Ancient philosophy guides good urban planning
- Source: Global Times
- [21:54 January 19 2010]
- Comments
Editor's Note:
As the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai approaches, China's landscape development and urbanization process is drawing more attention. Global Times (GT) reporter Wu Meng interviewed Ma Xiaowei (Ma), president and chief architect of AGER Shanghai, a landscape design institute, on China's urbanization.
Ma Xiaowei
GT: The theme of the World Expo, "Better City, Better Life," represents people's wishes for a better urban environment. What stage is China at in terms of urbanization?
Ma: Urbanization is a complicated matter. People tend to focus on hard figures such as population, income levels and the size of the city, and ignore other aspects of urbanization. We see all these reports on how rapid the process of urbanization is in China, but it is mostly driven by special interests.
For instance, a small city can use the claim of a "need for urbanization" to turn farmland into development land, and by selling the land to the developers, the local government will benefit from it. With new buildings and roads springing up like mushrooms, people directly feel the benefits brought by urbanization.
However, many aspects need refining.
Urbanization means the movement of people from rural to urban areas, with population growth equating to urban migration, but in China, we have a lot of migrant workers. They come into the city when we need them and go to another place afterward when they are not needed. Only when we provide a permanent home for this social group can we say that urbanization has achieved its essential goal.
GT: At the coming World Expo 2010 in Shanghai, the China Pavilion will incorporate elements from traditional culture, such as the traditional guanmao (official's cap) and the color shade of "China Red." Do you think that the traditional culture card is being overplayed in global activities?
Ma: With a 5,000-year-old culture, it would be difficult and unnecessary for China not to evoke any cultural symbols in its display. The final design of the China Pavilion was selected from a series of possibilities.
So I think Chinese cultural elements are still appealing to both Chinese and foreigners. It is hard to avoid those symbols just for the sake of it.
Perhaps we are overusing them a little bit. There is nothing wrong with using the culture to represent a country. But it should be more than just some symbols like a certain shade, or a cer-tain kind of clothing.
To be more specific, in the China Pavilion, the "China Red" and the "official cap" represent the imperial authority, which was the essence of power in ancient times.
But in traditional Chinese culture, humanity and nature are essential, too. Little things like green grass, small bridges, dark blue bricks and painted white walls are what ordinary people relate to a harmonious life, and they are more than just simple symbols.
China could learn from the 1970 Expo, which was held in the Osaka Castle, on how to mix culture into the actual exhibitions. The location was in a rural area, surrounded by bamboo forest, where people enjoy a peaceful life. This concept is what harmony is all about, and it used the famous cherry blossom to represent Japan without it seeming like a forced cultural symbol.
GT: Traditional Chinese landscape architecture, such as private gardens and small bridges, offers a good example of living in a harmonious environment. But does it work in today's fast-paced urban lifestyle?
Ma: I think there is a misunderstanding about traditional Chinese landscape architecture. It does not equal a small bridge over a flowing stream, nor an elegant pavilion with a pagoda far away.
What traditional landscape architecture really offers us is a way of thinking, a philosophy that modern people should adopt. People should live in a natural environment and live in harmony with nature. This is the essence of it.
But now, we tend to only look for big things such as wide roads, fancy skyscrapers and forced city planning. When it comes to urban planning, first we divide the land into different areas – residential, commercial, education, public parks and so on.
What we really need to pay attention to is: Will people live comfortably here? Is it convenient to cross an eight-lane road to enter the park? Do we really need a man-made mushroom in the park?
Time changes, and so do people's aesthetic values. But the essence of what makes a happy life will never change. A harmonious living environment and a reasonable view on development is what we really need to remember from traditional Chinese landscape architecture.
