One Sq.Km.: A Beijing - Montreal Comparison

ONESQKMBEIJING
&MONTREAL
a comparative study using
sustainability criteria
MCGILL SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
ARCH521 / 2014

ONE SQ. KM
Toward Sustainable Cities:
A Comparative Study using Sustainable Criteria
McGill University, ARCH 521: The Structure of Cities
Fall Term: 2014
Architects, with their tendency and appetite for
synthesis, often extend their vision of sustainability
beyond green architecture to explore its implications
for the broader physical and social environment. This
collection of papers is one such exploration.
Instructors:
Joe Carter, B.Arch (McGill) www.townsnet.cn and
Dr. He Hong Yu, Qinghua University, Ph.D., Beijing

INTRODUCTION
Goals
The general goal of the seminar was to familiarize and deepen
the students’ understanding of some of the criteria commonly
used in the sustainability discourse, especially as they pertain
to urban development. Another goal was to facilitate and
encourage the students to initiate their own systematic, life-
long learning about these issues and to acquire capacity to
apply these understandings to their future work.
While the seminar did provide opportunities to share
understandings - by means of presentations and small group
discussion - the rush to organize these final papers into a
book did not allow much time for the students’ thoughtful
reading of each other’s work. This book will allow them time
to absorb that work and to begin tracking their own thought-
evolution.
It is also hoped other students in other years, or in other
schools in other cities, might try the same exercise, thus
adding to a systematic and deeper appreciation of the
wealth of learning that cities represent. This knowledge
and experience, thanks to our global village is easily shared.
It’s sharing will help the re-urbanization of the West, the
final stages of urbanization in China and India, and, perhaps
the most promising possibility, inform the early stages of
urbanization in Sub-Sahara Africa.
Method
Each student chose a criteria of sustainable development and
explored its meaning in the context of real sites in real cities.
The criteria we chose were: density, street network, land-use
mix, streetscape, walkability, development pattern and the
economy, and community. These form the seven chapters of
our book. The cities we chose were Beijing and Montreal.
We felt learning would be quicker and deeper if the criteria
were discussed within the context of specific places, and
through the comparison of those places with each other. We
focused on the Plateau area of Montreal and a mixed use area
just outside the Second Ring Road in Beijing. An additional
site in suburban Montreal was added to our study to heighten
the contrast of the development patterns compared. To
systematize the comparison, all sites were the same size -
INTRODUCTION
western Street Life Eastern Courtyard-Garden Life
Goals
The general goal of the seminar was to familiarize and deepen the students’
understanding of some of the criteria commonly used in the sustainability discourse,
especially as they pertain to city development. Another goal was to facilitate and
encourage the students to initiate their own systematic, life-long learning about
these issues and to acquire capacity to apply these understands in their future
work.
while the seminar did provide opportunities to share understandings, by means of
presentations and small group discussion, the rush to organize final papers into a
book did not allow much time for thoughtful reading of each other’s work. This book
will allow the students to begin tracking their own thought-evolution and allow them
time to absorb the work of their fellow students.
It is also hoped other student in other years and other cities might try the same
exercise, thus adding to a systematic and deeper appreciation of the wealth of
learning that cities represent. This knowledge and experience, thanks to our global
village is easily shared. It’s sharing will help the re-urbanization of the west, the
final stages of urbanization in China and India, and, perhaps the most promising
possibility, inform the early stages of urbanization in Sub-Sahara Africa.
ONESQKMMONTREALBEIJING INTRO
3

Location of Beijing Study Site Location of Montreal Study Sites
4

Suburb model
Montreal Plateau model
Beijing model
about one square km. This size was considered large
enough to represent the criteria we examined, and small
enough to survey in reasonable depth in the three-
month time period of the seminar.
We started our work by constructing 3D computer
models of the three sites. Creating the models immersed
us in those sites and enabled us to calculate their
Floor Area Ratios. The three sites: Beijing, Plateau and
suburbs were 2.02, 1.17 and 0.35 respectively. We also
calculated population density. These fundamental ratios
are measurable, easy to compare, city to city and within
the different parts of the city. They gave us a common
ground that informed the investigation of other criteria.
The high densities of the Plateau and the Beijing sites
ensure they both meet – unlike the suburban site – the
usual criteria of urban sustainability such as a high
degree of mixed use, of access to the different uses, and
of access to public transportation. While pollution and
traffic congestion are acknowledged , within the scope
of our exercise and the time available, we did not give
these, and other questions, the attention they deserve.
The school of architecture is within walking distance of
the Plateau area of Montreal, so site survey was easy. He
Hong Yu and I provided much of the information about
Beijing. I am a Canadian architect and have lived in
China since 1985. He Hong Yu, Ph.D. Qinghua University
(Architecture) is from Beijing. In addition, four of the
sixteen participants were born in China, and another
one had worked there one summer. Finally, the internet
gave us a wealth of information. The students, for
example, quickly learned how to use Bai Du Maps, the
Chinese version of Google Earth and Street View.
5

Finally, we ask for the reader’s patience. This volume has not
benefitted from a deep editing; it was put together in a hurry.
Also, only three of the sixteen students had English as their
mother tongue. Those of us born in the English-speaking
world should be grateful that our language has, by default,
become, for now, the world language.
We hope this volume helps expand and deepen our
understanding of how to build ever more sustainable cities.
Joe Carter and Hong Yu
6

ONESQKMMONTREALBEIJING
8
STUDENT PAPERS
1. Density: Maxime Lefebvre
2. Street Network: Sunghun Lee, Justin Spec
3. Land-Use Mix: Xie Jing, Pierre Fanzhu, Zhiyao Chen
4. Streetscape: Caterina Villani, Razvan Gheti
5. Walkability: Lina Safrioui, Tara Hagan
6. Development Pattern and the Economy: Naomi Tremblay, Patrick Zhang
7. Community: Simon St-Denis, Mei Yi Chen, Francois-Luc Giraldeau, Anita Song
appendix
AFTERWORD
PAGE
09
19
43
80
110
136
151
206
209
TABLE OF CONTENTS

ONESQKMMONTREALBEIJING DENSITY | MAXIME LEFEBVRE
10
Synergos: working together.
In our current quest for sustainability, we often strive for
praxis which is maintaining an artificial state of equilibrium.
This state of equilibrium needs not to be disturbed if it is to
accommodate human occupation over the long term. This
tendency of seeing Praxis as something which needs to blend
in its environment sanctifies Nature as something which is in
itself balanced. However, as pointed by David Ruy, Nature is
in itself not stable and is in a constant state of transformation.
It is then important to understand sustainability as a concept
which is comprehensive with the flux of Nature. Keeping this in
mind, we will attempt to define Sustainability as a concept
applied to Architecture. Six criterias of sustainability were
used in our collective seminar research to form a network of
exploration around the same global theme. The themes are
Density, Street Network, Land Use Mix, Streetscape,
walkability, and Community.
The very first criteria is the generic underlying concept
of numericizing the amount of space taken by something in a
given space. It is Density. with a capital D.
This essay will therefore try to answer the inquiry which
frames Density as a direct concept of Sustainability &
Architecture; what are the optimal (both maximum and
minimum) density values within which it is sustainable,
pleasant and fruitful to live? This will be studied by looking at
built density as well as population density while using the other
criterias to raise the importance of their relation with Density.
we shall compare 4 different cases (urban scenarios) each of
1 kilometer square to narrow the working scope of a concept
so vast. The 4 cases are the Montreal Plateau Mont-Royal
area, Montreal’s suburban town towns, downtown Beijing and
Midtown Manhattan.

11
In order to first look at built density, it is required to
define the universal tool widely used to calculate it, the floor
area ratio (FAR). The FAR of a given place (city, country,
building lot, or any given space) is the ratio which calculates
the gross floor area of a building divided by the size of the land
upon which it has been built. As an example, an FAR or 1
means that the building area is equal to the size of its lot while
a FAR of 2 means that the building area is twice as big. Simple
enough.
Floor area ratio has a history of being utilized in zoning
Regulations principally as the concept that dictates the
volumetric limit of space in cities. New York, as a prime
example, has extensively used FAR to shape its city and to
limit bulk and height especially in towers: “The Floor Area
Ratio is the principal control on the physical volume of a
building”1. In this instance, a maximum FAR is given to each
lot establishing a clear limit of possible built space. The
borough of Manhattan, along with the other boroughs, is then
subdivided in zoning ‘subdistricts’, each given a FAR which
complements a given use. (figure 1) For example, commercial
districts in Midtown will be given a higher FAR to
accommodate for more possible built space. Same goes for
Lower Manhattan and that is mostly why these two economical
poles of the city are homes for some of the biggest
skyscrapers in North America.
In our case, we use FAR as a tool to compare densities
between different urban spaces. we found that a denser
space is usually a guarantee for complexity and that
alternatively, complexity is a prerequisite for synergy. This new
concept of synergy will from now on follow us until the end of
this paper as a key to define the relation between density and
sustainability. According to Buckminster Fuller, synergy is “a
1
New York City Department of City Planning. The City of New York, zoning
Handbook. City Planning Commission, 1961.
In order to first look at built density, it is required to
define the universal tool widely used to calculate it, the floor
area ratio (FAR). The FAR of a given place (city, country,
building lot, or any given space) is the ratio which calculates
the gross floor area of a building divided by the size of the land
upon which it has been built. As an example, an FAR or 1
means that the building area is equal to the size of its lot while
a FAR of 2 means that the building area is twice as big. Simple
enough.
Floor area ratio has a history of being utilized in zoning
Regulations principally as the concept that dictates the
volumetric limit of space in cities. New York, as a prime
example, has extensively used FAR to shape its city and to
limit bulk and height especially in towers: “The Floor Area
Ratio is the principal control on the physical volume of a
building”1. In this instance, a maximum FAR is given to each
lot establishing a clear limit of possible built space. The
borough of Manhattan, along with the other boroughs, is then
subdivided in zoning ‘subdistricts’, each given a FAR which
complements a given use. (figure 1) For example, commercial
districts in Midtown will be given a higher FAR to
accommodate for more possible built space. Same goes for
Lower Manhattan and that is mostly why these two economical
poles of the city are homes for some of the biggest
skyscrapers in North America.
In our case, we use FAR as a tool to compare densities
between different urban spaces. we found that a denser
space is usually a guarantee for complexity and that
alternatively, complexity is a prerequisite for synergy. This new
concept of synergy will from now on follow us until the end of
this paper as a key to define the relation between density and
sustainability. According to Buckminster Fuller, synergy is “a
1
New York City Department of City Planning. The City of New York, zoning
Handbook. City Planning Commission, 1961.

