Changing Chinese cities : the potentials of field urbanism / Renee Y. Chow.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Chow, Renee Y., 1955- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Urban ecology (Sociology)--China--History--20th century.

Urban ecology (Sociology).

Cities and towns--China--History--20th century.

Cities and towns.

Architecture, Domestic--China--History--20th century.

Architecture, Domestic.

Courtyard houses--China--History--20th century.

Courtyard houses.

History.

China.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xv, 185 pages : illustrations, plans ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Honolulu : University of Hawaiʻi Press, 2015.

Summary:

Until the middle of the twentieth century, Chinese urban life revolved around courtyards. Whether for housing or retail, administration or religion, everyday activities took place in a field of pavilions and walls that shaped collective ways of living. Changing Chinese Cities explores the reciprocal relations between compounds and how they inform a distinct and legible urbanism. Following thirty years of economic and political containment, cities are now showcases whose every component street, park, or building is designed to express distinctiveness. This propensity for the singular is erasing the relational fields that once distinguished each city. In China's first tier cities, the result is a cacophony of events where the extraordinary is becoming a burden to the ordinary. Using a lens of urban fields, Renee Y. Chow describes life in neighborhoods of Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and its canal environs. Detailed observations from courtyard to city are unlayered to reveal the relations that build extended environments. These attributes are then relayered to integrate the emergence of forms that are rooted to a place, providing a new paradigm for urban design and master planning. Essays, mappings and case studies demonstrate how the design of fields can be made as compelling as figures. Book jacket.

Contents:

Behind the walls: Beijing

Reciprocity with water: Zhujiajiao

Deep in the field: Shanghai

The rush to develop

Super-sizing

Facing south

Being outside

From figures to fields

Connecting

Collaborating

Being inside

Designing fields.

Notes:

First published by National University of Singapore Press.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780824853839

0824853830

OCLC:

903361934