Urban Frenzy

　　Beijing?Today?meets?a?man?who?thinks?the?first?step?in?China's?city?planning?education?should?be?an?apology?from?architect?Rem?Kohlhaas。?

　　'The?famous?Western?architects?–?Kohlhaas,?Andrews?–?have?to?make?a?decision.They?must?know?that?a?building?is?inappropriate?for?China,but?they?also?must?come?up?with?the?most?outrageous?design?or?they?won't?win?the?contract.?So?they?are?asked?to?choose?–?money?and?fame?or?a?responsible?attitude.'?

　　'We?can't?mimic?others,because?we?have?a?different?climate?and?lifestyle?to?New?York?or?Europe.?We?have?a?different?culture?and?should?express?it.?Even?a?different?sense?of?colour.'?

　　An?imposing?black?wood?desk?is?littered?with?wooden?mushrooms,?padded?cushions.?A?medal?from?the?university?of?Chicago?rests?beside?a?spectrum?of?magic?markers,?while?Professor?Kongjian?Yu?sits?and?talks?about?the?biggest?turning?point?in?Chinese?history?since?May?4th?1919.?Placing?his?tea?cup?precariously?between?stacks?of?printed?paper?and?a?couple?of?laptop?computers,?Prof.?Yu?tells?me?that?the?time?is?now.?Yu?believes?that,?once?again,?China?is?experiencing?a?crisis?of?national-cultural?identity.?The?issue?is?the?relationship?between?the?people?and?their?homeland.?

　　Having?received?his?doctorate?from?Harvard's?Graduate?School?of?Design?in?1995,?Yu?spent?to?years?practising?in?Los?Angeles?with?the?SWA?Group,?before?returning?to?China.?As?well?as?founding?the?Graduate?School?of?Landscape?Architecture?at?Peking?University,?Yu?is?also?founder?and?President?of?Turenscape,?the?largest?landscape?and?urban?design?company?in?China.?And?he?finds?much?about?Beijing's?landscape?to?trouble?him.?

　　Professor?Yu?believes?that?Beijing?is?in?the?process?of?a?"city?beautiful"?movement?a?term?first?used?to?describe?The?Chicago?Exhibition?of?1893??and?that?Beijing's?urbanization?mirrors?events?in?North?America?a?century?ago.?Like?China?today,?the?US?became?a?rich?nation?"overnight",?and?wanted?to?demonstrate?this?to?thorld.?"They?bought?things?from?Europe,?imported?art,?exported?exhibitions?to?show?off?their?wealth.?And?they?looked?at?what?they?had?seen?as?powerful?the?great?imperial?European?cities?–?and?they?mimicked?them."?

　　Today?China?wants?to?show?the?world?its?strength,?its?power.?"Here?landscape,?architecture?and?the?urban?environment?become?the?tools?to?show?off?–?like?a?peacock.?When?you?dress?up?you?try?tohow?off?your?identity.?Your?values.?Your?aesthetic?taste."?

　　In?his?rapid,?easy?manner,?Yu?tells?how?America?finally?realized?that?the?city?beautiful?movement?was?costing?huge?sums?while?creating?a?few?pretty?buildings?and?a?lot?of?social?problems.?Theorists?began?to?talk?of?a?"vernacular?landscape"?one?that?would?reflect?the?true?native?identity.?But?this?was?almost?80?years?later.?And?the?process?is?ongoing.?Yu?feels?that?China?is?repeating?the?same?mistakes?and?failing?to?learn?the?lessons?of?the?past,?"The?identity?of?today's?Chinese?is?not?yet?found,"?he?adds.?

　　Yu?sees?three?distinct?identities?struggling?for?space?in?Beijing?today.?The?first?is?the?classical?European?style,?which?the?Americans?also?copied.?This?romantic?style?comes?mainly?from?France,?Italy?and?England.?"The?style?of?Kings?imperial,?foreboding?and?outdated,"?he?says.?The?second?is?the?"modernstyle.?"China?is?a?rapidly?modernizing?country,?so?we?want?to?reflect?this.?We?look?to?what?we?think?is?modern?New?York,?the?big?American?cities.?And?that?is?modern,?but?it's?modern?imperialism.?The?image?of?a?modern?apitalist?society,?with?palaces?for?the?capitalist?emperors.?It?reflects?America,?but?not?China.?Kohlhaas'?CCTV?building?falls?into?this?category.?Or?rather,?a?Chinese?feudalist?emperor?in?a?modern?dress."?