12
dynamic state in which combined action is favored over the
difference of individual component actions”. In a more
formulaic definition, it is the state in which the whole is greater
than the mere sum of the parts. The case of the tensile
strengths of steel is usually used as an example to prove his
point; the tensile strength of the steel alloy is altogether
stronger than the sum of their individual strengths. It is
therefore difficult to give sustainable a numerical value as it is
extremely subjective and interdependent with other factors.
The exercise of comparing the FARs of a square
kilometer in different cities is still very relevant in order to
expose the range of different possible densities. First site on
our list is the lower Plateau Mont-Royal. The FARs are here
generally uniformly distributed since the Plateau answers to a
very rigid grid, giving room to an easy hierarchy of use along
the different roads. Historically, the Plateau has limited the
number of stories in residential areas to three with exceptions
in certain cases. This gives the Plateau a very human scale
and an exceptional humility to the constructions, none of them
having the pretention of surpassing its neighbor. This is of
course diametrically opposite in Manhattan where each
building strives for iconographic greatness, analogous to the
tower of Babel myth. This desire of “convey[ing] image, status,
power and prestige, to signal economic or cultural
dominance”2, acknowledged in Manhattan, is clearly not the
case on the Plateau. Therefore, the FAR, of 1.17 (figure 2)
reflects a great respect of the occupation of the ground.
Indeed, the FAR amplitude of the different studied subdivisions
doesn’t vary much, with a difference of 1. 53 between the
highest and the lowest value (figure 5).
2
Huxtable, Ada Louise. The Tall Building Artistically Reconsidered. The New Criterion,
November 1982.
dynamic state in which combined action is favored over the
difference of individual component actions”. In a more
formulaic definition, it is the state in which the whole is greater
than the mere sum of the parts. The case of the tensile
strengths of steel is usually used as an example to prove his
point; the tensile strength of the steel alloy is altogether
stronger than the sum of their individual strengths. It is
therefore difficult to give sustainable a numerical value as it is
extremely subjective and interdependent with other factors.
The exercise of comparing the FARs of a square
kilometer in different cities is still very relevant in order to
expose the range of different possible densities. First site on
our list is the lower Plateau Mont-Royal. The FARs are here
generally uniformly distributed since the Plateau answers to a
very rigid grid, giving room to an easy hierarchy of use along
the different roads. Historically, the Plateau has limited the
number of stories in residential areas to three with exceptions
in certain cases. This gives the Plateau a very human scale
and an exceptional humility to the constructions, none of them
having the pretention of surpassing its neighbor. This is of
course diametrically opposite in Manhattan where each
building strives for iconographic greatness, analogous to the
tower of Babel myth. This desire of “convey[ing] image, status,
power and prestige, to signal economic or cultural
dominance”2, acknowledged in Manhattan, is clearly not the
case on the Plateau. Therefore, the FAR, of 1.17 (figure 2)
reflects a great respect of the occupation of the ground.
Indeed, the FAR amplitude of the different studied subdivisions
doesn’t vary much, with a difference of 1. 53 between the
highest and the lowest value (figure 5).
2
Huxtable, Ada Louise. The Tall Building Artistically Reconsidered. The New Criterion,
November 1982.

13
If we now move to Montreal’s suburban site, we notice
a drastic drop, characterizing a change in mentality as well as
in built form. while the relative uniformity of distribution
remains, the occupation of the land decreases and the size of
the lots increases proportionally. Suburban sprawl is
somewhat colonialist in its development pattern for the
individuation of the site promotes individual valorization.
Indeed, suburban sprawl is analogous to planting your flag on
a new piece of land, as opposed to the collective occupation
which characterize urban occupation. This is highly reflected in
FAR comparison between the two sites. If the Plateau FAR is
1.17, the one for the same square kilometer size in suburban
land is 0.35 (figure 3), 3.3 times lower! The amplitude also
varies much less than in urban spaces. If suburban space
tends towards uniformity, individual freedom is advocated over
a sense of community.
Moving on to look at a radically different culture, it
becomes evident that density cannot be reduced to shear
numerical values. In Beijing, density differs just as much as its
definition of community and its city’s hierarchical system and
networks. The FAR is thus understood as a tool needed to be
framed within cultural identity and its repercussions on our
built environment if it is to be given any real meaning. It is in
the case of Beijing that we find the biggest variation in FAR
amplitude between the highest and lowest rate of the different
neighborhoods of the same square kilometer site, with an
amplitude of 2.11. Its average tops at 2.04 (figure 4), almost
twice as big as Montreal’s Plateau. This is principally due to
the height to which constructions are built, being much higher
than the 3 story buildings found on the Plateau. That trend
gives room for bigger public space situated between the
buildings though this space is also shared by a larger quantity
of people.
If we now move to Montreal’s suburban site, we notice
a drastic drop, characterizing a change in mentality as well as
in built form. while the relative uniformity of distribution
remains, the occupation of the land decreases and the size of
the lots increases proportionally. Suburban sprawl is
somewhat colonialist in its development pattern for the
individuation of the site promotes individual valorization.
Indeed, suburban sprawl is analogous to planting your flag on
a new piece of land, as opposed to the collective occupation
which characterize urban occupation. This is highly reflected in
FAR comparison between the two sites. If the Plateau FAR is
1.17, the one for the same square kilometer size in suburban
land is 0.35 (figure 3), 3.3 times lower! The amplitude also
varies much less than in urban spaces. If suburban space
tends towards uniformity, individual freedom is advocated over
a sense of community.
Moving on to look at a radically different culture, it
becomes evident that density cannot be reduced to shear
numerical values. In Beijing, density differs just as much as its
definition of community and its city’s hierarchical system and
networks. The FAR is thus understood as a tool needed to be
framed within cultural identity and its repercussions on our
built environment if it is to be given any real meaning. It is in
the case of Beijing that we find the biggest variation in FAR
amplitude between the highest and lowest rate of the different
neighborhoods of the same square kilometer site, with an
amplitude of 2.11. Its average tops at 2.04 (figure 4), almost
twice as big as Montreal’s Plateau. This is principally due to
the height to which constructions are built, being much higher
than the 3 story buildings found on the Plateau. That trend
gives room for bigger public space situated between the
buildings though this space is also shared by a larger quantity
of people.

14

15
we then find Manhattan playing the same game but in
a very different league. On every aspect. The same square
kilometer, taken in Midtown just south of Central Park gives us
numbers questioning the very essence of the meaning of
density. with a FAR of 10.2 and no residential usage, the
urban environment is the apogee of the art of money
making/spending. If proximity of amenities in dense urban
spaces is one of the most widely accepted argument for the
embracing of denser spaces, the segregation of use still exists
since residential, manufacturing and commercial are each
given different zoning districts. walkability now penetrates our
sustainable realm in a culture where the taxi and the subway
are the easiest way to circulate from block to block. Is the
freedom of use so extensively given to the skyscraper typology
(refer to theories of Koolhaas and Ungers) really present? I
would tend to think otherwise due to the omnipresent and
oppressive forces restricting the shaping of the city. In any
case, sustainable density in the Manhattan case, like in any
other cases, is more than just a question of size, but resides,
as pointed out by no other than Le Corbusier, primarily in the
scale of the city and its relations. His famous criticism of the
Manhattan skyscraper – ‘your skyscrapers are too small’- got
wrongfully interpreted as a critique of size and rightfully so, by
a society which cannot generate towers detached from the
idea of profit. Instead, the brain behind ‘the plan is the
generator’ meant more that the scales in place were
disproportionate for a fruitful lifestyle.
Population densities for the four different sites follow
somehow the same proportions with the exception of
Manhattan. Starting with the Plateau area, we get a ratio of
13,421 people/km2 which represent just over half of the
Beijing population density with 22,635/km2 for the studied
area. Depending on your location in the city itself, densities of
course vary. More globally, the city of Montreal has a density
of 4,514/km2, a third of the Plateau’s. On the other hand,
we then find Manhattan playing the same game but in
a very different league. On every aspect. The same square
kilometer, taken in Midtown just south of Central Park gives us
numbers questioning the very essence of the meaning of
density. with a FAR of 10.2 and no residential usage, the
urban environment is the apogee of the art of money
making/spending. If proximity of amenities in dense urban
spaces is one of the most widely accepted argument for the
embracing of denser spaces, the segregation of use still exists
since residential, manufacturing and commercial are each
given different zoning districts. walkability now penetrates our
sustainable realm in a culture where the taxi and the subway
are the easiest way to circulate from block to block. Is the
freedom of use so extensively given to the skyscraper typology
(refer to theories of Koolhaas and Ungers) really present? I
would tend to think otherwise due to the omnipresent and
oppressive forces restricting the shaping of the city. In any
case, sustainable density in the Manhattan case, like in any
other cases, is more than just a question of size, but resides,
as pointed out by no other than Le Corbusier, primarily in the
scale of the city and its relations. His famous criticism of the
Manhattan skyscraper – ‘your skyscrapers are too small’- got
wrongfully interpreted as a critique of size and rightfully so, by
a society which cannot generate towers detached from the
idea of profit. Instead, the brain behind ‘the plan is the
generator’ meant more that the scales in place were
disproportionate for a fruitful lifestyle.
Population densities for the four different sites follow
somehow the same proportions with the exception of
Manhattan. Starting with the Plateau area, we get a ratio of
13,421 people/km2 which represent just over half of the
Beijing population density with 22,635/km2 for the studied
area. Depending on your location in the city itself, densities of
course vary. More globally, the city of Montreal has a density
of 4,514/km2, a third of the Plateau’s. On the other hand,

