Before World War II, the central areas of North American cities were mixed with industrial and commercial buildings and residential buildings. Outside the center, most of them are residential buildings, with some businesses and services, as well as industrial areas, warehouse areas and wholesale business areas. In the central area, aristocratic houses, slums and middle-class houses are adjacent. Most people who live outside the city center are middle class. Only the rich can afford to live in the suburbs.
After World War II, the population surged and cities spread outward. Rebuild and build new office buildings, hotels, shopping malls, entertainment places, etc. in the middle of the inner city The shabby slums have become high-rise apartments, but they still live in poverty. Old areas that have not been rebuilt have become criminal black spots that shelter evil people from evil practices, or homes for the unemployed and the poor. Downtown is busy during the day, and it is a dangerous zone and no man's land at night. The middle class moved to the suburbs. They work in downtown during the day, go home to sleep in the suburbs at night, and sometimes go shopping or entertainment in downtown. So the suburbs have become the "dormitory area" of the metropolis, which is monotonous and dull.
With the urbanization of the city, the scope is getting bigger and bigger, the time spent commuting is getting more and more, and the traffic on the road is getting more and more congested. Employers and shopkeepers simply move office buildings, shopping malls and factories to the suburbs where workers and customers live in order to improve workers' efficiency and facilitate customers. "New cities" began to appear in the suburbs. Work, shopping and entertainment have all moved from the former city center to the center of the new city.
The word "marginal city" is Joel, a special correspondent in Washington post, USA. Joel Carreau published a book named after it in 199 1 after years of interviews and research. This book is basically anti-planning and influential. Carreau believes that marginal cities are the most natural phenomenon in modern economy and society, and dogmatic planning can only hinder and stifle this natural development. He found many "laws" from the study of marginal cities. They all reflect the special economic and social development process in North China (especially the use of automobiles). Although not necessarily applicable to the United States, it is very enlightening.
He has the following definitions for downtown areas of marginal cities:
(1) The office building area is over 500,000 ㎡. This is more than the total area of office buildings in the downtown area of a medium-sized city (Memphis, Tennessee, USA);
(2) It has a retail floor area of over 60,000m2, at least three large department stores and 80 ~ 100 other stores, especially high-end stores;
(3) The number of professional posts is more than the number of people looking for jobs;
(4) It is a complete and comprehensive center in residents' minds, which can meet their needs for employment, shopping and entertainment;
(5) It only began to appear in the last 30 years.
He observed the following "laws" in marginal cities:
(1) The first step in the emergence of border cities is usually a shopping mall of 65438+100000 M2. The market scope of this shopping center is 15 minutes' drive, with 250,000 people.
(2) The limit distance for Americans to walk to their car parking place is 180M, which is also the limit of the distance from the parking lot to the destination. This law has the following supplementary laws:
Large shopping centers usually have several core stores. In design, customers should not be allowed to see another company at the door of one company. If he sees it, he will consider how far he has to go before he can go to another company to watch and shop. So, he will drive the car to the parking lot. However, once he gets on the bus, he will not necessarily stay in this shopping center. He may drive home or go to other centers.
B the distance between the parking lot and the nearest entrance to the shopping center shall not exceed 90m.
C. If the use of cars is restricted as much as possible in the design to facilitate walking, the walking limit may be increased to 450m, but it may also scare away customers.
(3) In a formed marginal city, 85% of the growth should come from enterprises and companies already located in the marginal city.
(4) Americans go upstairs and downstairs at most one floor, or even exactly the same. This law has the following supplementary laws:
A. If the shopping center is three stories high, the entrance and exit should be on the second floor.
B. If the office building has more than one floor, use the elevator.
C, three or more floors of the apartment, to use the elevator.
D, since we want to use the elevator, we should simply build more floors to make the best use of it.
(5) Every office worker needs 25M2 space (18~35). Office parking lot, 40 square meters per car. In other words, the space of a car is larger than that of a person.
(6) If the office and retail area of this border city is 6,543,800 M2, the traffic volume will be 40,000 vehicles per day.
Americans don't want to change trains. Change at most once, walk to the bus stop, change buses, or drive to the commuter train station and change trains. I don't want to transfer any more. More importantly, once you get on the bus, you won't change to other means of transportation or walk.
(8) Only 12% cars will switch to commuter trains. In other words, a marginal city with 654.38+00,000 ㎡ office and business space can only accommodate 4,800 train passengers [see (6)].
(9) The minimum number of commuter trains is 15000. In other words, a marginal city must have at least 3 million M2 of office and commercial area to be qualified to operate the commuter train system.
(10) The minimum passenger capacity required for light rail vehicles is 7,000 passengers per day. In other words, if a marginal city wants to run the light rail system, it must have at least 6.5438+0.45 million ㎡ of office and business area (this is equal to the total office and business area of downtown St. Louis or Cincinnati).
