the Neighborhood and Urban Renewal. New York, National Federation of Settlements and Neighborhood Centers, 1963 P1 123 Jacobs, Jane. The Death and Life of Great American Cities (New York: Random House. 1961), 201
95 public space is the response to a variety of perspectives, including ideology, culture, and social values.
Fig.4.20 Beijing is going to rebuild the most famous traditional residential community: Qianmen Avenue. The picture shows a worker is piecing sections of the large post together on the street.
The city of today: the transformation and cultural identity
In 1930s, in the book the City of Tomorrow, Le Corbusier’s theories suggest
“the center of a great city should consist mainly of skyscrapers – exclusively for commercial use – and that the area occupied by these should be no greater than 5 percent. The remaining 95% should be parks with trees. Surrounding the center there would be a belt of residential buildings. These buildings are to be small communities in themselves, offering catering and domestic services.”124 Nowadays, the blueprint of the city of tomorrow came into reality: the city of today — making our cities bigger and bigger. Urban areas are continuously sprawling in all directions and greedily eroding agricultural land.125
124 Le Corbusier, the City of Tomorrow (Boston: MIT Press, 1972), 210-211 125 Xue, Charlie Q. L. Building a Revolution: Chinese Architecture since 1980 (HK: HK Univ. Press, 2006) 71
96 In China, 95% of urban land in the city of today has been occupied by
construction, no more than 5% is urban green. Ten years ago, the location of Ziwei
City Garden was on the edge of the Xi’an urban area. Now other high-rise, high
density communities have been built around it (Fig.4.21).As long as we have no clear
image as to the desired spatial developmental structure for the region as a whole, commercial powers and local politics determine the spatial development.
Fig.4.21 On the south side of Ziwei is a new high-rise, high density residential community: Tang Yuan Xin Yuan.
The current transition toward a post-socialist civil society has thus changed the
nature of urban experiences and reshaped power relationships between different
localities in the Chinese cities.126 The developers seek the new location on the
periphery of the city to build new communities, which make new communities far
away from the original city area because of affordable land price. Therefore, more and
more high-rise, high density communities are beginning to expand the pancake.
126 Tianshu Pan, Historical Memory,Community-building and Place-making in Neighborhood Shanghai in Restructuring the Chinese city: Changing Society, Economy and Space. ed. Laurence J.C. Ma and Fulong Wu (London; New York: Routledge, 2005), 131
97 Undoubtedly, those locations push the city edge further. The frequently updated city
map is one of the obvious manifestations of the gentrification process that is
transforming the everyday life of ordinary communities. The dangerous consequence
is that as people live farther and farther away from work, from markets, and from
theaters, they have to spend much more time on transportation, they will lose the
sense of the city. The community means just a residential area, which has been
isolated from other city activities people should have regularly.
Even though some developers clarify that residents can get full services, such
as entertaining facilities, shopping malls and schools close to new communities as
soon as they move in, it has not been provided on time mostly. It takes much more time to create an integrated social network than to build a community. In the case of
Ziwei city garden, construction of surrounding services is still going on. The central question is how the built environment can help people to maintain or recreate the sense of the city where they belong to spiritually, but live faraway from spatially.
The form of the city is related to the ‘urban-social’ through the dynamics of
the movement and social group interface. Not only in Xi’an, but in most cities,
western building styles are becoming “popular” cityscapes. These “transplanted
cityscapes”, especially in residential buildings, such as the “continental European
style” is applied to the homes of China’s rising population as a testimony of housing
improvement.127 Ziwei City Garden is one of these practices. Like in Ziwei’s situation,
there is a brand new high density residential community in Beijing which is named
127 Xue, Charlie Q. L. Building a Revolution: Chinese Architecture since 1980 (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2006) 142
98 Blue Salon Community, ironically, the only blue is on the wall. This reveals how much Chinese people appreciate western culture and seek ways to transplant it to
vernacular lifestyle. What’s more, as a well-known western culture representative to
Chinese people, McDonald’s is one step away outside the Drum Tower Muslim
District, a preserved traditional community (Fig.4.22). In the city of today, are we
ready to lose our culture identity even in our daily life, in our homes, in our
communities?
Fig.4.22 McDonald’s is right outside of Drum Tower Muslim District
Community is more than an individual building, it’s an area, which has a
powerful influence on not only city form, but native culture, such as lifestyle, artistic
sensibilities and social structure. Culture is transforming itself from the simple
certainties of Modernism to a much more complex interpretation. Once the culture has
changed, the life no longer is able to actively engage with its surroundings. Western
culture could be learned as a paragon of modernity; however, totally direct imitation
should not be the solution. Even though China is now undergoing one of the most
99 massive urbanization movements in human history, transformation should be thought out thoroughly before any construction begins. After the studies of the Drum Tower
Muslim District and the Ziwei City Garden, some specific design approaches have been discussed, furthermore, the studies will be continued and are going to provide more design references in depth for planners, architects and designers.
100 Bibliography
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