16
Beijing’s density (excluding any suburban town beyond the 5th
ring road) is 13,066 people/km2, the same as the Plateau. In
both cases, the densities of the studied areas have a much
higher ratio than their respective cities, representing residential
areas considered as the heart of the city. On the other hand,
the suburban site comes with no surprise with an extremely
low ratio; 3,136 people/km2. As a base for comparison, we
use the typical European city, often considered to be the sweet
spot of densities. with varying population densities usually
between 5,000 people/km2 to 10,000/km2, we find it standing
in the middle of our list. Inversely, Manhattan’s population
density of 25,846 people/km2 (barely higher than Beijing) is
not proportional with its FAR. That is partly due to the fact that
most of Manhattan usage is commercial. The more interesting
numbers lie in comparing people’s outflow and inflow during
the workday. while only 132,000 people commute out of the
borough, 1.63 million people come in everyday for work which
equal to a net population increase of 1.49 million people. The
bigger outflows are found in the suburban cities, which means
that both (suburb vs. Manhattan) scenarios represent opposite
realities. One exhales its people during the workday while the
other absorb them before exhaling them back in their
respective homes.
If synergy is tightly attached to the idea of a communal
feeling, it also applies to our perception of the impact of
density onto our lifestyle. Densities, in their essence, deal with
a certain idea of occupation. How is the land occupied dictates
how people will interact with each other, therefore having an
immediate impact on the synergy bonding people together. For
synergy arises when people are brought together to create a
whole, denser spaces makes possible a proximity,
fundamental for synergy’s existence. Proximity is also
synonym of complexity and variety, creating a higher potential
for hybrid programs. Both of them invite synergy to emerge as
it permits a bigger portion of people to be accommodated
within the system. This also explains why generally cities have
low ratio; 3,136 people/km2. As a base for comparison, we
use the typical European city, often considered to be the sweet
spot of densities. with varying population densities usually
between 5,000 people/km2 to 10,000/km2, we find it standing
in the middle of our list. Inversely, Manhattan’s population
density of 25,846 people/km2 (barely higher than Beijing) is
not proportional with its FAR. That is partly due to the fact that
most of Manhattan usage is commercial. The more interesting
numbers lie in comparing people’s outflow and inflow during
the workday. while only 132,000 people commute out of the
borough, 1.63 million people come in everyday for work which
equal to a net population increase of 1.49 million people. The
bigger outflows are found in the suburban cities, which means
that both (suburb vs. Manhattan) scenarios represent opposite
realities. One exhales its people during the workday while the
other absorb them before exhaling them back in their
respective homes.
If synergy is tightly attached to the idea of a communal
feeling, it also applies to our perception of the impact of
density onto our lifestyle. Densities, in their essence, deal with
a certain idea of occupation. How is the land occupied dictates
how people will interact with each other, therefore having an
immediate impact on the synergy bonding people together. For
synergy arises when people are brought together to create a
whole, denser spaces makes possible a proximity,
fundamental for synergy’s existence. Proximity is also
synonym of complexity and variety, creating a higher potential
for hybrid programs. Both of them invite synergy to emerge as
it permits a bigger portion of people to be accommodated
within the system. This also explains why generally cities have

17
a tendency to be more multicultural than the far regions of a
country. If then a vaster portion of the population can find
gloves to their hand, a wider appreciation of the environment
stimulates an excitation which increases the desire to live in
this urban space. This does not mean synergy cannot happen
in a wider space where distances are bigger, but it makes it a
lot more difficult to emerge. It would require bigger efforts and
a stronger will for its existence. Then again, too dense areas
tend towards an overcrowding occupation of the space, which
allow anonymity to rise. A prime example of this problem is
again Manhattan which has been criticised by many as now
being the perfect archipelago city; a city in which towers are
insular islands only connected with its oversaturated ground
floor. If every building stands on its own, no connection can be
made and synergy is lost. In areas with very low densities, like
suburbia, anonymity also surfaces for distances reach too
great lengths. The amenities are further, therefore bigger and
more uniform. Communal identity detaches itself from any
physical proximity for it barely exists.
The initial question framing density within sustainable
practice finds its answer in its association with the concept of
synergy. The numerical minimum and maximum values being
impossible to determine, sustainable density exists in the
middle zone of the density spectrum within which synergy can
exist. A density becomes therefore too low or too high when
that synergy which engages and fosters social interactions
drops. The fine balance existing between anonymity
(individuality) and social groups (collectivity) needs not to be
lost if we want synergy to bloom. In other words, density has to
maintain that balance and allow for both to coexist in order for
the whole to be greater than the sum of its parts. It seems
logical then to say that higher density augments the
sustainable potential of a given place because of what the
repercussions of a higher density are. while this may be true,
it doesn’t necessarily mean that higher density automatically
refer to sustainability. Other criterias need to come in the
equation in order to shed light on the links between
sustainability and architecture.

about STREET NETWORK
sunghun LEE justin SPEC

20
ONESQKMMONTREALBEIJING STREET HIERARCHY & BLOCK SIZE | SUNGHUN (LUKE) LEE
STREET HIERARCHY & BLOCK SIZE
BEIJING | PLATEAU | BROSSARD | ANYANG
The planning of street network of a city is closely
related to the vehicular and pedestrian circulation within the
city area. According to the density of population, the scale of
the streets are relatively altered in different cities. The size
of city blocks, defined by the street network, often varies in
different cities for the same issue.
Eastern and Western countries tend to show differ-
ent characteristics of street network in relation to the size of
streets and city blocks. The cities in the East Asian coun-
tries, such as China and South Korea, have relatively wid-
er roads and streets with more numbers of vehicular lanes
than the cities in the Western countries, such as Canada
and USA.
The size of streets and the blocks crucially affects
the convenience of vehicular circulation and the safety of
pedestrians and bicycles around the city. Due to the high
volume of vehicles, wide roads that are wider than 45 me-
ters with many car lanes are considered to contribute to the
high level of traffic congestion.
The blocks divided and shaped by wide roads are
generally called “Superblocks” (Calthorpe 5). Superblocks
are, in general, much larger than traditional city blocks of
the grid plans found in most Western countries. Many Asian
countries, especially China and South Korea, adapted the
superblocks for their city planning. The sizes of superblocks
are normally found in the range from 300 by 300 meters to
500 by 500 meters or even larger.
Having wide arterial and secondary roads surround-
ing the superblocks is considered to be prioritizing cars over
pedestrians and bicycles; the city becomes more auto-ori-
ented as opposed to the cities with smaller city blocks and
denser street network. It is speculated that walking and
biking become more inconvenient and dangerous by hav-
ing huge volume of fast circulating vehicles around the city
blocks.
In Peter Calthorpe’s article Low Carbon City Design,
the author raises a question about the sustainability of a
city. He points out that arterial dominant superblock network
planning promotes the more use of vehicles and discourag-
es pedestrian activities, whereas the dense street network
of smaller blocks prioritizes people over cars and supports
pedestrian and economic activities (Calthorpe 5). In order
to bring the level of sustainability of a city higher, Calthorpe
insists that the road design is suggested to avoid having the
superblock oriented street network, so that the city maximiz-
es human mobility and reduces the carbon fuel usage.
The following analysis of street hierarchy and the
road area in relation to the size of blocks of the cities in dif-
ferent locations evaluates the level of vehicular dominance
of each site in respect of pedestrians and bicycles and
re-examines the validity of Calthorpe’s argument as well.
The selected sites for this study are in four different loca-
tions:
- Beijing, China
- Plateau-Mont-Royal, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Brossard, QC, Canada
- Anyang, Gyeongi, South Korea
Each site of the four locations has different types of
city planning context in terms of street network and is cho-
sen to deliver a thorough observation for the purpose of this
analysis.

21
117.18 ha
119.37 ha
Fig. 1: Beijing, China
Fig. 2: Le Plateau-Mont-Royal, Montreal, QC, Canada
STUDY SITES
The average area of the four different study
sites is approximately 115 hectares. Each of them are
geographically located 3 to 8 kilometers away from the
city centre and contains city blocks divided by the inner
through streets.
The study site in Beijing is geographically locat-
ed outside of the 2nd ring road in the North East area.
The area of the site is approximately 117 hectares. The
FAR of the site is 2.05, and the population density is
22,635 people/km2
, which is relatively higher than the
other three sites. The arterial roads are surrounding
every side of the site, and other types of streets are
going across the site. The average size of city blocks
within this site is close to the typical size of superblocks
even though they individually vary in sizes and shapes.
The second study site is Le Plateau-Mont-Roy-
al, one of the boroughs in the city of Montreal, Canada.
The area of the site is 119 hectares, which is relatively
close to the study site area in Beijing. The FAR of the
Plateau area is 1.17. The population density is 12,348
people/km2
. The street network of within this site rep-
resents the typical grid plan found in Western coun-
tries. It is located on the East side of Mount Royal of
Montreal and 3 kilometers away from the downtown
area. The size of city blocks in this area are relatively
smaller and slender, compared to the blocks found in
Beijing.

22
114.10 ha
116.60 ha
114.10 ha
Fig. 3: Brossard, QC, Canada
Fig. 4: Anyang, Gyeongi, South Korea
The third site is the city of Brossard, one of the
suburban cities of Montreal in Quebec province, Cana-
da. The city is geographically located across the Saint
Lawrence river from the Island of Montreal and approx-
imately 8 kilometers away from the city centre. This
suburb area is highly residential and is mostly filled
with detached houses. The area of the site is approxi-
mately 113 hectares. The FAR of the Brossard area is
0.35, which is the lowest among the other locations.
The population density is only 1,753 people/km2
.
The last study site is in Anyang, South Korea.
Anyang is one of the satellite cities of Seoul, the capital
of South Korea. The area of the site is approximately
116 hectares, and the size of city blocks are the big-
gest, compared to the ones found in the other sites.
The FAR of Anyang is 3.60, which is the highest, and
the population density is 11,000 people/km2
.