(1 1) When developers calculate the price of houses (usually small bungalows), they usually calculate it according to four times the land price. Too expensive to sell, too cheap will be regarded as a low-grade building by customers.
(12) The building area of the office building is 2000M2. (33m by 66m, because the fire safety distance cannot exceed 33m). The maximum is 3000M^2. (This is calculated according to the number of employees that a business manager can directly inspect and contact in one day. )
(13) When the average floor area ratio of office buildings exceeds 0.25, traffic problems will occur; If it exceeds 0.4, a multi-storey parking lot will be built; If it exceeds 1.0, there will be road congestion; If it exceeds 1.5, it is the limit of marginal cities; If it exceeds 2.0, light rail transit can be considered. (Generally, the average floor area ratio of office buildings in the center of the old city is 5.0)
(14) The commuting time should not exceed 45 minutes. According to Kano's definition, there are many such marginal cities within the scope of every metropolis in North America. In his book 199 1, he calculated that there are eight marginal cities in new york, seven in San Francisco, four in Toronto and four in Chicago. Now, of course, there are more than that.
The structural relationship between cities and suburbs in North America has been anti-customer-oriented, and the center of gravity has begun to turn inside and outside. The "suburban urbanization" after World War II began with the aimless spread of urban fibers. However, marginal cities have concentrated these urban fibers and formed a new urban system. Nowadays, many metropolitan residents live and work in marginal cities, which is their "home". Many people haven't been to the downtown area of a big city for several years. They pay more attention to the rise and fall of marginal cities than to the metropolis they belong to.
The tradition of planning is from top to bottom, from big to small. A metropolis guides its subordinate cities. The guiding ideology of metropolitan planning is to maintain and restore the metropolitan center as the main task-whether it is transportation network, infrastructure, employment and entertainment places, it is centered on the metropolitan center. The city center has the highest rank, and the farther away from the center, the lower the rank. Of course, there are also "regional centers", but in planning theory, their role is to make up for the lack of shopping and entertainment in the peripheral areas of metropolis, rather than confronting the central area and weakening the importance of the center. But the phenomenon of marginal cities is completely different, and they are independent and self-sufficient in function and perception. Better than Howard's garden city more than a hundred years ago.
Since the late 1970s, every metropolis in North America has begun to transform its urban areas with the intention of bringing back enterprises and residents who moved to the suburbs. On the surface, there are many successful examples. Many old urban areas have regained their prosperity, attracting many businesses, finance, entertainment and other service industries as well as young professionals, especially single and childless families. But I don't think the "recovery" of the old center is equal to the decline of the marginal cities. The relationship between metropolitan center and peripheral cities is no longer a competitive relationship, but it is not a mutual assistance relationship, but two different urban systems. This also represents the complete disintegration of the relationship between cities and hinterland in capitalist society-cities are no longer the cohesion of their hinterland (talents and materials), and hinterland no longer supplies the needs of cities (space, ecological environment, natural resources, agricultural food and non-staple food, etc.). ).
In my opinion, the central area of a metropolis is no longer the focus of planning. The future metropolitan planning will be the cooperative planning of cities with the same level but different functions. The advantage is that everyone knows that their functions are different and there is no need to compete with each other. The question is, if the level is gone, can marginal cities and metropolitan centers still cooperate? Who will start and lead the planning? What are you planning?
Of course, the metropolises in North America are all composed of independent cities, and it is inevitable to compete with each other and it is difficult to coordinate. Relatively speaking, China's metropolis is unified, with one government and one direction. However, we should not underestimate the power of the market economy. If every worker pursues the best position and income, every employer wants to set up office buildings and factories near the labor force; Every consumer wants to have the cheapest, most varied and most convenient consumption, and every boss wants to open his shop near the customers. Coupled with the popularity of automobiles, metropolises will certainly be "divided" according to these laws. As long as it is not vicious division and mutual plunder, it is not a bad thing. Although the metropolis of China is unified in system, the needs and ideals of urban population and rural population are different, the property rights system of urban land and cultivated land is different, and the economic structure and political power of each district and county are also strong and weak. If planning is not good, competition and plunder will still happen. China must face this challenge in the process of transforming into a market economy, and the key is still to control the city size.
2, big and small
I live in Kingston with a population of only 1 10000. This is an ancient city with a history of 300 years. Walking to work every day, there are small bungalows along the way, every family has lawns and gardens, trees on the roadside, and hospitals, schools and churches in the middle. People you don't know on the road will scream early. On the way, there is a place where children go to school and cross the road. An old man is in charge of their safety. I'll talk to him. Most of the oncoming bus drivers know each other and raise their hands to say hello. This is the rhythm and human touch of a typical town.
I have lived in Hong Kong, Toronto, Boston and other big cities. I am also quite familiar with their physical environment and have some intimacy. However, they are somewhat wary of their interpersonal environment and will definitely not greet people they don't know in the street. Of course, don't romanticize the "small town scenery". No matter in big cities, small towns or even small villages, it is difficult to avoid disputes and contradictions in places where people live together and in people-to-people contact. But I believe that the nature and sharpness of disputes and contradictions are closely related to the size of the city.
