Co-existing City A thesis submitted to the Graduate school of the University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Architecture in the School of Architecture and Interior Design of the College of Design, Architecture, Art, Planning by Chi Zhang B.A. Zhejiang University of Technology, 2013 Advisors: Greinacher, Udo Tang, Ming Wang, Xinhao Abstract Since the urbanization of China exploded after 1990, old city areas encountered many problems. They were unable to accommodate so many rural migrants, and traffic congestion and dwelling problems pushed a city’s boundary out at an incredible speed. However, people need more time and space to think about the quality of their life, and this new speed of urbanization caused new problems within cities. Take Shanghai as an example, the new area of Shanghai is not walkable because of super blocks, the division between different zones made residential areas dead at night due to limited activities and closed blocks made green spaces pointless. This thesis seeks to examine the current mega-plot system in Shanghai’s planned new area and the old city area through a study of the historical, economic, social and living conditions that have created it, and compare Shanghai with New York, Rome and Cairo in regards to their proportion of function, road density, footprint, and zoning, and try to generate a set of form based design guidelines to improve existing conditions. 2 3 Table of Contents Abstract List of Illustration 1. The Facts 2. History 3. Archetype 4. Precedents & Analysis 5. Site Analysis 6. Practice 7. Conclusion Resources 6 7 10. Chapter 2, Figure 5, 6, 7, 8, http://qn.cutt.com/160225093729920.640.441. 0.2423?viewImage2/2/w/500 11. The Patterns of the Urban Fabric of Beijing’s Hutong, Armel- le Caron, https://mir-s3-cdn-cf.behance.net/project_modules/disp/ c4059b1024470.5600c42284f3d.jpg 12. Chapter 3, Figure 1, http://www.zeigua.com/images/PreHeavenBaGua+- text.gif 13. Chapter 3, Figure 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, Zhu Wenyi, Space. Symbol. City - A Theory List of Illustration of Urban Design. Shuxin Press, 1995 1. Ghost City of China, https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&es- 14. Paris – Quartier Massena, http://www.christiandeportzamparc.com/ rc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjHjKCgx- wp-content/uploads/2014/06/CONTENU10-199511_MASSENA_170310_ NzQAhXFNSYKHUaXCfAQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww. plan-masse-1080x810.jpg youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DvZdBeczDLpA&psig=AFQjCNGeQEb4o- qyZLDaE0KsSC88LGzTvKw&ust=1481009434369215 15. Chapter 4, Figure 4, Allan B. Jacobs, Greet Streets. The MIT Press, 1995 2. Chapter 1, Figure 1, http://pic.bbanp.com/img/20259830006017 16, Chapter 4, Figure 5, Pan Di, Key Transport Statistics of World Cities 3. Chapter 1, Figure 2, http://cyjctrip.qiniudn.com/45186/1370671715546p- 17. Chapter 4, Figure 8, http://www.bohemiantrails.com/wp-content/up- 17sh6bk9dndr18701riv5beplj.jpg loads/2013/05/stone-street.png 4. Chapter 1, Figure 3, http://pic.to8to.com/case/1506/15/20150615_ fe84839723f09e20dd588vxljn6s6zu7.jpg 5. Chapter 1, Figure 4, http://www.sydcch.com/upimg/al- limg/090616/0Z22WK3-0.jpg 6. Chapter 1, Figure 5, Preservation Green Lab, Older, Smaller, Better - Mea- suring how the character of buildings and blocks influences urban vitality 7. Old town area of Shanghai, https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/ef/ d4/36/efd4368ed5468ce7c552094033cb2271.jpg 8. City with great vitality at Song Dynasty, http://www.iartdao.com/up- load/20151109/20151109075208_135.jpg 9. Chapter 2, Figure 1, 2,3,4, 9, http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_406290f- 50102wuo9.html 8 9 1. The Facts Ghost city of China 10 11 1.1 The confliction between city and block. 1.2 The detailed issues caused by the conflict ion As China has been developing at an astounding speed for two decades, a new 1.2.1 obstructing the veins of the city direction of city development appeared, but blocks, as cells of a city, have lost their way. Nowadays, the main issues for blocks in China are ‘‘mega-plot” and The veins of the city consist of the road network, the landscape system and “imperforation.” the river system. These networks and systems are either too sparse, or not smoothly connected. Currently, pedestrian lanes have to be sacrificed if the Mega-plot represents a loss of city structure and the separation of city compo- traffic is heavy; landscape has to be abandoned if there is too much traffic; nents. roads along the river have to be given up if the landscape system needs to be Mega-plots are the result of city traffic, administrative systems and devel- denser. For example, the sidewalk of Sichuan Road, Shanghai, is only 3 feet opment models. They helped improve these aspects to some degree, but a wide. (Figure 1) mega-plot creates a mini-city inside a bigger one and does not take citizens’ rights and interests as a priority. Imperforation means a loss of city public space and diverse social life. Due to concerns about safety, management and cost, closed communities are really common in Chinese cities, with doorkeeper standing in front of the gate Figure 1 and poor people kept out. Imperforation turns public space private. 