23
Fig. 1: City Blocks of Beijing, China
Fig. 4: City Blocks of Anyang, Gyeongi, South Korea
Fig. 3: City Blocks of Brossard, QC, Canada
Fig. 2: City Blocks of Le Plateau-Mont-Royal, Montreal, QC, Canada
CITY BLOCKS
Every city has a unique pattern of street net-
work. The sizes and shapes of city blocks are also af-
fected and defined by the nature of the pattern. The di-
agram on the right has a series of city blocks organized
in the order of size. The division of the blocks within the
each site is determined based on the vehicular circula-
tions within the site areas.
The city blocks of the study site in Beijing has
relatively irregular block shapes. The size of the blocks
drastically changes as well. The average size of the
blocks in the site is 6.3 hectares.
The Plateau area has the most typical appear-
ance of city blocks of the Western grid plan. The blocks
are generally shaped rectangular with approximately
60-meter width on average; the average length of the
blocks is 300 meters. The size of blocks in this area is
1.9 hectares, on average, which is nearly three times
smaller than the average city block size in Beijing.
The study site in Brossard carries the most or-
ganic appearance of the blocks, compared to the rest.
It is difficult to define what a block is in this suburban
area since there is a lack of through roads that typically
define a city block.
The city blocks in Anyang area has the biggest
blocks in comparison with the three previous examples.
The average size of city blocks is 11 hectares, which
is twice bigger than blocks in Beijing. The appearance
of the blocks are highly regular and also quite identical
from one another.

24
STREET HIERARCHY
THROUGH ROADS
In order to understand the structure of the street
network of each site, the diagram on the right reveals
the hierarchy of the streets accordingly. The streets
on the diagrams are based on the vehicular streets
around the city and are classified into three types of
through roads in relation to the size of width.
On the diagrams, the arterial roads are co-
loured red; the secondary streets are blue; lastly, the
tertiary streets are yellow. The scale of the streets are
relatively different from each location even though they
are coloured the same.
The study site in Beijing is surrounded by the ar-
terial roads. The width of the arterial roads in this area
is in the range between 33 to 53 meters, excluding the
sidewalks. Each street has more than 8 car lanes and
accommodates the high level of vehicular traffic. There
are only two secondary streets going across the site
area. They are 18 meters wide with 4 lanes, including
a lane of parking on each side of the street. The tertiary
streets are less than 10 meters wide and are mostly
one way streets.
The arterial roads in the Plateau area are not
as wide as the ones in Beijing. They are only 20 me-
ters wide with 6 lanes in total; however, the lanes on
both side of the street are used for parallel parking.
The secondary streets are 12 meters wide on average
and have 4 lanes in total, including a lane of parking on
each side of the street. The tertiary streets are gener-
ally one way streets and are only 8 meters wide.

25
There is only one arterial road going across the
study site in Brossard. The street is 40 meters wide
and has 6 active car lanes without parking. The sec-
ondary streets are 20 meters wide and has 4 lanes
without parking as well. The tertiary streets are less
than 10 meters wide with 2 lanes.
In Anyang, the arterial roads are 42 meters
wide with 10 active car lanes. The secondary roads
are 20 meters wide with 6 active lanes. None of the first
two types of streets has parking on the side. The tertia-
ry streets can only be found in the commercial sector
of the site, and they are 12 meters wide with 3 lanes,
including a lane of parking on each side of the street.

26
QUATERNARY STREETS
HUTONG | CUL-DE-SAC | BACK ALLEY | CAR-FREE
STREETS
Apart from the three types of streets discussed
earlier, there is the fourth type of street that can be
separately categorized. This particular street type is
highly related to the sense of privacy. The orange co-
loured streets indicate either the non-through roads
or resident-only streets. The green coloured streets
represent either green spaces or stone paved car-free
streets.
In Beijing, China, there are many streets with-
in each block that are less than 10 meter wide; most
streets in this category tend to be quite narrow and are
mainly accessible to only residents through the gates.
In Montreal Plateau area, the back alleys of the
row houses on each city block provides semi-private
spaces for the residents to utilize the space; moreover,
many pedestrians bypass through the back alleys
as shortcut routes. These back alleys has potential
to become green spaces, promoting more pedestrian
friendly activities. Also, there is a few pedestrian-only
pathway leading to the public park.

27
The site in Brossard has many cul-de-sacs. The
nature of the street network is highly oriented only for
the residents in the area, not for vehicular circulation.
There is a long and thick stripe of green space along
side the residential area. Residents and bicyclers are
physically separated from the presence of vehicles on
the asphalt roads and can feel much safer and private
within the green space.
In Anyang, most non-through roads within the
city blocks have barricades at the entrance because
the roads are only for the residents of the area for their
parking. Interestingly, all the blocks have pedestri-
an-only streets that are around 10 meters wide. From
a block to another one, the pedestrian pathway is con-
nected and continued by pedestrian bridges; in result,
it creates another street network only for the pedestri-
ans and bicyclers without any interference from vehi-
cles on the road.

28
Beijing Plateau Brossard Anyang
Area (ha)
Site Area 117.18 119.37 113.96 116.60
Road Area 18.70 24.58 17.58 23.43
Road Area (%) 15.96% 20.60% 15.43% 20.09%
Area (ha)
Site Area 117.18 119.37 113.96 116.60
Road Area 25.90 36.08 17.58 35.06
Road Area (%) 22.10% 30.23% 15.43% 30.07%
Road Area 25.90 36.08 17.58 35.06
4th type 7.20 11.50 0.00 11.63
Road Area 18.70 24.58 17.58 23.43
Area (ha)
Site Area 117.18 119.37 113.96 116.60
Road Area 18.70 24.58 17.58 23.43
Road Area (%) 15.96% 20.60% 15.43% 20.09%
Area (ha)
Site Area 117.18 119.37 113.96 116.60
Road Area 25.90 36.08 17.58 35.06
Road Area (%) 22.10% 30.23% 15.43% 30.07%
Road Area 25.90 36.08 17.58 35.06
4th type 7.20 11.50 0.00 11.63
Road Area 18.70 24.58 17.58 23.43
Fig. 3: Area Comparison of Through Roads and Resident-Only Roads
BEIJING PLATEAU BROSSARD ANYANG
Fig. 4: Percentage of Resident-Only roads in the Total Road Area
Fig. 1: Road Area Calculation (Through Roads) Fig. 2: Road Area Calculation (Including Resident-Only
Roads)
0.00
5.00
10.00
15.00
20.00
25.00
30.00
35.00
40.00Resident-Only Through Roads
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
0.00
5.00
10.00
15.00
20.00
25.00
30.00
35.00
40.00Resident-Only Through Roads
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
ROAD AREA
To determine the level of vehicular dominance
within the site areas, the percentage of road area is
calculated in two different ways. The first calculation
indicates the level of traffic derived from vehicular cir-
culation on the through roads within the sites. It only
includes the first three types of streets: arterial, sec-
ondary, and tertiary.
Beijing and Brossard have the similar percent-
age number which is approximately 16%, and Plateau
and Anyang also have the similar number which is
20%.
The second calculation represents the percent-
age of road area that includes vehicular streets that
are limited or accessible to only residents, such as
back alleys and non-through roads.
In this calculation, Beijing gets 22%. Plateau
and Anyang once again get a similar number which is
30%. Since Brossard does not have any particular lim-
ited vehicular streets, it is exempted from the calcula-
tion.
The Figure 3 is the graphical representation of
the area comparison of the two types of road area. The
yellow dashed line represents the vehicular permeabil-
ity to the resident-only roads.
The Figure 4 is the graphical representation
of the percentage of the resident-only road in the to-
tal road area of the each study site. In this graph, the
overall percentage of the resident-only roads are quite
similar to one another, excluding the Brossard area;
the level of privacy in relation to the road area are pro-
portionally close to identical.

29
Fig. 1: Combined Graphs of Floor Area Ratio and Total Road Area
BEIJING
PLATEAU BROSSARD ANYANG
Fig. 2: Combined Graphs of Population Density and Total Road Area
2.05
1.17
0.35
3.6
25.90
36.08
17.58
35.06
0.00
5.00
10.00
15.00
20.00
25.00
30.00
35.00
40.00
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
Floor Area Ratio
Total Road Area
25.90
36.08
17.58
35.06
22635
12348
1753
11000
0.00
5.00
10.00
15.00
20.00
25.00
30.00
35.00
40.00
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
Density (per km2)
Total Road Area
2.05
1.17
0.35
3.6
25.90
36.08
17.58
35.06
0.00
5.00
10.00
15.00
20.00
25.00
30.00
35.00
40.00
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
Floor Area Ratio
Total Road Area
25.90
36.08
17.58
35.06
22635
12348
1753
11000
0.00
5.00
10.00
15.00
20.00
25.00
30.00
35.00
40.00
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
Density (per km2)
Total Road Area
BEIJINGTOTAL ROAD AREA COMPARISON
In order to determine the level of vehicular de-
pendency of the residents as well as visitors in each
study site, the graphs on the right shows the compar-
ison of the total road area with floor area ratio (FAR)
and the population density, respectively.
Prior to each analysis, it is noticeable that the
FAR and the population density are not proportionally
identical. The population density of the study site in Bei-
jing shows relatively high number of people per square
kilometer, which is 22,635 people per square kilome-
ter. It is the highest population density compared to the
rest; however, its FAR is the second highest among the
three, which is 2.05.
In the Figure 1, the combined graphs show that
the total road area of Beijing and Anyang are propor-
tionally adequate in relation to their FAR number. Pla-
teau and Brossard areas are quite generous about the
road area as the gab between the points of two graphs
is relatively distanced.
In the Figure 2, all the study sites show propor-
tionally similar road area in relation to each population
density, except the Beijing site. The level of vehicular
dependency is relatively low for the residents in the
Beijing site.
This two graphs reflect that the site in Beijing
is highly crowded, and the individual living area is rel-
atively smaller than that of the other sites. In constrast,
the sites in Plateau and Brossard are relatively gener-
ous with the use of vehicles.

30
ANALYSIS CONCLUSION
In Peter Calthorpe’s article Low Carbon City Design,
he argues that “a denser network of narrower streets better
optimizes traffic flow while creating more direct routes and
improving safety for pedestrians. Road design should maxi-
mize human mobility rather than vehicle throughput. Narrow
streets that allow one-way motor traffic as well as bicycles
and pedestrians will significantly reduce congestion and fuel
use in Chinese cities by minimizing signal delays” (Calthor-
pe 5).
The most suitable example of the ideal city planning
type for a sustainable city, according to Calthorpe’s article,
is the study site in Le Pleateau-Mont-Royal with its typical
Western grid plan. The studies in the previous pages show
that his idea does not thoroughly reflect the population den-
sity difference in each city; the level of vehicular dependen-
cy of the residents is also a crucial factor to reflect the level
of sustainability of a city as well.
In the studies earlier, Beijing is the only city where
the level of vehicular dependency is relatively low, and the
pedestrian mobility is less affected by vehicles, compared to
the other sites due to the high population density.
To achieve a sustainble city planning design, the lev-
el of vehicular dominance and pedestrian mobility should
balance out in respect of the population density regardless
the size of city blocks and street network.

