Glocal Insights III : Livable Cities & Urban Communities

Urban China Glocal Insights Panel III was held in eslite spectrum Suzhou on the afternoon of May 28th, with 50 audiences seated, and nearly 200 people crowded.

Three speakers and two mentors from XJTLU shared researches and insights on the topic of "livable cities and urban communities".The speakers are from Romania, India, Mauritius. Mentors are Dr.Austin Williams from U.K. and Dr.Chia-lin Chen from Taiwan, China.

Urban China edited the content for you.

Understanding the Concepts of 'Livability' and 'Livable Streets' in Shanghai

Aura Istrate

Romanian,

Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University,

PhD candidate in Urban Studies.

In Shanghai, some roads and streets are very wide with lots of traffic, but there are plenty of social activities, social life on the streets. On the roadside people are eating or playing cards or playing Majiang. I wondering why is these happening?  We can see there's a place near the Bund where the road almost kisses the building. But the locals are taking it easy, because they are used to a congested lifestyle.

In the west a famous research by Donald AppleYard's in 1960s to 1970s, found that livable streets have been associated with reduced traffic volume and a reduced number of cars. the heavy traffic streets have much less social interaction, and less comfortable than the light traffic streets. according to the theory, what happens in china is not exactly wide. On the streets there's a lot of traffic, while there are many people.

Social interaction on three streets

Then, what are the current trends in china? we see transport in shanghai, there are very wide roads downtown, and new roads through yet to be developed land. if people move in, they simply build roads. the urban policies are promoting motorization, considered a first step to economic development.

So what is livability? Urban livability is a holistic concept, difficult to define it in a way that everyone understands. Based on an extended literature, livability can be analyzed at different levels – at the global level of cities, regions, states, and at the local level of neighborhoods, communities, streets. The understanding of livability can further vary based on the different categories of stakeholders that discuss it. The stakeholders interested in livability issues can be from the academic world, from the political world or can have a more practical approach, including architects, urban planners, developers.

In West, from 1960s, lots of academics gave their concepts and perceptions about livable streets. For instance, BALLET OF THE SIDEWALK from Jane Jacobs in 1961, livable streets associated with CALM TRAFFIC from D.Appleyard in 1969. In 1980, Jan Gehl referred that in streets and city spaces of poor quality, only the minimum of activity takes place, "People hurry home" . Nowadays there are discussions about WALKABILITY and CAR-FREE ZONES, show the growing emphasis on including non-motorized transport in urban planning.

Jane Jacobs, Donald AppleYard, Jan Gehl(from left to right, Wikipedia)

In China, modern discussions on livability started in the mid 1990s, much after the two international United Nations conferences - Habitat I (1976) and Habitat II (1996) - brought livability into an international attention. However, some scholars associate the livability concept with the science of human settlements and argue that in China there has been a long history of thinking on livability and human settlements issues.

Still, with cities that are currently facing rapid development, growing urban population, congestion, pollution or poor infrastructure, the livability concept cannot be ignored. What is more, because the people’s perception is depending on subcultures, what has been previously concluded with regards to livability on the European and North American continents, may not apply in the same way in China.

Sketches on streets of different sizes

The case study city chosen for understanding livability is Shanghai. Shanghai flourished as a center of commerce between the east and the west in the 19th century, and is today aiming for the recognition as a global city. However, the importance of livability is even higher when the urban infrastructure is well developed but the environmental quality is a growing concern.

Aiming to find out how livability is seen and practiced by influential stakeholders in Shanghai, an online survey questionnaire has been built on the Lime Survey Platform, and 95 full answers have been considered for analysis. With a percentage of 67%, most the respondents were practicing architects and planners in Shanghai. To find out more from the opinions of academics and developers, semi-structured interviews about livability have been conducted with 6 academics from the fields of social sciences, urban planning, public policies and with 6 developers from well-known real-estate companies in Shanghai.

