This document summarizes a lecture given at Tianjin University on the Chinese way of building cities. It discusses research done at McGill University comparing urban structure in Beijing and Montreal at the scale of one square kilometer. The research looks at density, land use, street networks, and block sizes. In Beijing, land is divided into large mixed-use residential compounds, while Montreal has lower densities and more separation of uses. The lecture explores how these differences shape urban form and community life.
The Chinese Way of Building Cities: City Structure and the Shape of Community
1. Lecture at Tianjin University, School of Architecture, 24 May 2016
The Chinese Way of Building Cities
2. ARCH521: Structure of Cities, Fall Term 2014
One Sq.Km.: A BEIJING – MONTREAL COMPARISON
http://www.slideshare.net/qiaokate/one-sqkm-a-beijing-montreal-comparison
OR
http://issuu.com/mcgillarchitecture/docs/one_sq.km._beijing___montreal_compa
ARCH 540: Selected Topics, Winter Term, 2015
ONE SQ. KM. / SUSTAINABILITY AND SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE
http://www.slideshare.net/qiaokate/onesqkm-civic-centres-20150427
OR
http://issuu.com/mcgillarchitecture/docs/onesqkm_civic_centres_20150427
This presentation summarizes research done at McGill University, Fall Term 2014, called:
One Sq.Km.: A BEIJING – MONTREAL COMPARISON
6. The average Plot Ratio (FAR) of the whole large urban block shown above is 2.1, about
double the equivalent area in the Plateau Areas of Montreal (1.1) and about 6 times the
density of a Montreal suburb.
7. The Plot Ratio (FAR) of the area inside the red boundary (about 1.0 sq.km.)
is about 1.1
Montreal Study Area, The Plateau:
Downtown Residential
8. The Plot Ratio (FAR) of the area inside the yellow boundary (about 1.0 sq.km.)
is about 0.35
Montreal Study Area: Brossard Suburbs
9. City Structure and the Shape of Community
1. Density
2. Land Use
3. Street Network and Spatial Order
4. Block Size
10. City Structure and the Shape of Community
1. Density
2. Land Use
3. Street Network and Spatial Order
4. Block Size
17. Sample Population Densities: Red is Asia, Blue is Europe, Green is North America
Gross FAR of one sq. km. around 1.0 is the threshold of walkability.
Below that the city is increasingly car-dependent.
18. City Structure and the Shape of Community
1. Density
2. Land Use
3. Street Network and Spatial Order
4. Block Size
19. Transition from an extended family compound (the coutyard house)
to a multi-family compond (modern housing estate):
The courtyard is a deep-seated Eastern pattern, that is persisting and
re-appearing - at a larger scale and higher density - in the residential
compounds that are the basic building blocks of China’s recent urban
explosion. The social scale has also expanded. The courtyard house
was originally designed for the extended family; the new residential
compound courtyards are for a neighbourhood, an emerging and
increasingly self-managed urban territory and social unit.
22. CHINA
Contemporary Land Use Pattern
reminiscent of the Socialist Work Unit (Danwei)
Highly Mixed Use, very Walkable
23. An Example of a Work Unit: Tianjin University Campus, 1985, Mixed Use, Very Walkable
24. No Gated Communities
in this study area.
In the west, “Gated Community”
suggests privilege and elitism.
In China all social classes live
In the same residential
compound type.
Montreal (Plateau Area)
Relativey High Density
Mixed Use, Walkable
25. Ironically, the retail on this site
is actually
car sales showrooms.
Montreal Suburb
Very Low Mix of Land Use
Not Walkable
26. City Structure and the Shape of Community
1. Density
2. Land Use
3. Street Network and Spatial Order
4. Block Size
27. Chinese Spatial Order
The semi-private or semi-public space courtyard space,
belonging to an extended family or a group of residential buildings,
allows family activities and social interaction to occur in that space.
Residential
28. Western Spatial Order
The semi-private or semi-public space courtyard space,
belonging to an extended family or a group of residential buildings,
usually does not exist. The transition from the dwelling to the
public street is more direct.
32. 1 sq.km. Area, Street Network Hierarchy,
Small Dead/Loop Roads, bicycle/pedestrian paths (green) traverse and
link each block
33. Western Spatial Order
The semi-private or semi-public space courtyard space,
belonging to an extended family or a group of residential buildings,
usually does not exist. The transition from the dwelling to the
public street is more direct.
38. Chinese Spatial Order
The semi-private or semi-public space courtyard space,
belonging to an extended family or a group of residential buildings,
allows family activities and social interaction to occur in that space.
Residential
55. Communal Neighbourhood Activity
Location of
residents
shown in the
previous four
images
Location of
residents
shown in the
next four
images. (Five
storey walk-up
apartments)
62. Location of a Residential Courtyard Compound called Sun City
in Beijing (East of East Second Ring Road)
with four towers, 24 floors each.
My home since 2003.
63. Beijing, Yang Guang Du Shi (Sun City) Residential District (2.4 h. inside the red line)
Big enough for Communal Neighbourhood Activity
64. Beijing, Sun City (Yang Guang Du Shi) Residential District Garden/Yard
65. Beijing, Sun City (Yang Guang Du Shi) Residential District Garden/Yard
66. Beijing, Sun City (Yang Guang Du Shi) Residential District Garden/Yard
67. Beijing, Sun City (Yang Guang Du Shi) Residential District Garden/Yard
68. Beijing, Sun City (Yang Guang Du Shi) Residential District Garden/Yard
69. Beijing, Yang Guang Du Shi Residential District Garden/Yard – English Corner
70. Streets: Hierarchy, Arterial Road
The location of the Sun City
Residential Compound activity
is on the other side,
at the base of, this building.