1.2.2 Decreasing the vitality of the city and increasing the crime rate Actually, a closed community with a wall built along the boundary cuts the connection and communication with society and cannot really ensure safety. A closed community generally has only one single function with no one passing by during some time periods of the day. Those streets and squares with no support from the community can only be recognized as a vacant space to walk through, so there are always a lot of crime at night. 12 13 1.2.3 Generating isolation and separation, ruin the fairness 1.2.5 Decreasing opportunities for business Fairness is an important element for sustainable social development, but in Smaller blocks offer more commercial opportunities along the many streets fact, cities in China have been separated into many closed blocks. Professor around them in comparison to the fewer streets around a mega-block. This Edward Blakely from the University of California once said, “nowadays, we structure of city blocks can maximize business profit and bring more vitality find a new type of discrimination, which is setting security personnel and to the city. Research done by the Preservation Green lab also indicates that a building walls for community, I call it as fortressam.” In China, this kind of neighborhood with smaller blocks creates more jobs. (Figure 4, Figure 5) fortress also includes schools, firms and governments. There is no doubt that open blocks can help maintain fairness in society. Figure 4 Figure 5 1.2.6 Bringing inconvenience to daily life Figure 2 Figure 3 It is ridiculous that people who live in big cities with advanced public trans- 1.2.4 Ruining the landscape view of the city portation systems experience less convenience than those who live in small cities. People who live in small cities can get everything they need within A mega and single-functioned block brings the boundary as a continuous wall walking distance, but people in big cities actually spend much more time or monotonous elevation, which is boring and not friendly even to people who moving from one box to another. This affects everyone, especially the old and drive by. People are easily able to get lost in such a city landscape. In contrast, the disabled who tend to feel more frustration, or even despair. a small and open block can lead to a more diverse design and landscape, both inside and outside the block, with the inside and the outside melting together. Moreover, if the block was separate with different sides of properties, it would bring more variety to the view of the city. 14 15 1.3 Current situation of Shanghai’ old area is just competition game of pseudo-classic architecture, which is running the area instead of getting better. Today, Shanghai’s old city area is mainly the oval area embraced by Renmin Road and Xinhua Road. In this historical area, we can see houses of the Qing In the old city area of Shanghai, we can easily find road names such as Reed Dynasty, Shikumen communities, shops, temples, churches, gardens, ba- mat, Cao cang, Bamboo line, Blouse Dr Fang, which are all named by indus- zaars, etc. These buildings created a beautiful, historical view when combined try or celebrity. In a modern city, these names glisten with a sense of history. with those organically grown buildings later in this area. It still holds a lot of However, many cities are keen on the construction of expressways and trunk residents and small businesses at the moment, forming a small self-sufficient roads, and tend to neglect secondary roads, bicycle and pedestrian systems, society. If the surrounding old port area along the river which covers an area which makes arterial roads suffer from overload and traffic congestion, and of about 4 square kilometers is also included, this historical commercial and increases the burden of the city. residential area is brimmed with attractiveness like the ancient towns, histori- cal and delicate, but it now survives in the gap between the past and the future, However, compared with many successful cities which have a network of and is gradually abandoned as time goes by. smaller roads, Shanghai has more than 25 million residents, and the popula- tion is still increasing. This low-density and low-height model of city develop- However, this region is the favorite of Shanghai residents, especially old ment is not suitable because land is in very short supply.