A Chinese Balance of Progress and Protection

We are currently supporting a prominent Chinese consultancy to help them prepare several disaster recovery master plans that will rehouse people in the Yunnan region of the County following devastating earthquakes earlier this year. Let's just say its been a bit of an eye opener.

The day started with an update on progress with local officials in the Council Chamber. The officials, including the chief planner and local mayor are under a lot of pressure to re-house 2,500 people of this mountainous rural region. The Chinese PM visited the disaster zone in the aftermath of the quake and it seems probable that promises were have been made to get those people still living in tents into homes by the end of the year. As you'd imagine, it's all being done at a relentless pace. This isn't a temporary fix either. It'll be permanent and makes me wonder if it is really possible to create enduring places under such time pressured duress?

My pre-conceptions of the sites were, lets be honest here, way off. That said, my presentation to the officials, delivered through an interpreter, found favour by the notion of using the water present on one site as the key structuring element. I didn't realise until I got there that it was a paddy field! 

The journey to the site visit was unforgettable. White knuckles and crossed fingers weren't going to be much help if another landslide hit the boulder strewn mountain path that we were bouncing along in a robust looking Chinese 4X4 vehicle.

But the nervous journey was worth it. The climb out of the long steep gorge revealed a hidden upland plateaux framed by a monumentous V-shaped valley at a scale that would not be out of place in the Lord of the Rings. Into this scene farmers were gathering the last of the harvest. Despite the natural calamity, it looked like it had been a good year for them as they carried their rice, chillies, chard, pumpkins, potato and pak choi into their winter stores. Into this rural idyll crashed the notion that five hundred homes, a health club, a conference centre and a hotel were being planned for this wide natural floodplain high up in the Yunnan mountains. 

Perhaps most worryingly was the notion of a shift in lifestyle. The homeless farmers of the valley as well as those from neighbouring areas who were being rehoused into the new village would be encouraged to scale back their farming and take up jobs in the nearby leisure facilities. After all, this kind of peasant lifestyle is backward. Right?

I understand that people need to be housed, but I tried to convey to my Chinese colleagues a notion that we raised in the previous post (below). Authenticity. I wanted them to think about solutions to the problem that weren't just another part of the national trend of urbanisation. Could we create something soft, something respectful and enduring that worked with the peace of the place? Perhaps something that didn't feel quite so urban but a settlement that was rooted in the landscape, culture and language of these minority communities?

Urbanisation seems to be progress personified in China. Whilst we can only marvel at some inspiring global mega cities that are being created I fear that there are also some very delicate and special places that are being lost forever.

By James

'The Triangle' visit

Urbanists Jen  Heal and Chris Gentle recently joined the Centre for Regeneration Excellence Wales (CREW) on a trip to Swindon for a site visit and a series of presentations on ‘The Triangle’ development, designed by Kevin McCloud’s HAB

Kevin McCloud established HAB (Happiness Architecture Beauty) 5/6 years ago and wanted to challenge current suburban housing.  HAB teamed up with GreenSquare Housing Association and The Triangle is their first development project.

Green Square purchased the site with consent for 32 houses in a standard housing layout.  By redesigning the space, reducing the amount of road and parking, using terraced houses and slightly smaller back gardens the current layout provides 42 units, a large central communal space and two smaller spaces for community growing.

There is a sustainability focus in the development based on physical and social aspects.  HAB’s emphasis is on developments that are:

• Enjoyable
• Sustainable
• Architectural
• Profitable
• Contextual

The aim was to create a more sustainable development that didn’t require people to dramatically change the way they live and that cost close to normal industry budgets.

Features include:

• Hempcrete cladding to improve insulation
• A natural ventilation system that draws air through the house
• A built in ‘shimmy’ that is a smart metre, bus info, community info, car club booking point
• Car club and only one parking space per dwelling
• Growing areas with water pumps
• Edible landscape (although this wasn’t very evident)
• Gabion walls to hide bins and cars also attract biodiversity
• Residents signed up to only owning 1 car: Policy policed by GreeenSquare as landlords

Review:

• Principles of space design work well and could be replicated
• Efficient use of space – no left over spaces
• Good enclosure and natural surveillance of central space
• Like the concept of making ‘normal’ more sustainable
• Demonstrates what can be achieved on a regular budget and how higher density can create better places through more considered design
• Would it work without the management role that comes with HA?

Last thought

The Triangle is an attractive alternative to a more traditional suburbia. It is based on a masterplan that has created an intimate and communal development. This, according to residents we spoke to, engenders a strong sense of belonging and community spirit. 

Many of the principles adopted at the triangle could, potentially, be carried over to private sector housing, however, one the key principles that makes the place successful is the car ownership strategy. Setting a one car per household rule on a development under the control of a Housing Association is achievable but introducing a similar strategy to the private sector could prove to be impractical.

By Jen