31
Works Cited
Calthorpe, Peter. Low Carbon Cities: Principles and Prac-
tices for China’s Next Generation of Growth. ClimateWorks
Foundation. USA. Print.

ONESQKMMONTREALBEIJING STREET NETWORK | JUSTIN SPEC
33
MISSED CONNECTIONS: THE STREET NETWORK AND
DEVELOPMENT PATTERNS OF CHINA AND MONTREAL
This paper initiates an investigation into the street network and
development patterns of modern expansion and intensification
in Beijing, China to ascertain the influence of the megablock in
current trends of urbanization. This analysis will be juxtaposed
with two distinct precedents of planning typologies from
Montreal, Canada.
Current western theories on urban design characteristically
dismiss the megablock as an unsustainable method of
development. This dissatisfaction is plainly elucidated by Cliff
Moughtin, an Emiritus Professor of architecture and planning:
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
The result of Westerners’ experimentations with modernism
and the failure of the ‘building in the park’ typology paved the
way to the contemporary ideal: urban villages emphasizing
small blocks within a grid layout consisting of a mixture of uses
and accessible pedestrian and public transit connections –
such as Montreal’s Plateau district. This does not alter the
reality that low-density suburban housing in the sprawling

1
Moughtin, Cliff. "The Urban Street Block." Urban Design: Green Dimensions. Oxford:
Butterworth Architecture, 1996. 193-216. Print.
periphery of the city is continuously in high demand.
In Beijing’s defense, it could be contended that many
megablocks realize the prerequisites of an urban village at an
altered scale. It is imperative to determine the exact
proportions of these megablocks from a Western mindset: are
they up-scaled city blocks as we currently state? Or slightly
down-scaled urban villages? And what constitutes the
difference? The former has a negative connotation, while the
latter could contribute to validating aspects of China’s current
development trends. This dichotomy can often be decided
through analysis of street network patterns and the internal
connections each precedent exemplifies.
To begin this analysis, it is essential to define several
fundamental terminologies:
A megablock, or superblock, is a large, usually rectangular
parcel of land (the Beijing site being 100 hectares) bordered
on all sides by multi-lane, major vehicular arterial roads. The
interiors of these blocks are subdivided based on property
ownership, not by a city-mandated street grid. Developed from
previously uninhabited or low-density areas, there is no
gradual evolution of city fabric, but instead each parcel is
utilized as a laboratory for large-scale, rapid urban projects.
Western mentality specifies a gated community as a privately
owned, usually suburban, housing development in which gates
or walls stringently limit public access. They are frequently
equipped with communal amenity spaces shared amongst
residents. Gated communities are often criticized, as instances
of segregation, especially those of an economic nature, are
largely perceived with a negative stigma.

34
Community developments in Beijing (and popular throughout
many other rapidly expanding Asian cities) are also housing
schemes contained within a set boundary. Typically, public
accessibility is less rigid in comparison to their gated Western
counterparts, although a certain degree of homogeneity
among residents is established. Instead, motivated to establish
a sense of community within large-scale residential
developments, these projects achieve a level of safety and
privacy coveted by many Asian homeowners in quickly
intensifying urban settings.
The urban village typology will be mentioned on numerous
occasions in this text, predominantly in reference to Montreal’s
Plateau district. Small, rectangular blocks and a thorough mix
of land uses define this neighborhood. Walking and cycling are
encouraged, as well as connectivity to the city’s public transit
network. There is a cohesive sense of community between
residents.
Each typology surveyed in this study (megablock, urban
village, suburb) has its own particular set of advantages and
disadvantages, often beginning with the basic unit of urban
development: the block size and therefore the street network.
Suburbs will generally produce unwalkable, auto-reliant
communities with ample private space and well defined
amenity space. Typically, there is a strict division between
residential and other land uses such as commercial or
institutional. Urban villages contrast these ideals with tight-knit,
piecemeal development and an understanding of the street as
the public realm. There are scarce instances of private open
space. The megablocks synthesize elements from both the
suburbs and the urban village. A rigid grid is developed at a
large scale and infilled with a relatively suburban street
network (ie. cul de sacs, courts, winding roads, etc), albeit at a
much larger scale.
It is important to note, the specific site of analysis in Beijing is
not a typical depiction of recent megablock development. With
more segmented, slower growth patterns, it is a sample of
piecemeal urban development, evolving from an existing city
fabric and incorporating higher portions of commercial and
institutional facilities. The majority of current superblocks are
intensifying more rural, agricultural settings, with even larger
internal parcels and less distribution of uses.
Figure 1 - Example of a megablock in Beijing, China. http://www.baidu.com/

35
Figure 2 - Example of an urban village. The Plateau, Montreal, Canada.
http://www.maps.google.ca/
Figure 3 – Figure-ground diagrams of three varying street network typologies at a
consistent scale. From left to right: megablocks in Beijing, the urban village scheme in
the Plateau, and suburban development on Montreal's south shore.
One of the consequences of Beijing’s prevalent communal
housing blocks resides in their limited access in terms of
vehicular and pedestrian connectivity to the remainder of the
megablock. Only two or three controlled entrances or exits
typically serve each development. These restrictive measures,
paired with the lack of coordination between individual private
developers, leads to the formation of a haphazard network of
internal streets and lanes within the larger superblock,
resembling increasingly suburban street network conditions.
This absence of through-connections severely impacts the
functionality of each megablock as an urban village. The
foremost distinction originates in the previously established
infrastructure (roads, water, waste, power, etc) of Western
examples that developers are compelled to accommodate.
Beijing projects are customarily fashioned from a blank canvas
with fewer obligations for street connections or public
accessibility.
Figure 4 - Analysis of the walls or barriers of the megablock's community housing
developme

36
Figure 5 - Highlighting the street networks of the megablock and urban village.
It is not the lack of internal connections alone that prevents
each megablock from functioning as a self-sustaining and
sustainable entity. Increasingly high-rise, large-lot development
has greatly impaired the walkability of each neighborhood.
These new structures harshly contrast the previous typology of
six-storey walk-up apartment slab buildings. Currently, the
shear scale of these parcels severely detracts from the
pedestrian-friendliness of a neighborhood and its ability to
encompass a thorough mix of land-uses and diversity of
functions. The increasing distance between developments has
compelled many residents to become auto-reliant in their
quest for expedient commute. To accommodate increasingly
dense population demands, urban design at a human scale
has become increasingly neglected.
Historically, the megablock has not consistently been
synonymous with negative urban conditions. More traditional
examples of low-rise or hutong development within larger
superblocks have promoted lively, pedestrian-friendly
streetscapes thriving with the vitality of both programmed and
informal human activity. These hutongs instilled a more
democratic, widespread notion of community than the gated
high-rises accommodating today’s drastic population growth.
They promoted ideals of inclusion, rather than the seclusion
and separation incurred by the ‘community developments’ of
the more modern era. Unfortunately, these single-storey
structures can’t accommodate the required densities of an
increasing population. In those megablocks still housing
hutong development, many communities are experiencing
severe overcrowding and a resulting critical decline in living
conditions and welfare. It is these hutong ‘slums’ that are
being redeveloped and intensified into massive residential
projects – necessitated to be even larger to compensate for
the relocation of the area’s previous tenants.

37
Figure 6 - Examples of pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use Hutong low-rise development.
http://www.timetravelturtle.com/2011/08/hutong-clan/, http://kaylilum-
travels.blogspot.ca/2013/06/one-year-in-beijing.html
Considering the reduced connectivity of internal megablocks,
this condition is further exacerbated by an external disconnect
with neighboring blocks. There is an isolation experienced
when strictly contained by wide multi-lane arterial freeways
constantly clogged with traffic. Pedestrian crossings are
relegated to signaled crossings at main intersections or above-
and below-grade bridges as the arterial roads are equipped
with median barriers to prevent informal jaywalking. This
separation negates notions of belonging to the city; instead
each megablock is consigned to its own urban setting, as
Jeffrey Johnson, founding director of the China Megacities Lab
at Columbia University states, “the megablock always runs the
risk of becoming an autonomous island amongst islands,”2
disconnected from the greater context of Beijing. Residents
begin to relate to their urban identity on a building-by-building
basis, instead of identifying to a district or even the city as a
whole.

2
Johnson, Jeffrey. "Columbia China Lab Introduction." Lecture.
Figure 7 - Overlay comparison of Beijing (blue) and Plateau (purple) street networks.
In contrast to the Chinese patterns of development, the typical
grid pattern of many Western cities achieves a democratic
nature for residents due to the ease of accessibility to their
surrounding urban environment. With a plethora of
connections, residents and visitors alike can freely determine
their preferred path to any given location. Vehicular congestion
is efficiently managed with the ‘trickle-down’ effect of smaller,
grid-based patterns: that the increasingly even distribution of
cars throughout the grid system will reduce overcrowding on
many uniform streets, as opposed to having a more rigid
hierarchy of main streets versus secondary streets. This also
contributes to a safer, friendlier pedestrian experience.
The resistance to these development patterns in Beijing is
based in their predilection for community developments. The

38
fine-grained Western grids cannot accommodate residential
courtyard compounds, typically requiring approximately four
hectares. There is a cultural dissimilarity regarding the
importance of semi-private space. Perhaps if Montreal
developments provided increased semi-private amenities in
urban cores, there would be a reduction in the numbers of
families transitioning into more suburban climates. It is this
gated security that alleviates concern for parents worried for
the safety of their children in a city context.
In Beijing, the substantial discrepancy between the
surrounding arterial highways and each block’s internal,
increasingly private unconnected streets organically traffics
most vehicular commuters to the larger freeways. This
distinctive street network pattern experiences restricted
circulation and movement, as even multi-lane arterials cannot
cope with the exploding traffic demand.
Figure 8 - Example of a Beijing arterial road bounding two megablocks.
For a more formal analysis, land area calculations have been
completed to establish concrete statistics examining each
precedent’s street network. For Beijing’s megablock site,
streets covered 16% of land area. This compares to 21%
in the Plateau and 15% in the suburban condition.
The average block size in Beijing was approximately
53,000m2
, and 11,000 m2
in the Plateau. The suburban
typology is not established in well-defined blocks capable and
was therefore not measured.
In these similarly sized study areas, there was 4.7 times the
number of blocks in the Plateau than in Beijing. Logically,
Beijing’s blocks were 4.8 times larger in land area.
Figure 9 - Comparison of statistics of each site.

