Negotiated Space: Mixed Use in China

Globally there has been an extraordinary population shift from rural areas into the city.  This has created a series of problems for urban areas. Interconnection dysfunction, infrastructure inadequacy, resource shortages and public health concerns all challenge the leadership’s ability to meet the needs of the growing population. Sustainability in the city, in its broadest sense, is becoming a primary issue facing the global community.   In China the mega size of cities magnify the challenges that must be addressed to keep up.  This has required Chinese cities to follow a dense mixed use development pattern, some planned some not, to keep them from becoming dysfunctional.  This circumstance taxes the public spaces of the cities.  They do not have the luxury of dedicated single use.  One minute they are an exercise space for elderly citizens, next they are a parking lot and then a shopping street for farmers bringing their goods in to sell in the city.  Space is negotiated in the ebb and flow of the day, the season and the events of the day.  The intensity of these new environments can challenge the sanity of the community and yet, the choreography of the daily dance of generations, functions and weather also make living in the city a rich experience.  This semester will give you the opportunity to explore and speculate about the nature of urbanity and the sustainable city of the future.

Research