The responses given to the definition of livability in Shanghai for the online questionnaire have been analyzed and distributed to pre-set themes based on the four pillars of livability in Chinese cities found through literature: the economy, the environment, the social, the governance. Under the environment theme, responding architects and planners gave a high importance to transportation, commuting, walking distances, and to the access to facilities. Concerns on the natural environment were also recorded, on the issues of clean air, clean water and green spaces. On the social theme, the responding architects and planners referred to safety, culture, community and education.  Under the economic theme, the most important aspects mentioned referred to the affordability and to the opportunities for jobs and business. With regards to the governance, importance was given to vision, policies and governmental efficiency. A subjective perspective on livability was also revealed, referring to the individual choice and perception, at the cross of the built environment with the human behavior.

Overall in the online survey, the largest number of quotes concerned the built environment. 

The interviews with academics and developers revealed more concerns related to social and economic aspects, respectively. The concerns of academics were mostly on the involvement of the community and on the Chinese identity of the space. In the same time, developers were concerned with the affordability, convenience, and the healthy lifestyle of newly developed areas, somehow following the Western model.

Livability at the local level of the streets has also been enquired. From the online survey, the main factors affecting livability at the street level resulted to be: traffic and transport, green space, accessibility and safety. The responding academics added the correct use of the street space and the streetscape with identity, while developers added the importance of short distances and the street green.

The findings from this theoretical understanding of livability suggest that each category of actors practice livability in a slightly different manner, but overall responding to some of the existing challenges for living in Shanghai.

To conclude, for livability in Shanghai, importance should be given to:

• the built and natural environment through the accessibility to facilities, transportation, green spaces, but also to clean air and water;

• the social issues including the opportunities for social interaction，the involvement of the community and sense of place;

• the economic issues including affordable housing, services and opportunities for employment.

All these aspects should be coordinated under an efficient governmental decision.

   Q&A   

Q: Recently, for livability, in New York City, comfortable materials are integrated on the road, for example, chairs or even tables aside the streets. Do you think it's applicable to china, to shanghai? If not, can you propose a suitable way?

A: The basic idea of my research is that not all solutions from the west, especially from North America, can be simply copied in China. Because here it is a different context. The density of population, the way people use the streets, the commercial activities on the roadway...everything is different. In that case, we must look at the context before putting the chairs as a solution. From my observation, there are not so many opportunity (in public) for people to sit, simply to rest. Table and chairs are now only in shopping areas, only for the rich. To make livable streets, we should respond to the need of all and to integrate the society.

Q: There are lots of writings on communities in India or other parts of the developing world where you see people who are poor but happy. They have good communities and very close ties, seem to have a livable quality of life. People argue against developing for fear of losing that kind of characteristics as developments tend to relocate people and fragment the initial communities. How do you understand that? 

A: I think a mild solution in between should be taken. People deserve sanitation in their living environment but I don't think they should simply be taken out of their neighborhood with some compensation fees. Also, the development model of gated communities adopted from North America is not the best solution for China. 

Rethinking Regeneration and Revitalization

in Non-Urban China

Sharvari Shanmugam

Indian,

Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University,

Master student in Architecture.

When speculating about this topic, I found some similarity between India and China. Regeneration and revitalization in China follows many precedents and questions which need to be explored, answered, analyzed and need to be questioned again.

The topic is focusing on the current non-urban and urban scenario in China and the raising gap between them due to the development, migration and the opportunities which the urban centers provide. I have divided this topic into three parts which is:

1. Why is there a need to reflect upon the regeneration and revitalization in China?

2. How am I speculating this issue to arrive to an alternative?

3. And what will be the possible alternative which may balance the two extreme scenarios?

Why?

The proportion of urban and non-urban in China from 1949

The economic growth of China’s urban centers has impacted country’s rural areas in recent decades. According to the research conducted by Tianjin University 1.1 million villages have disappeared within the span of 10 years. These villages have been wiped off and replaced with new development or people have migrated to the cities looking for employment opportunities.

This raises crucial questions such as; what is revitalization and regeneration in China? For this one needs to understand the urban and rural development in China and the kind of development policies which are being followed. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this kind of development and where are the loop holes which are causing such major gap between the urban and non-urban environments?