71. Beijing, Sun City (Yang Guang Du Shi) Residential District. Summer, 2016
Preparation for the formation of a Residents Committee, the beginning of self-management
72. Beijing, Sun City (Yang Guang Du Shi) Residential District,
first, newly-formed Residents Committee. Population of the district is about 300 people.
The beginnings of neighbourhood self-management.
The residents can now hire or fire the property management company.
73. Beijing, Sun City (Yang Guang Du Shi) Residential District,
first, newly-formed Residents Committee
Vote to chose a new property management company.
October 2017
74. Beijing, Sun City (Yang Guang Du Shi) Residential District,
first, newly-formed Residents Committee
Vote to chose a new property management company.
October 2017
77. Western Spatial Order
The semi-private or semi-public space courtyard space,
belonging to an extended family or a group of residential buildings,
usually does not exist. The transition from the dwelling to the
public street is more direct.
100. Location of
residents
shown in the
previous four
images
Large-Scale Courtyard for the Urban Neighbourhood
Polouation, about 2000 people living on 2.4 h. of land = 830 people/hectare
101. The western city normally does not have common outdoor space assigned to a group of households.
Population density about 300 to 400 people/hectare.
102. City Structure and the Shape of Community
1. Density
2. Land Use
3. Street Network and Spatial Order
4. Block Size
110. Construction Area: 222,000 sq.m.
Plot Ratio: 2.16
Population Density: 777 people/hectare
Beijing, Nan Xin Yuan
Residential District 1993
Pin-wheel Street pattern
designed to slow down
through traffic.
However,
property management
closed
all perimeter
street intersections
except at the north
where gates and guards
were installed.
Beijing’s First Social Housing Project
112. Nan Xin Yuan is in the southeast (bottom right) corner. The pin-wheel interior street
pattern divides the 15 hectare block into a central 1 hectare park, and four smaller blocks
of 3, 5, 3, and 2 hectares.
113. Beijing, Yang Guang Du Shi (Sun City) Residential District (2.4 h. inside red line)
Big enough for Communal Neighbourhood Activity
I lived here from 2003
114. Beijing, Ju Er Hu Tong Phase 2, Residential District (0.6 hectares inside red line)
I lived here from 1993-2002
117. Cliff Moughtin, Emeritus Professor of Planning at the University of Nottingham,
believes too large a block destroys city life.
"The larger and more homogenous the street block the greater will be its
power to destroy the social, economic, and physical networks of the city.
The large-scale single-use, single-ownership street block is the instrument
most influential in the decline of the city: its effect, together with that
of its partner the motorcar, are among the real causes of
the death of the great city."
[1] Cliff Moughtin, Urban Design: Green Dimensions, 1996, Architectural Press, P.138
The Chinese large block residential compounds are criticized by western planners
for creating traffic problems, and for reducing life in the streets.
118. The Chinese large block residential compounds are criticized by western planners
for creating traffic problems, and for reducing life in the streets.
119. The Chinese large block residential compounds are criticized by western planners
for creating traffic problems, and for reducing life in the streets.
120. Not all foreign planners are against the Chinese residential compound pattern. Below is a statement
by Jeff Johnson at the China Lab at Columbia that focuses on the Chinese super block
as a potentially positive force in urban planning and social order.
121. The Barcelona Friendly Superblock Experiment
Combine 9 original blocks to make one superblock.
The size of the Barcelona superblock (about 16 hectares)
is similar in size the Chinese residential neighbourhood superblock.
The main difference is the degree of porosity.
The Barcelona superblock is open to through-traffic for pedestrians and cyclists.
The Chinese urban superblock is closed to through-traffic pedestrians and cyclists.
122. The main difference is the degree of porosity.
The Barcelona superblock is open to through-traffic for pedestrians and cyclists.
The Chinese urban superblock is closed to through-traffic pedestrians and cyclists.
The Barcelona Friendly Superblock Experiment
123. The Barcelona Friendly Super-Block, a 400m x 400m block divided into 9 smaller blocks (Total: 16 hectares)
Before, all traffic went everywhere.
124. The Barcelona Friendly Super-Block, a 400m x 400m block divided into 9 smaller blocks (Total: 16 hectares)
Now, through car traffic is diverted to the perimeter and only local traffic goes inside the 400x400m block.
125. The Barcelona Friendly Super-Block, a 400m x 400m block divided into 9 smaller blocks (Total: 16 hectares)
If we add a shared garden/yard in the middle it starts to look like a Chinese urban super-block.
126. The Barcelona Friendly Super-Block, a 400m x 400m block divided into 9 smaller blocks (Total: 16 hectares)
A 16 hectare block is similar to a Chinese urban super-block. Each of the smaller 1.8 hectare
blocks is large enough for an internal semi-private shared social space.
127. The Barcelona Friendly Super-Block, a 400m x 400m block divided into 9 smaller blocks
If we add common facilities such as kindergarten, infirmary, senior’s center, residents committee office,
(Chinese “pei tao”) at the center we get an even stronger resemblance to a Chinese Residential Compound.