39
Figure 10 - Average block sizes for Beijing megablock and Montreal Plateau:
53,000m
2
and 11,000m
2
respectively.
This analysis was extended into the realm of possibility,
imagining the same statistics if Beijing were to actively connect
the internal street networks of the megablock. These numbers
do not represent the condition of a fine grain grid pattern
overlaid within the block, but instead depict the potential if
private streets were publicized and dead ends and segmented
streets were connected similar to Figure 11. This would result
in a street network that occupies 26% of the entire site area,
instead of the existing 16%. A higher percentage area does not
automatically indicate a better urban condition though, as
these streets are not a formalized grid pattern, nor necessarily
scaled to an adequate pedestrian dimension. It would aid in
the vehicular accessibility and congestion issues that plague
China’s arterial main streets, providing an array of alternative
routes.
Figure 11 - Beijing's unconnected internal street network, depicting where connections
would be most valuable.
As with most planning matters, there is no single blanket
solution and an interdisciplinary approach must be taken to
incorporate social, economic, cultural, and physical factors.

40
The interconnections within the planning process have
numerous variables to manage. In Beijing, it might be
necessary to alter the public’s predisposition towards car
ownership before any amendments to street network patterns
can be introduced. Conversely, the determining factor could be
the lack of employment centres dispersed throughout the city.
If job opportunities were in closer proximity, the demand for
automobile ownership could lessen. Maybe Montreal’s urban
development patterns require modification to encourage
suburban residents back into the city.
The megablock is still a fairly recent development in terms of
planning ideologies. The current model has the potential to
evolve and adapt to adequately and sustainably satisfy the
needs of China’s exploding population. This is not a criticism of
the megablock, but rather a questioning of the current
development patterns and scale of Beijing’s recent
urbanization. It is entirely possible to establish a vital street life
and pedestrian friendly streetscape through revisions to the
typologies of residential buildings, the implementation of
coordinated masterplans, and adjustments to the scale of
development. A shift in emphasis must be made from the pure
economics of necessity to the vision of well-designed
neighborhoods for the people.

41
Bibliography
Calthorpe, Peter, and Martin C. Pedersen. "Q&A: Peter Calthorpe." Metropolis. N.p., 23 July 2013. Web. 8 Nov. 2014.
Cole, Raymond, and Richard Lorch. Buildings, Culture and Environment: Informing Local and Global Practices. Oxford, UK:
Blackwell Pub., 2003. Print.
Jacobs, Jane. The Death and Life of Great American Cities. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.
Johnson, Jeffrey. "Columbia China Lab Introduction." Lecture.
Krieger, Alex, and William S. Saunders. Urban Design. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota, 2009. Print.
Luery, Matt. "Not So Superblocks." URBAN GORILLA. N.p., 21 Oct. 2010. Web. 10 Nov. 2014.
Monson, Kjersti. "String Block Vs Superblock Patterns of Dispersal in China." Architectural Design 78.1 (2008): 46-53. Web.
Moughtin, Cliff. "The Urban Street Block." Urban Design: Green Dimensions. Oxford: Butterworth Architecture, 1996. 193-216. Print.
Niederhauser, Matthew. "Visions of Modernity: China's Gilded Age. Portfolio and Other Works by Matthew Niederhauser. N.p., 2010.
Web. 8 Nov. 2014.
Shane, David G. "Block, Superblock and Megablock, A Short History. David Graham Shane." Arcduecitt World Architecture Research
City. N.p., 15 Jan. 2014. Web. 8 Nov. 2014.

about MIXED-LAND USE
zhiyao CHEN jing XIE pierre FAN ZHU

ONESQKMMONTREALBEIJING LAND-USE MIX | JING XIE
44
Institutional Land Use: A Beijing-Montreal Comparison
1. Introduction
Beijing and Montreal are both two large cities but
with totally different social-economic and historical-cultural
development, as well as difference between Chinese and
western conditions and customs. (See table. 1) Among the
three research areas, the density and population of Beijing
research area are the highest, Montreal Suburb’s are the
lowest, Montreal Plateau between the two. According to
the above differences, Beijing ， Montreal Plateau and
Montreal Suburb have different land-use patterns. This
study attempts to use “New Residential Area Public
Services Requirements” to do a Beijing-Montreal
comparison of public service facilities. (See Appendix) The
“New Residential Area Public Services Requirements” is a
planning table used in China to define the required type
and size of public community services that must be
provided in residential neighborhoods. The table stipulates
the number of sq. meters of public service required per
1000 residents.
Beijing Plateau Suburb
Population
(people)
25,340 14,940 3,575
Density (FAR) 2.04 1.17 0.35
Table.1 Populations and Densities of the Study
areas
I will first check whether the actual land use of
Beijing and Montreal meet the Chinese standard and then
use New Urbanism “defining elements” to do some
complementary comparison.
2. Land Use Types and Distribution
1) Beijing
In the Beijing study, we defined ten land use types,
which are residential, institutional, office, school, restaurant,
culture, green land, commercial mix, residential and
commercial mix, commercial and office mix.
The Beijing Land Use Map shows the location and
distribution of these ten types of land use. The proportion
of residential land is about 60%, educational land is about
10%, commercial and other land uses accounts for the rest.
This Beijing area shows three Chinese neighborhood
features. First, Residential areas are divided into small
districts (“xiaoqu”) or neighborhoods, and each “xiaoqu”
has a fence as a boundary. The “xiaoqu” vary in size from
4 to 20 hectares and make the blocks quite large.
Large shopping centers located along arterial roads
are also a feature. Baoli Building, Jushi Building and Yongli
International Building are along the east-west Gongti North
Road, and Shoukaixingfu Plaza is along north-south
xindong Road. Small commercial-mix buildings are
distributed inside the neighborhood. Commercial activities
exist in every corner in the neighborhood, which can be
reflected by various mixed buildings. Third, an 800 meter-
long green belt works as green buffer zone as protection
from air and noise pollution from the large Second Ring
Road, as well as recreation green land where residents
can play there. This kind of green buffer is a quite common
green landscape in Beijing and many other Chinese cities
today.
2) Montreal Plateau

45
In the Montreal Plateau study, we define eleven
land use types, residential corner store, restaurant, retail,
other commercial, office, school, government, hospital,
religious and park green.
From the Montreal Plateau Land Use Map, we can
find it is a very different land-use mix mode from Beijing
neighborhood. First, residential land proportion is obviously
higher than Beijing, approximately 73%. Most dwellings are
townhouses or triplexes. Educational land proportion is
lower than Beijing and school sizes are smaller. The most
different feature is that there is no big shopping center like
in Beijing, but there are various sizes of commercial streets
in the Plateau. Four main commercial streets are two
parallel east-west Saint Laurent Boulevard and Saint Denis
Street, two adjacent south-north Duluth Avenue East and
Rachel Street East. Instead of long green belt, Montreal
Plateau has a 1.3 hectare big green square, Saint Louis
Square, and nine small green lands.
3) Montreal Suburb
As Montreal Suburb has the lowest population and density
among the three neighborhoods, it has a very simple land-
use mix mode. we only define four land use types,
residential, commercial mix (commercial, office and clinic),
education and green space. Dwellings are all detached
houses. Commercial activities are all locate along
Taschereau Boulevard. There is a secondary school at the
intersection between Sorbonne Avenue and Pelletier
Boulevard.

46

47
Fig. 2 Montreal Plateau Study Area Land Use Map
Fig. 3 Montreal Suburb Study Area Land Use Map

48
3. Compare Service Facilities Using the Chinese “1000
people standard”
In this part, we mainly compare Beijing and
Montreal Plateau because these two sites are both located
very close to downtown while Montreal Suburb is very far
from downtown outside Montreal Island. Also, the
population and land use types of the Montreal Suburb is
not really comparable with the other two.
“New Residential Area Public Services
Construction Index” hereinafter referred to as “1000 people
standard” because we only use the column from the table
called “1000 people standard” in our study. We have the
population densities of each study site and the land areas
of the two sites. So we multiply density by land area to get
population. For example, most of the Beijing study site
locates in Doncheng District, whose density is 21,724
people/ km², and the area of Beijing study site is 1.1665
km². Therefore, the population of Beijing study area is
about 25,340, and in the same way, the population of
Plateau study area is about 14,940.
The following is a land use by use comparison of
the land area required as indicated by the “1000 people
standard” table, and the areas actually occurring in the two
study areas. There are two tables shown in the Appendix
of this paper, One is for “Beijing New Residential Area
40,000 to 60,000 People”, and the other is for “Beijing New
Residential Area 10,000 to 20,000 People”. I will use the
second table; it’s population range is suitable for our study
sites.
1) Education
In this study, we calculate the actual “building area”
of Beijing and Montreal Plateau and compared to “1000
people standard”.
a. Beijing
In Beijing study area, there are two kindergartens,
four elementary schools, one secondary school and one
vocational school. According to the standard, the
kindergarten building area should be between 7120 and
7855 m², the actual value is a little bit higher, about 9346
m². The elementary school building area should be
between 6943 and 7729 m², while the actual area is very
big, 36,307 m². The Secondary school building area should
be between 8058 and 9198 m², but the actual value is also
very high, 48,938 m².
b. Montreal Plateau
In Montreal Plateau study area, there are seven
kindergartens, one elementary school, two secondary
schools and the Dance Department of UQAM. According to
the 1000 people standard, the kindergarten area should be
between 4187 and 4619 m², the actual value is 3080 m²,
which is lower than standard. Elementary school area
should be between 4083 m²and 4545 m², but the actual
value is very low, 1302 m². The secondary school area
should be between 4738 and 5409 m², the actual value is
3949 m².
From the above data, in the Beijing study area,
educational service building area includes all three levels,
kindergarten, elementary school and secondary school. It
not only satisfies the required building area to serve local
residents but also can serve residents outside the
neighborhood. Since our study area is about 1 km², which
is a walkable neighborhood, it should be regarded as a
walk-to-school neighborhood. However, in the Montreal