Transformation in Dadun Village

To understand this I will explain the case of Dadun village which is one of cases that gives an overview to the development issue in the non-urban areas. Dadun village is situated in the Hainan province. It is typically fishing village and the settlement is on the water. In year 2010 the government proposed a new development for the villagers, which completely contradicts the original settlement. The new development consists of 1000 villas stretching as far as the eye can see in rows upon rows of arrow-straight uniformity. Around 3,500 villagers have started to move into 1,029 new villas, each of which measures 253 square metres. There is no doubt that local villagers would be delighted to see their lives improved. But it does not cover the fact they are modularized, concentrated and lack character. It raises questions such as is this kind of development the right alternative for a village like Dadun? Surely these villas provide better living conditions but they do not suit the lifestyle of the villagers. Qualities such as congregational spaces, linkages and reflection to the existing fabric seem to be lacking. This situation is in most of the non-urban areas around china.

How?

In this section I have chosen 3 different contexts with ideal situations which are applicable all over China. Namely; Suburban: Tongli, Peri Urban : Bishan and Small Town : Nanping. These 3 contexts are examined by means of first impressions, instincts and morphologically by use of a designed Framework which consists of urban qualities which shape an ideal environment. What I achieve out of this is, there are certain number of qualities which are missing in these contexts, these qualities become a starting point to generate new intervention in the particular context.

What?

Upon observations and speculations of these contexts I propose certain interventions which mainly consists of 3 qualities: Accessibility, Congregation and Linkage.

Streets and lanes texture in Nanping Village

 The draft of a public street in the core of Nanping

What was observed in Nanping is the houses here are decaying and some of them are being reconstructed into contrasting styles while maintaining the height as per the surroundings. All the houses here are on an average 2-3 floored and the village seems to have no commercial activities besides very few in the core and no public facilities within the village. This may be the probable reason of Nanping being an inactive village which clearly has so much more to offer. Nanping like several other villages have ancestral halls which are protected but they seem to be unused which can be one of the future public space. My idea is to introduce a public street in the core of Nanping which consists of congregational spaces and which is linked to commercial activities with a new morphology. 

Streets and lanes texture in Bishan

In Bishan a well-known artist from Beijing named Ou Ning has started Bishan project which focuses on rural revival. It started with opening up of a famous bookstore and cafeteria in an empty decaying ancestral hall which the locals as well as the tourist could use and several artists are invited every year to paint the landscapes of Bishan which are then exhibited in Shenzhen. Even though this has been the first attempt for the revival of Bishan upon investigation during the site visit it was observed that the village still does not seem to function as per expectation. Besides few tourists visiting the bookstore nothing was to offer nor was inviting the participation of residents.

The draft of linkage between elements, the red element interacts with farmlands

Upon morphological investigation it was observed that the solution does not only lie in introducing new functions in old structures. There is also a need to work on the context as a whole. The space around the canal is mostly active as that consists of all the local commercial spaces and public facilities. This is the primary reason of Bishan being inactive. Also Bishan is a combination of new 4 floor structures, modern houses, old traditional houses and a few farms which belong to the locals. This makes Bishan to fall into Peri Urban category. My proposal to this is to have a linkage between the 3 constellations to activate Bishan this will consist of congregational spaces and multipurpose inter connections, which can be used by the residents and the visiting artists for exhibitions.

The sudden changes in the pattern of planning in Tongli

Further while speculation of Tongli, it is observed that the inner core consists of the old heritage area which also acts as a public and tourist space and is active during all times of the day, especially the streets besides the canals. As one starts to walk through the inner lanes you can observe the decaying spaces with people living in unhygienic conditions. Once the inner core is crossed by the means of the street along the canal, one can observe the sudden changes in the language and the pattern of planning. What lacks here is a transition between the historic area and the new development. Tongli has the most complexity among all three chosen contexts. My proposal for tongli is to have an intervention which showcases transition between the old and the new development which is clearly missing.