　　Thirdly,?as?China?becomes?a?great?nation?on?a?global?scale,?many?look?to?reimpose?the?grandeur?of?the?past.?"We?have?5,000?years?of?history.?Many?want?to?rebuild?the?imperial?image?of?China?that's?why?so?many?buildings?feature?marbe?and?dragons.?This?has?happened?before?with?ancient?nations?that?have?seen?a?city?beautiful?movement?–?Italy?and?Germany?in?the?1930stried?to?recapture?old?glories?for?a?new?age."?And?none?of?these?three?schools?represent?what?Yu?sees?as?"the?true?identity?of?the?modern?Chinese.?

　　The?problem?with?the?city?beautiful?movement?is?that?it?is?interested?in?cosmetic?form?over?function??great?buildings?at?the?expense?of?a?well?functioning?city.?

　　In?his?keynote?speech?to?the?Beijing?Architecture?Biennale,?Professor?Alexander?Garvin?of?Yale?University?and?author?of?The?American?City:?What?Works,?What?Doesn',?stated?that?China?is?far?from?the?first?nation?to?fall?into?this?trap.?"When?it?comes?to?great?city?building,?the?solution?is?planning.?The?reason?successes?are?so?often?overlooked?is?ecause?when?a?problem?is?solved?it's?forgotten,"?he?says.?Good?planning,?he?adds,?is?the?key?ingredient?to?a?city's?"safety,?utility?and?quality?of?life.?

　　Most?major?nations?have?experienced?planning?disasters.?And?now?they're?spending?big?to?correct?them.?But?China?comes?to?the?table?with?a?blank?slate,?and?yet?while?Europe?and?even?the?US?are?looking?to?more?efficient?forms?of?public?transport?to?improve?quality?of?life?and?limit?polution,?China?is?embracing?the?car.?"20?years?ago?we?had?a?very?green?transport?system,?with?excellent?cycle?paths.?Now?we?combat?traffic?problems?by?building?wider?roads,?so?we?have?not?one?lane?jams,?but?four?or?five?lne?ones,"?says?Professor?Yu.?

　　50?years?ago,?America?and?Europe?were?channelizing?their?rivers.?Now?they?are?spending?millions?to?dig?them?back?up,?while?China?begins?to?channelize?hers.?"There?are?no?natural?rivers?in?Bejing?now,?while?the?West?is?finding?that?natural?rivers,?far?from?being?a?waste?of?space,?can?contribute?to?the?success?of?local?business,?and?encourage?tourism.?This?is?the?ecological?approach."?Yu?talks?about?the?"BiDig?Project"?in?Boston?for?which?he?won?an?urban?design?award,?with?a?local?design?firm?in?2002.?"It?was?simple,?we?dug?down?and?put?part?of?the?highway?underground,?leaving?the?open?air?streets?for?public?transport,?clists?and?pedestrians.?For?daily?use.?This?kind?of?project?is?worth?imitating."?

　　Rather?than?lay?the?blame?with?specific?individuals,?Professor?Yu?believes?that?the?system?has?evolved?in?a?way?that?makes?coherent?planning?difficult.?"Right?now?half?of?China's?richest?people?make?their?money?from?the?land.?The?process?of?urbanization,?where?people?can?draw?a?line?and?say?'this?land?is?developable,?and?therefore?saleabl?means?that?a?lot?of?people?are?becoming?hugely?wealthy?overnight."?Says?Yu,?"so?these?people?get?this?huge?profit,?become?rich?and?powerful,?then?they?don't?know?how?to?spend?it.?So?each?of?them?wants?to?build?the?highest,?most?expene?building.?A?luxury?plaza,?a?central?street??just?to?have?a?beautiful?thing?without?considering?its?function.?Or?how?the?city?will?work."?

　　Chinese?cities?operate?a?zoning?system,?similar?to?that?of?the?old?USSR?and?the?USA.?And?the?US?has?experienced?the?problems?that?China?is?now?seeing.?Land?is?sold?according?to?a?plan,?within?defined?"lines".?One?area?will?be?sold?as?a?real?estate?zone,?the?next?a?commercial?zoneSo?the?city?emerges?piece?by?piece,?with?little?consideration?for?the?organic?unit.?The?potential?is?for?a?city?that?favours?the?car?over?green?transport?and?thus?becomes?polluted.?And?a?city?that?segregates?rich?and?poor?areas?into?zones?that?may?be?separated?by?just?a?retail?area.?

　　Elsewhere?in?the?world,?this?has?led?to?ugly,?forgotten?districts?which?promote?only?poverty?and?social?unrest.?"China?needs?n?intellectual?movement?to?go?forward,"?says?Yu.?"We?need?to?make?the?decision?process?more?scientific?and?more?democratic.