Publications

Network thinking has been a long time brewing in urban design theory. Networks are permeable and open spatial and social structures that facilitate flows of people, ideas, products, information and capital. The structure of urban networks is strongly linked to the social and cultural richness of a society and to the urban and architectural richness of the city.

(Professor Kim Dovey, Professor of Architecture and Urban Design， University of Melbourne. Excerpt from contained essay）

As China moves forward with its urbanization on a massive scale, almost simultaneous developments of very large tracts of land are the norm rather than the exception. Networks Cities makes an important contribution to both understanding the design difficulties at stake and strategies that can be usefully followed to make urban outcomes more environ-mentally responsive, socially well-integrated and physically less generic.

(Professor Peter G. Rowe, Raymond Garbe Professor of Architecture and Urban Design,Harvard University. Excerpt from contained essay)

Only the Chinese are capable of carrying out the current unprecedented growth of cities at such high speed, for they are the most practical of people. As Lin Yu Tang declared, this pragmatism comes with sensitivity and humor. However, the Chinese are the first to admit they are not a highly idealistic people, and perhaps lack the inclination to dream. Even the three religions and philosophies Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism, have been diluted to a practical level in China. These national characteristics go to explain why there are so few Chinese books on contemporary approaches to urban planning – new approaches require a good deal of idealism. Another reason is that criticism is not taken lightly in this country! This book is about China’s urban planning, unprecedented in both scale and speed. It is about our work over the past nine years, in which we have been developing a concept, originally devised with Steve Whitford, called Networks Cities – urbanism with its land uses organized into networks of continuity, adjacency and superposition. If applied logically, shrewdly and inventively, it can form a framework for cities which are flexible, humane and sustainable. The book reveals the concept of Networks Cities in projects,strategies, essays and designs, none of which are utopian. They are raw, real and pragmatic, produced at unavoidable speed and within the confines of Chinese planning orthodoxies. Yet between and beyond the networks there exists the stuff of dreams – of immanence, surprise and sensation.

Figure 2: two sets of linear and parallel program bands with equal width in a horizontal and vertical arrangement (top) are overlaid to create a program network (below). Where identical program bands overlay, the program bands of residential use (yellow), commercial use (red) and parkland (green) create areas of singular, homogeneous use. In areas where program bands of different use overlay, mixed use areas are created. The mixed use areas in this example include a residential/parkland mix, a residential/commercial mix and a commercial/parkland mix. 图二：一组水平方向的线形平行功能带和一组同样宽度的垂直方向的线形平行功能带(见上图)相互交叠，创造出一个功能网络(见下图)。当同样的功能相交时，如当居住用途(黄色)、商业用途(红色)和公园(绿色)分别与其相同的功能相交时，便创造出单一用途功能区；而不同的功能相交时，则产生混合用途功能区。在这个例子中，混合用途区域包括居住与公园的混合、居住与商业的混合以及商业与公园的混合。

"Excerpt from Jens Eberhardt essay."

Figure 3: Networks cities enable the creation of multiple centers. In areas of singular commercial use (red), programmatically specialized commercial hubs can develop. In mixed program areas between these hubs, the commercial program is combined with residential use (orange) or parkland use (brown). These areas provide space for a hybridisation of the programs. 图三：网络城市促进多中心模式的创造。在单一商业用途(红色)区域，可以发展特定功能的商业中心。而在这些中心之间的混合用途功能区内，商业用途将与居住用途(橘色)或者公园绿地(褐色)相结合。这些区域为功能的混合提供了空间。

网络城市的概念提出了一种城市发展的框架，不同的功能平均分布并相互交织于整个城市范围内。它对各种功能和其混合功能进行了弹性组织。网络城市的概念通过两个理念来完成：一是通过交织的纽带形式组织各城市功能；二是利用网络城市的容量，通过功能带的交织提升各功能的混合。功能带在空间上限制了同一方向上某个功能的宽度，同时在功能带相遇的地方增加了其共享边界。功能带的连续性使得各个功能在城市范围内得到充分的展开。因此，这些功能带不仅不受空间的限制，它们之间也不会相互孤立。

This book can be read in many ways. If you are interested in the networks cities concept, then move straight into any of the projects and review the diagrams first. You can deepen this practical understanding by reading the Methods section. If you are interested in China, then read the Context and Records sections, and Peter Rowe’s essay “Networks Cities and China’s Urban Peripheries”. You could also jump right into the theory surrounding networks cities by reading one or more of the essays. Alternatively you can wander – move from essay to project to methods to context and back again – to build a comprehension of the networks cities concept and the Chinese situation. Read below to quickly locate items of interest.