The design of two contexts in transition

I chose a site which lies between the two contexts which gives me an opportunity to design the transition. The intervention is an alternative development strategy while designing the morphology several qualities where taken into consideration like : the residents in Tongli live in a mixed use environment, most of the houses have commercial activities in the front which face the canal and residential areas in the interior which can be accessed through narrow alleys. I follow the same principle of creating commercial spaces which face the canal, and combining them with internal courtyards, while modifying the internal spaces as such that when a person walks in the intervention the experience is the same as it is in the historic town, while modifying the architectural form which suite for today’s modern society.

The draft of two main panoramic view towers

I include congregational spaces such as squares which open up in important nodes. Also the forms of the intervention respond to the immediate context in terms of height and framing of views to the important elements around the site. For example, a seating space in a coffee shop which frames the old bridge and the canal. The two main panoramic view towers act as entry points to the new intervention which showcases the transition between the historic village, the intervention and the new development.

   Q&A   

Q: Have you interviewed residents living in the three towns? I think the new projects emerged naturally as residents need modern life and at the same time, old towns are occupied by tourists.

A: Whenever I go to these places, I would ask the question: what do you think of living in cities? The answers are always that they prefer living in cities more. Because obviously, cities have better living conditions and lifestyle. But it's also true that these kind of areas(old suburban towns) don't deserve to be empty. All they need is some regeneration. So what I did was planting a seed for a starting point and hope it grows.

Q: When we do the design projects to make small towns or non-urban areas more livable, what do you think the priorities are? Which factors should be focused on more comparing with projects in megacities like Shanghai?

A: I think it's important to understand what the people exactly need. I don't think people actually need big villas. Instead, social activities defining the villages are missing when new things are developed. Also, small things should be taken into consideration. For example, in Nanping village, I observed people using spaces outside the houses, or even streets, having their lunch. This kind of mite details should be considered when designing projects to make it livable for local people.  

Creole Architecture 

and Urban Morphology 

in Mauritius

Brian Chan Yook Fo

Mauritius, 

Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University,

Master student in Architecture.

My presentation will focus on the evolution of Creole architecture and how it shaped and could shape the urban morphology of Mauritius.

Mauritius is a very small island in the Indian Ocean. Originally uninhabited, this country was formed throughout a history of colonization and has a unique blend of culture, where about 68% of the population are Indo-Mauritian (Indian origins), 27% Creole (African origins), 3% Sino-Mauritian and 2% Franco-Mauritian (French origins)

Dissemination of Creole architecture

Creole architecture was the vernacular architecture of Mauritius until the late 19th century. Since the beginning of globalization and industrialization, it started to decline gradually and is unfortunately not built anymore today. Creole architecture did not actually originate from Mauritius but from the West Indies, which is known as the Caribbean today. How could a vernacular architecture of a country, originated from the other side of the world? Through Colonization, Creole architecture disseminated to French colonies in other parts of the world such as Louisiana, U.S.A and Seychelles/Mauritius in East Africa. Colonization is not well seen by many but it had a big impact on the history, cultural and architectural landscape of Mauritius.

The French introduced Creole architecture in Mauritius in the early 18th century and it was appropriated by the other ethnics on the island because; first, it was easy to build with locally available materials; second, it fit the local climatic conditions (all inhabitants came from other parts of the world), third; social influence, where people wanted to have similar house.

Left: Habitation of Port Royal, Acadia 1605; Right: Louis Bolduc House, Missouri U.S.A 1792

First of all, what is Creole architecture?

Few centuries ago, Creole architecture did not even exist. It was developed mainly through an evolutionary process of assimilation of building traditions to adapt to a specific context and climate. Decorative features were later added to form a distinguished identity.

How was Creole architecture developed?

There is still a debate about the origins of Creole architecture this can be traced back in the Caribbean during the first French colonization in the 17th century. Some scholars argue that the French, although their wooden houses were used comfortably in North America where they first settled, struggled in the tropical hot and humid climate of the Caribbean. They had to adapt and did so by assimilating building traditions from other ethnics in the region such as the Spanish or West Africans.