49
Plateau study area, though the number of kindergartens is
higher than Beijing, they are very small, and the actual
kindergarten building area is only about three quarters of
area required by the “1000 people standard”. Actual
elementary school building area is very limited, only one
quarter of area required. Secondary school area is also
insufficient, about three quarters of the area required by
the “1000 people standard”. The actual Le Plateau-Mont-
Royal District is about 8 times bigger than our study
Plateau are. So I assume that many educational services
are located outside our study Plateau area. Therefore, I
infer that this study area is not a walk-to-school
neighborhood.
Chart 1 Beijing Educational Building Area
Chart 2 Montreal Educational Building Area
2) Health
For health services, we also compare the “building
area” of Beijing and Plateau. Since the populations of the
two sites are both among 10,000 to 20,000, we use
“community health service station” requirement to compare.
In China, one community health service station serves
three to five xiaoqu (about 5,000 to 10,000 people).
a. Beijing
In the Beijing study area, the hospital area required
by the “1000 people standard” is 608 m², and there are two
community health service centers. we can also find one
plastic surgery hospital and two private traditional Chinese
clinics mix with other commercial establishments.
b. Montreal Plateau
7120 6943 80589346
36307
48938
7855 7729 9198
0
10000
20000
30000
40000
50000
60000
Kindergarden Elementary
School
High School
min value
actual value
max value
4187 4083
4738
3080
1302
3949
4619 4515
5409
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
Kindergarden Elementary
School
High School
min value
actual value
max value

50
In the Montreal Plateau study area, there are three
hospitals. The actual hospital area is about 26,382 m², but
the hospital area required by the standard is only 358 m².
If we only see the above data, we could say the
Montreal Plateau study area has a very sufficient health
service and can serve residents outside the area, while the
Beijing study area almost has few public medical services.
Due to Chinese different public service system, as I
mentioned, there is always a community health service
station for three to five xiaoqu, and this kind of health
station is equal to a clinic in Montreal. However, the Beijing
study area actual health service, two community health
stations, is indeed not enough for a neighborhood of
25,340 people.
Chart 3 Beijing and Plateau Health Service Building Area
3) Cultural and Green Land
Comparing cultural service uses “building area”,
while comparing green land we use “land area” because
green lands are outdoor un-built space, that is, they are not
buildings.
a. Beijing
In our Beijing study area, the cultural service area
required by the standard is between 2433 and 3193 m²,
while the actual area is about 21,100 m², which is quite
large. There is one young people’s palace, and two
theatres. Their sizes are all very large.
There is no standard requirement for public green
land. I have mentioned above, there is an 800 meter-long
green belt where people play and recreation. The actual
area of the green belt beside the Second Ring Road is
22,376 m2, so the green land area per 1000 people is 883
m².
b. Montreal Plateau
In the Plateau, cultural service area required by the
standard is 1430 and 1877 m². There are six theatres in
this area, though each one is very small, but the total area
reaches the standard. There is also a sound recording
library.
The Montreal Plateau has a 1.3 hectare big green
square, Saint Louis Square, and nine small green lands.
The total area of these green lands is 25,403 m², and the
area per 1000 people is 1705 m². Just outside the study
area is LaFontaine Park which is a major park in Montreal.
It has an area of about 36 hectares.
Comparing the two study areas, both Beijing and
the Montreal Plateau have more than sufficient cultural
service facilities, but they have a difference. In the Plateau,
608 358
26382
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
30000
Beijing Plateau
standard value
actual value

51
each of the six small theatres is diverse from one another,
plus the library, all the facilities offers local residents a rich
cultural service. Beijing has much more than the
neighborhood needs. The three culture facilities in Beijing
are very large. The Dongcheng District Yong People’s
Palace is about 10,000 m²and is a multi-functional cultural
center serving the whole Doncheng District children and
teenagers. Dongchuang Theatre is 3600 m²and Baoli
Theatre is 7500 m², and these two theatres are city-level
theatres, especially Baoli hold a lot of international
performances every year. Therefore, in the Montreal
Plateau, residents can enjoy distinctive culture service
within the neighborhood, while in Beijing, residents can
enjoy big shows.
Chart 4 Beijing and Plateau Cultural Service Building Area
Chart 5 Beijing and Plateau Green Land Area
From the above data, the actual green land area of
Montreal Plateau is about double that of Beijing. we could
say Plateau is a greener neighborhood; however, we
cannot make such a quick judgment. This standard does
not consider the substantial amount of green area adjacent
to the people’s residences inside the xiaoqu. It also doe not
consider the extensive tree cover of most of the streets in
Beijing.
China’s residential neighbourhoods, xiaoqu, have
shared courtyards. These courtyards provide simple
outdoor fitness equipments, recreational facilities for
children, and green space.
In addition, Beijing has many wide and beautiful
pedestrian ways which are full of trees. People like to sit in
these green spaces to communicate, rest and even have
food. Therefore actually, Beijing is full of green.
2432.64
1430.4
21100
2235
3192.84
1877.4
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
Beijing Plateau
min value
actual value
max value
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
30000
actual total value value/1000 people
Beijing
Plateau

52
Fig. 4 Courtyard in xiaoqu
Fig. 5 Green Pedestrian way in Beijing
Fig. 6 Trees beside Arterial in Beijing
Fig. 7 Green Street Corner/ Square in Beijing

53
4. Study Area Comparison using New Urbanism “Defining
Elements”
Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-zyberk, are two
of the founders of the Congress for the New Urbanism.
They and their colleagues observed patterns, namely
defining elements of New Urbanism. There are thirteen
defining elements, but I only use three of them, which are
most related to land use mix.
1) Dwelling Types
One element is that “There are a variety of dwelling
types—usually houses, row-houses, and apartments—so
that younger and older people, singles and families, the
poor and the wealthy may find a place to live”.
In Chinese urban planning, residences are divided
into three types. The first type refers to detached house
and row house, but these dwellings only affordable to the
very rich people. In our Beijing study area, none of first
type residence can be found. The second type represents
apartments, which is the most common residential type in
our study area. The third type refers to ancillary residences
that serve for industrial park, university and other large
enterprises, and there are two apartment buildings of third
type residence in our study area. In our Beijing study area,
there is also an area of old one-storey houses. They are
not the typical hutong houses but rather were built in the
1950s as temporary worker’s housing. The intention is to
tear them down as soon as possible.
In the Montreal Plateau study area, most dwellings
are row-houses, and a small portion of dwellings are
apartment towers. The Montreal Plateau satisfies the
defining element because all kinds of people can find
places to live there. In the Montreal Suburb, however, all
the dwellings are detached houses. People who live there
are almost at the same social class and are all families.
Fig. 8 New apartment buildings in Beijing

54
Fig. 9 Old Department Buildings in Beijing
Fig. 10 One-story Temporary Worker’s Housing
Fig. 11 Row-houses in Plateau
e
Fig. 12 Apartment Building in Plateau

55
2) Discernible Centers
Another New Urbanism element says that “The
neighborhood has a discernible center. This is often a
square or a green and sometimes a busy or memorable
street corner. A transit stop would be located at this center”.
we have repeatedly mentioned that Montreal
Plateau has a 1.3 hectare big green square, Saint Louis
Square, and nine small green lands. Saint Louis Square
can be regarded as the discernible center of Plateau. In the
Suburb, there are also two big green squares, on is near
the center, the other is at north-west corner. Both Plateau
and Montreal meet this element requirement.
From the Beijing Land Use Maps, we cannot find a
discernible center. It only has a green belt along the west
side, and the distance from green belt to people who live in
the east side is over 1.3 km, which is too far to walk.
However, does this mean there is no discernible center
that people can gather to communicate and do leisure
activities in Beijing study area? The answer is no. On the
one hand, the above has mentioned, every xiaoqu has a
big or small plaza at its center. The trees usually shade
xiaoqu plazas which make a very comfortable and safe
place where people can relax and play. On the other hand,
nowadays, there are a lot of large commercial plazas in
Chinese cities. The empty outdoor space of commercial
plazas is designed to offer more recreation space for
citizens. A very typical public fitness activity today in China
is “plaza dance”. Hundreds of middle-aged and elderly
people gather at these plazas every evening after dinner to
dance together. They need large space, and commercial
plazas offer them very sufficient space. In addition, Beijing
has many wide and beautiful pedestrian ways which are
full of trees. As mentioned above, people like to sit there to
communicate, recreate even have food.
3) Parking Lots and Garages
The third related defining element says that
“Parking lots and garage doors rarely front the street.
Parking is relegated to the rear of buildings, usually
accessed by alleys”.
In the Montreal Plateau, although a lot of cars park
on the side of roads, it meets the element requirement.
From our site visit, we found almost every row-house has
its own garage at the back and accessed by alleys. Or if
large buildings have parking lots, the lots are behind
buildings. In the Suburb, because of its low population and
density, each house has own garage.
Fig. 13 Garages in Plateau
In the Beijing study area, the population and density
do not allow the existence of too much ground parking, not
to mention garages. Commercial plazas and new xiaoqu
have very limited ground parking space but large
underground parking lots. The entrance and exit of
commercial plaza underground parking locate along