本书可以以多种方式阅读。如果您对网络城市的概念感兴趣，那么可以直接跳到任何一个项目，先看看里面的分析。接下来您可以阅读“方法”这一章来加深印象。如果您对中国感兴趣，则可以先读文脉与记录这一章，接着读Peter Rower (彼得·罗) 的论文“网络城市与中国城市外围区域”。您还可以直接跳到论文部分了解网络城市的相关理论。当然您也能随时在论文、项目介绍、方法、文脉几部分之间来回浏览，建立对网络城市概念和中国现状之间的交互认识。

“Networks”

For a detailed explanation of the objectives and workings of the networks cities strategy, read Jens Eberhardt’s illustrated essay.

“网络”

要想对网络城市策略的目标和工作获得更详细的认识，请看的詹希·埃伯哈特文章。

“Super-Zoned Cities“

For an overview of the default planning formula and the procurement process applied throughout China read this extensive essay, page 48.

“超级区划之城”

概览中国城市规划约定俗成的模式与实践程序，网络城市模式在城市规划和城市设计领域中的应用，请阅读此延伸文献。详见48页

“Networks and Enclaves”
For a fast and clear positioning of networks cities within urban design theory, read Kim Dovey’s “Networks and Enclaves”, page 108.

“网络和飞地”

要想快速了解作为城市设计理论的网络城市如何定位，请读金·多维的“网络和飞地”详见109页

“Sharpening Blunt Instruments for Better Cities”

For theoretical and practical insights from the initiator of the networks approach, read Steve Whitford’s illustrated essay, page 164.

“为更好的城市先利其器”

对于网络城市做法背后的真正天才的理论和具有实际意义的洞见，请阅读史蒂夫·惠特福德的说明文章。 详见168页

“Networks Cities and China’s Urban Peripheries”

For an overview of historical, cultural, political and economic factors influencing urban planning in China today, read Peter Rowe’s essay, page 30.

“网络城市和中国的城市边缘”

要想概览历史、文化、政治和经济等因素如何影响今天的中国城市规划，请阅读彼得·罗的文章。 详见34页

“On Two City Forms”

For a comparison of occidental urbanism with oriental urbanism and for further contemporary philosophical links, read Rick Dolphijn’s essay, page 212.

“两种城市形态”

概览东西方城市化的比较及其与当代哲学的联系，请读里克·多尔芬的文章。 详见215页

“Networks Cities and Ecological Habitats”

For a landscape ecology perspective on networks cities,read Gill Lawson’s illustrated essay, page 250.

“网络城市和生态环境”

想了解如何从景观生态学的角度解读网络城市，请阅读吉尔·劳森的文章。 详见254页

“The Symbiosis, Hobart 2053”

For a collage of science fiction, philosophy and climate science, see this distopian networks city exhibit, page 293.

“共生城市，霍巴特2053”

如果想见到一个集科幻, 哲学及气象学于一体的城市形态, 请看这个无政府主义的网络城市设计概念。 详见294页

Each project page is organised into colour bands. If you are interested in landscape, then follow the green background band in the project pages. If your interest is commerce in the city, then follow the orange background. For housing issues, follow the white band. Other land uses that are specific to each project are found in the blue bands. The general arrangement and framework of each project is shown on the multicoloured striped background.

City of Integrated Industry:

Xinyu City Extension (25 sq km) For integration of light industry within the living city, see Xinyu, a 25sqkm city extension which won first place in invited competition, page 56.

Ideological City:

Xi’an CBD High-Tech District (1.9 sq km) For a spatial manifestation of history, politics and society, see the Xi’an CBD proposal, page 92.

Residential City 1:

Chengdu East (9.2 sq km) To see strategies for dealing with new residential districts and to view a city park network used as preservation strategy see the Chengdu East project, page 14.

Residential City 2:

Chengdu West (10.4 sq km) To view a medium-density networks city proposal with a variety of street and park typologies, and which incorporates villages into the city, see the Chengdu West project, page 126.