The characteristics of Creole architecture

The transformation and characteristics of the wooden French buildings are; the floor was raised off the ground to keep the living space away from flooding, termites and also allow under-floor ventilation; the roof line extended to include a verandah, supported by thin colonnades, to shade the wall from direct sunlight and at the same time providing a semi outdoor space for specific activities; the buildings were designed with narrow plans and large windows to allow cross ventilation; a buffer zone was created in the roof space to prevent the heat on the roof from reaching to the living space; dormers were used to ventilate this buffer zone; the decorative drip edge of the roof, known as lambrequins is used to direct the rain off the roof. At the time, while the buildings in France were made of stones, wood was still used for centuries in Creole architecture as this material better fit the climate and was readily available everywhere.

Influence on Contemporary commercial buildings

Influence on Contemporary residential houses

The idea of eco-building is clearly evident in Creole architecture well before this term came to use. Today, while Creole architecture ceased to flourish, I believe the essence and principles of this architecture could still be used in contemporary architecture in Mauritius, not only in terms of preserving the identity of its traditional architecture but also in terms of sustainability.

Louis Port in 1883 and 2013

Some research I have done for my masters are about the way in which we could use these principles and apply it to the contemporary context and lifestyle. People have abandoned the old living and building traditions in favor of concrete buildings and using of A.C as cooling. This creates a lot of problems as the electricity consumption in Mauritius is soaring, for a small country which relies most of energy on imported fossil fuel. Furthermore, concrete buildings do not work well in tropical climate, mostly near the coastal regions. The concrete walls and roofs absorb heat during the day, radiate it inside and very slowly cool down at night, thus keeping the interior temperature uncomfortably high.

Sketch of Artisan Market and Cultural Center Project

Part of my research was to design a small urban development in Mauritius. The project is about an Artisan and cultural centre which will serve as a melting pot for local artists and meeting place for gastronomes, tourists and locals looking for leisure and entertainment. Tourism is the biggest industry in Mauritius, while locals like to hang out in a semi outdoor environment and local artisans in need for income, will all benefit from this project. Strategies such as catching the wind and reducing the absorption of heat in buildings and landscape were taken from Creole buildings and outside to create a cool urban environment.

Strategies for channeling the wind

The prevailing wind orientation is crucial in doing the master plan, for channeling the wind throughout the site. The first main strategy achieving cooler urban spaces is terracing for various reasons. Instead of using concrete wall which will block the wind, terracing (about 0.9m-1.8m between levels) is used to create a barrier in between the residential area and the site. Second, the small slopping terrace will create a micro topographic wind speed-up effect when the wind hits the slope on the exterior side, accelerating on the top of the slope. Third, in many Creole plantation houses, there are rows of trees in front of the houses to channel the wind into them. In this project, the terrace in the site, combined with trees will create a wind tunnel which will maximize the channeling and cooling throughout the site.

Shaded landscape by combining trees and shading structures

Another strategy used to achieve cooler urban spaces is to create a shaded landscape by combining trees and shading structures. Shading the landscape will reduce the heat absorption on the ground and also the people walking throughout the site. The shading structure can be designed as an extension of the building with which it is connected. This structure can also be used to hang low energy mist cooling sprinkler overhead. Cooling occurs when the water transition from water to vapor, similar to sweating. The shading structure could also be used as cultural expression, where whenever there are any festivities or celebrations, colorful decorative objects such as lanterns or umbrellas could be hanged up. The whole project would display a comfortably cool and colorful landscape, related with the spirit of Creole and its culture.

Event planned by Wilda Xie, Ao Song; Recorded by Ao Song; Translated by Ao Song, Wilda Xie; Written by Aura Istrate, Sharvari Shanmugam, Brian Chan Yook Fo; Webcasted by Chen Chen & Min Zhao; Photographed by Di Zhu; Edited by Han Tu.

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