56
different streets. In residential xiaoqu, vehicles get into
xiaoqu and then drive into underground parking lots.
However, old xiaoqu and the one-storey housing section of
our study site lack parking facilities and compel them to
park by the roadside.
4) Complementary Elements: Religion and Fresh Food
Retail
Due to the huge social and cultural difference, two
complementary elements should be considered to compare,
religion and fresh food retail. In Plateau, there are five
religious institutions, while there is none in the Beijing
study area.
The reason why I compare fresh food retail is that
Chinese people and western people have very different
eating habits and fresh food requirements. In the Plateau,
people mainly buy fresh food in supermarkets, while in the
Beijing study area, people prefer to buy fresh food in fresh
food markets because food there is updated every day and
Chinese people prefer live poultry and aquatic products
instead of refrigerated meat. There is a 1600 m² xinxingli
Fresh Food Market in Beijing study area and inside some
xiaoqu, there are some small vegetable shops.
5. Observations
a) Distribution Pattern
The land use distribution pattern of Beijing is
heavily influenced by Chinese traditional culture and social
concepts, so our Beijing study area land use is courtyard/
garden-oriented and present the pattern of massive
distribution. This is reflected by the residential unit xiaoqu
with courtyards or gardens. Commercial establishments
are distributed at the edge of residential area and large
commercial facilities are located at the edge of the whole
study along city arterials.
The Montreal Plateau is a street-oriented
distribution pattern, which can be reflected by very obvious
commercial streets, and differ from Beijing. Each building
in Montreal is an independent unit. The Montreal Suburb
has a very simple distribution that separates land use types,
and is not walkable.
b) Mix
First, the Beijing study area has the most land use
types and public service facilities. Residential and other
land uses, like commercial, office and culture, crossly
distribute.
As well, the Beijing study area has many more
mixed-use buildings than the Montreal Plateau. In the
Plateau, mixed- use only appears at commercial streets.
To sum up, Beijing is the most mixed neighborhood among
the three study areas.
c) Few Religious Institutions in China
In our Beijing study area, there are no religious
institutions. This lack of Religious institution phenomenon
is very common in China because the Chinese social
culture and education make most Chinese (especially Han
people) to not have a religious belief in the western sense.
Even though in the whole Beijing city, there are 10
churches and 10 mosques and some Chinese temples, the
density of religious institutions in Beijing is much lower than
in Montreal.

ONESQKMMONTREALBEIJING LAND-USE MIX | PIERRE FANZHU
58
Land-use Mix: a comparative study
Introduction
The issue of sustainability is nowadays colored by the
notion that sustainability is not simply a quantifiable measurement,
but also has impact in the social and cultural realms. While issues
of energy, economy and environment have been always been at the
core of sustainability, there is a new influx of literature concerned
with providing spaces that are “people-friendly […] [or] good”1
.
Among the criteria that define a city or space as good and people-
friendly is the issue of land-mix. Authors such as Billingham, Cole,
and Tibbalds all preach the importance of “mixed-use”2
in a city
to develop a community. At the building scale, the emergence of
“hybrid buildings”3
, qualified by Steven Holl as an “anti-typology”4
,
mirrors this desire for a high concentration of a variety of uses. The
mixed aspect of the hybrid has the capacity to “shape public space
[…] [containing] living, working, recreation and cultural facilities”5
.
Yet when dealing with the morphology of different cities or suburbs,
this implied cause-effect relationship of ‘high degree of mixed use
equals sustainable community’ is disrupted by the fact that social
sustainability is not as easily measured as number of different uses.
This essay attempts to re-examine three different built environments
in order to ascertain whether there are any underlying principles of
mixed-use that can be integrated into all kinds of living conditions.
For this study, a roughly one-kilometer square built up area
of Beijing, the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough of Montreal, and a
typical North American suburb will be examined through the use of
mappings and comparative analyses. The land-use of each of these
1
Shaftoe, Henry. Convivial Urban Spaces: Creating Effective Public Places. (London:
Earthscan in Association with the International Institute for Environment and Development,
2008), 6.
2
Ibid.
3
Per, Aurora Fernández, Javier Mozas, and Javier Arpa. This Is Hybrid: An Analysis of
Mixed-use Buildings by a T (Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain: T Architecture, 2011), 6.
4
Ibid.
5
Per. This is Hybrid, 8.
areas will be mapped and identified, giving a general overview of
how accessible all the different amenities are. Then, a comparative
quantitative study will be done by referring to guidelines for
institutional buildings published by the Chinese government.
Montreal Plateau
The land use map of the Plateau-Mont-Royal shows the
aggregation of most commercial uses on important vertical axes.
Uses ranging from restaurants to retail populate the length of Saint-
Laurent and Saint-Denis streets. These two commercial streets are
intermittently intersected by streets of lesser commercial density,
effectively creating a makeshift grid of commercial uses in the
Plateau. The cells of this grid are generally filled with two to three
storey residential buildings. What is noticeable right away is the fact
that it is a less than 500 m walk from the center of any of these cells
to its edge. In other words, residents of the Plateau have to walk less
than 500 m in order to reach a commercial avenue. Furthermore,
in order to further supplement the residents of the Plateau, small
corner stores selling a variety of basic amenities can be found
dispersed throughout the whole area. Also, the buildings along the
main commercial streets often serve more than one use. Due to
the Plateau having the unique walk-up type houses, the second
floor of these buildings are also commonly used as commercial,
office or residential spaces. In this sense, there is a finer degree
of mixed-ness in these areas of the Plateau. In addition to the
mixed arterial roads, back alleys in the Plateau play an important
role in creating leisure space. The small alleys shared between
neighbours become a different type of gathering area; not quite as
large as a plaza, yet big enough to foster a sense of community.
The urban fabric of the Plateau is composed of a detailed mosaic of
residential, commercial, mixed use and leisure. Thus, the Plateau-
Mont-Royal not only has a variety of amenities, but these amenities
are arranged in a manner that is accessible to all the residents of
the area.

59
RESIDENTIAL
SCHOOL
RELIGIOUS
HOSPITAL
GOVERNM
OFFIC
RE
RESIDENTIAL
SCHOOL
RELIGIOUS
HOSPITAL
GOVERNMENT
OFFICE
RESTAURANT
RETAIL
CORNER STORE
OTHER
Fig. 1: Land-use map of a roughly 1 square-kilometer area of the Plateau-Mont-Royal.

60
Beijing
The urban morphology of the Beijing site consists of a large
block bounded by large arterial roads on its four sides. The block
is then further subdivided by secondary circulation that would allow
automobiles to pass through. Within these smaller blocks, lots of
different shapes or sizes are assigned to a certain function. There
seems to be three main categories of building use: residential,
mixed use, and education. The mixed use buildings crowd the outer
edge of the block, lining the arterial roads. This arrangement is
understandable as they contain the bulk of the commercial, office,
and cultural spaces. There are a few mixed use buildings within
the block; however, the inner area is largely devoted to buildings
that fall within the categories of residential and educational. At first
glance, the area is seemingly portioned into large blocks of different
uses. Due to the size of the partitioning and the larger scale of
the buildings, the arrangement of uses conveys the sense of a
segregated city; echoing Corbusian principles of urban planning.
This understanding of the block is further emphasized by the
fact that each lot has its own consistent morphological language
internally, but when juxtaposed to the surrounding lots, loses its
inherent logic.
However, upon closer examination, the Beijing site is more
than an incongruous block. The mapping provides a good general
overview, but a general mapping of this residential type leads to
some important oversights in Beijing. The residential lots in Beijing
are rarely purely residential. In fact, at the ground level, it is permitted
to open small shops selling objects that range from general goods,
barber shops, to fruits and vegetables. The locations of these small
shops within the lots are lined along the secondary roads that run
through the block. Similar to how the large mixed use buildings
follow the large arterial roads, these smaller amenities follow the
smaller roads. Operating in the same way as the corner stores of
the plateau, these small informal shops supplement the daily needs
of the residents living in the block. In order to counteract the effects
of segregation resulting from the large scale partitioning of the lot, a
smaller scale mix of uses is introduced into the block. Consequently,
the Beijing block is actually more mixed than it initially seems.
Montreal Suburb
The suburban site is located on the South Shore of Montreal,
close to a major boulevard.Afew commercial buildings line the major
arterial roads while there is only one building that falls into neither of
the residential or commercial usage categories. Unlike the previous
two sites, the arrangement of residential buildings does not seem
to follow any orthogonal grid. Instead, the house are arranged so
that the streets form concentric loops with only one entry way. This
limited access, loop-like plan has the effect of isolating not only
the residential area from the rest of its surrounding, but also the
houses of one loop from houses in other loops. In addition, there
are no other uses let alone types of residences in this residential
area: all the buildings consist of two-storey single family houses. As
a result, there is not only a lack of mix, but also a lack of potential
for dynamic interactions brought together by mixing various uses.
Although there are a few commercial shops that are accessible to
the neighbourhood, these amenities also lack variety. Most of the
buildings labelled as commercial lining Boulevard Taschereau are
actually car dealerships. There is only one supermarket nearby,
meaning the residents have to travel further to buy other common
items. Due to the isolating arrangement of the streets as well as
the lack of diversity in land use, it can be concluded that the idea of
isolation is intentional in the suburb.

61
Fig. 2: Land-use map of a roughly 1 square-kilometer area mega-block of Beijing.
RESIDENTIAL
SCHOOL
GOVERNMENT
OFFICE
RESTAURANT
COMMERCIAL MIX-USE
CORNER STORE
RESIDENTIAL/COMMERCIAL MIX-USE
COMMERCIAL/OFFICE MIX-USE
RESIDENTIAL
SCHOOL
GOVERNMENT
OFFICE
RESTAURANT
COMMERCIAL MIX-USE
CORNER STORE
GREEN SPACE
SMALL SHOPS
RESIDENTIAL
SCHOOL
GOVERNMENT
OFFICE
RESTAURANT
COMMERCIAL MIX-USE
CORNER STORE
GREEN SPACE
SMALL SHOPS
RESIDENTIAL
SCHOOL
GOVERNMENT
OFFICE
RESTAURANT
COMMERCIAL MIX-USE
CORNER STORE
GREEN SPACE
SMALL SHOPS
RESIDENTIAL
SCHOOL
GOVERNMENT
OFFICE
RESTAURANT
COMMERCIAL MIX-USE
CORNER STORE
GREEN SPACE
SMALL SHOPS

62
RESIDENTIAL
SCHOOL
RETAIL
RESIDENTIAL
SCHOOL
RETAIL
Fig. 3: Land-use map of a roughly 1 square-kilometer area of a Montreal suburb.

One Sq.Km.: A Beijing - Montreal Comparison

One Sq.Km.: A Beijing - Montreal Comparison

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One Sq.Km.: A Beijing - Montreal Comparison