Residential City 3:

Chengdu Fenghuang Mountain (10.2 sq km) To understand more strategies for dormitory cities and to view an absolutely continuous green network and a Linear Activities District, go to the Chengdu Fenghuang Mountain project, page 280.

Exquisite Corpse:

Genetic City Caofeidian (140 sq km) For relief from the pragmatics of urbanisation, see this collaborative star architects’ city, page 302.

CHENGDU WEST NEW DISTRICT Without the benefit of national guidelines or clear local policies, Chinese city governments are planning increasingly high urban densities. However, high-density building combined with gigantic scale single land-use zones and the tendency to create enclave developments easily results in socially unsustainable cities. Due to the exclusion of dissimilar programs, the resulting new residential zones are lifeless, not only inside their gated communities but also on the streets. The same can be said for the new commercial zones, particularly when office parks prevail. Paradoxically the increasing of the total floor area (FAR) of these districts results in a reduction of public life at ground level. If the fervor for gigantic zoning and enormous enclaves cannot be abated, should a reduction in FAR be considered? Can the gigantic residential zone be tempered by a minimal insertion of commercial zoning, without developers and governments lessening their profits? Can remnants of history, smallness, and complexity be maintained to sustain social, economic, and cultural activity in new Chinese urbanism? Reducing the FAR from 1.6 to 1.0 generally decreases buildings from average 11 storeys height to average 5 storeys. It shortens the required sunlight distance between residential buildings from an average 40m to average 18m. It multiplies by four the number of households living on ground and second floors. This results in housing projects with markedly more human activity at ground level, particularly if the ground floor apartments have direct access to external space. However, lowering the FAR reduces the commercial value of land; a significant compromise for politicians seeking finance with which to build demonstrable achievements within their three-year terms of office. The existing street life in this peripheral district of Chengdu confirmed the city’s reputation as one of China’s most social and leisure orientated cultures. The streets here are occupied with outdoor dining, tea drinking and mahjong playing. By incorporating a continuous network of commercial zoning, street life can potentially emerge in the new residential district. This network can accommodate programs including entertainment, services, retail, offices, production, and housing in alternative typologies. The network can endure constant programmatic and physical change whilst the quiet housing enclaves behind undoubtedly remain static. The commercial network can be designed to absorb and conserve many existing villages. The villages are places of spatial complexity, small scale, and history. These are qualities which have unfortunately disappeared from Chengdu. The scale of the buildings in the villages gives them the flexibility to adapt to the changing needs of the district. To create adequate public space for Chengdu’s street culture we have proposed sequences of sidewalks and lanes, similar in form to traditional boat-shaped streets. In residential districts the market value of commercial property remains lower than that of residential property until the district is largely built and occupied. Thus politicians, aiming to maximize the value of land sales to developers, frequently exclude adequate commercial land use within residential zones. Once the need for commercial programs arises, the FAR has been filled with residential buildings, and it is too late to build commercial buildings. The only remaining option is to convert apartments into commercial spaces. This is however difficult for many reasons. Firstly, all housing buildings are located within enclaves. Changes therefore require the permission of hundreds of enclave neighbors; a NIMBY (not in my back yard) scenario usually prevails. Secondly, most housing buildings within the enclaves cannot be easily opened onto a public street due to the master planning of internal roads. Thirdly, almost all new Chinese apartment buildings have low ceilings and are compartmented by load-bearing wall construction, not suitable for many commercial uses. To maintain the flexibility of a residential district several options are available: the increase of commercial land-use zoning; the reduction of scale of land plots; and by flexible, or robust, site planning and building design. To maintain the government’s profit, the staging of development can be implemented in order to bring commercial projects onto the market only after the district is significantly developed. To create better cities faster, an incentive can be offered to developers willing to build commercial space in the form of a reduction of sale-cost of commercial land. Profits could be balanced by higher land sale revenues in the district due to the added amenity. Alternatively, developers can be required to demonstrate that part of their development has the potential to successfully convert to commercial use at a later date. Reducing the scale of land plots would increase the district’s potential to adapt to future demands. Currently plots are excessively large and inflexible. Our proposal incorporates the existing villages and tree-lined lane network into the new city. By situating the city’s regulation amount of parkland in a network form, it can follow the lanes and engulf the villages. This strategy has the benefit of dissecting the standard gigantic development sites into smaller ones of varying size and shape. This increases the flexibility, as described above, and creates more diversity as a result of the increased number of designers engaged in the district. This strategy also dramatically increases the permeability of the district, encouraging walking and cycling, and creating places for informal activity. The two city grids become superimposed: one a new super-grid of roads and the other a green pedestrian network filled with traces of the old countryside structure.

成都 西部新区在没有清晰的国家或地方导则指导的状态下，中国的各级政府正在进行着高密度开发。然而高密度的建筑、巨大单一功能的土地以及封闭小区的建造，容易形成城市社会结构的不可持续性发展。由于功能单一，新的住宅区不但其内部枯燥乏味，其所在的街道也毫无生活乐趣。在新的商务区也是如此，特别在晚上。看起来很荒谬但却是事实的是，这些地区增加了建筑面积，而地面的公共活动反而减少了。 如果巨大的分区与封闭式的小区模式的狂热无法消除，是否可以考虑降低容积率？巨大的居住区内能否引入少量的商业网络而又不减少开发商和政府的利益？在新的中国郊区式生活中，历史的痕迹、小尺度空间、丰富的城市环境、社会、经济与文化的活力能否得以留存？ 把容积率从1.6减至1.0可将建筑高度从11层减到5层，也同时将南北建筑的间距从40m减到18m，可使底层与二层居住的人数增加4倍。尤其是当底层住宅与室外空间有直接的联系时，使人们在地面上的活动机率大大提高。但是，降低容积率减少了土地的商业价值，使政府官员3年任期内在经济上需要做出的政绩大打折扣。 成都现有的丰富街道生活使之享有中国休闲之都的美誉。街道上充满了具有活力的公共生活：美食、茶室、麻将。我们设计了一个连续的商业网络，鼓励新的住宅区内不断产生充满活力的公共生活。商业网络可为城市提供娱乐、服务、零售、办公、生产及不同类型的居住。这一网络允许各种使用功能随社会发展而不断变化，同时位于其后的居住区则可保持安静。 商业网络将现有的村落纳入其中并对其进行保护性开发。这些区域容纳了丰富、小尺度及历史感的空间，这些都是成都的精华，但在今天的生活中已经渐渐消失。村落里的小尺度建筑具有适应新发展的灵活性。为了提供更多的容纳街道文化的公共空间，一系列船形的商业街提供了线型广场，把主要街道串联起来。在居住区域，住宅没有全面竣工与入住之前，商业的价值往往难以体现。政府为了让开发商获得最大的土地价值，往往不要求足够的商业用地。一旦商业的功能需求上升，容积率范围的面积已被住宅所用，建设商业建筑为时已晚。惟一可能的是改造住宅。这样做有很多困难：首先，所有的住宅建筑都在封闭的小区里，改造需要大部分居民的同意，而人们总是拒绝在自家门前进行这样的改造。其次，大部分封闭小区里的住宅与内部道路联系紧密，很难与公共街道直接发生联系。第三，几乎所有新的住宅建筑都采用砖混或剪力墙结构、底层高，很难改造，商业只能挤在小而低的公寓空间里。 为了保证住宅区的灵活性，可有以下几个选择：增加商业用地，用地划分小尺度，或者出色而灵活地进行规划与建筑设计。为了保障政府的利益，商业项目可在分期开发计划中排在大部分建设完成之后开始。为了更快更好地建造城市，对开发商采取降低商业用地成本，鼓励开发商业空间的奖励机制，或者开发商可在规划初期考虑以后可以成功改造为商业的楼盘。现有的土地划分往往巨大而不够灵活，减小土地的尺度也会更加适应地区未来发展的要求。 我们建议将现有的村落以及绿网延伸到新城内部，将需要规划的公园沿绿网与村落结合布置；将巨大的开发用地划分成很多小地块，增加开发的灵活性；可以引入更多的设计，创造地块内更大程度的多样化。这些对策提高了地区的可达性，鼓励步行、自行车穿越，创造出很多闲散的活动场所,形成两个有层次的城市网络：一个是新的大尺度的道路网，另一个是含有村落的绿网及船形的街巷。