Don't ignore those "good morning" and walk for a few minutes. This symbolizes the tranquility of interpersonal relationship and the harmony between people and the surrounding environment, and is a high level of spiritual civilization. Man is a very strange animal, which needs excitement, change, safety, stability and familiarity. For more than 100 years, urban planners have been exploring the ideal combination of these factors. Howard's garden city is far away, and Kano's border town is very close. I think the trend of urbanism is inevitable, but we can still build a "small city" with personality and reasonable scale in the metropolis. Garden city has the value of being re-examined.
Howard's garden city is where the working class buys land in the form of joint venture and cooperation, creating an ideal living and production environment for self-reliance outside the metropolis. Huayuan City covers an area of 60 10 mu (about 2400ha) with a radius of less than two miles (3km). Urban area 1000 acre (about 400 hectares) with a radius of 3/4 mile (1.2 km). The outer 5,000 acres (about 2,000 hectares) are large farms and pastures. The center of the city is Central Park. Surrounded by public buildings, entertainment venues, governments, hospitals and commercial areas. The urban population is 30,000 (there are 2,000 farmers) and there are 5,500 households with an average land area of 2,000 square meters (about180m 2). There are parks and rest places everywhere. Outside is the factory and warehouse area.
Howard is a typical British social reformer in19th century. He wants to combine the advantages of urban and rural areas in creating physical and mental health, comfortable environment and high efficiency, and build an ideal environment that is both a "garden" (including farms and pastures) and a "city". In this environment, the city has an inseparable relationship with its hinterland (township). In terms of area and population, Garden City is a walking city. It takes 45 minutes (3 kilometers) to walk from the periphery to the center. Relatively speaking, the marginal city is a car-driven city (15 minutes' drive with a population of 250,000), which is the characteristic of modern North American metropolis and reflects the disintegration of the city and its hinterland under the free competition of capitalism.
It is inevitable that China will become a metropolis. In this process, although the garden city is an ideal, it is impossible to happen under today's population pressure and economic situation. Marginal cities are very likely to emerge, but their influence and consequences are not ideal. These two directions from western society reflect a truth-when urbanization reaches the level of metropolis, there will be differentiation. We can call it "the urbanization of metropolis". Howard's ideal of garden city is of course subjective, but it is not absurd. The concept of garden city has been highly endorsed (although there is no substantial sponsorship), which proves that his observations and suggestions have really grasped the key to the problem. Marginal cities are objective facts. Invisible economic laws and human mentality, through the choice of business owners and developers where to do business, Gai Lou and development, and the choice of millions of citizens where to live, play and buy things, have cultivated new cities around the metropolis.
Subjectively or objectively, a "small town" in a metropolis has two conditions: a radius of 45 minutes and a center of personality. Both garden cities and marginal cities meet these two conditions, but in different ways. The edge city is a car city-45 minutes' drive, with a huge shopping center and commercial building at its core, serving 250,000 people. It is not planned, but the product of commercial society-creating the best money-making opportunities for bosses. The road network outside the core area is wide and fast, which is as convenient as possible for car dealers, thus expanding the market scope. However, the design of the core area is as convenient as possible for pedestrians and cars, which is convenient for customers to spend more money in this area. In this city based on pure commercial value, citizens are just customers. Outside the core area is the world of cars, and every household has at least one or two cars. Drive as soon as you go out (you can even get on the bus in the house if you have a garage), and go straight to the core area as soon as you get on the road. How should I walk, smell the flowers along the way, say good morning and say hello? How can this create neighborhood feelings, and how can people sing to the surrounding environment? The core areas, especially shopping malls, are really set up for pedestrians. It's really lively, with all the food, singing and playing, and all the shopping. But the environment is not designed to facilitate walking, but to take customers to the place where they buy things and put them there for consumption. Drive home after shopping or playing. There is nothing to miss, and the shopkeeper has no intention of keeping you. After the store closed, everything was empty, which was simply a danger zone. In addition, the core area is full of large companies, enterprises, shopping malls and chain stores, which are not local capital and have no local color. How can such a place make people feel a sense of belonging?
Feelings are generated through contact and need time to cultivate. Sitting in the carriage, driving dozens of miles an hour and looking at the world through the glass, how can it be as real as the world you contact? How can a relationship based on consumption and occupation be as plain and sincere as contact without interests?
Garden City is a city of people-45 minutes' walk away, with comprehensive public buildings and business districts as the core, serving 30,000 people. Unlike marginal cities, Howard wants to take full care of the material and spiritual needs of citizens. However, the garden city is completely theoretical. Many people say this is a good idea, but no one has ever fully implemented it. The problem is that Howard's idea of organizing workers, buying land through joint ventures and developing cities does not conform to the laws of western capitalist society and is difficult to realize. Moreover, a modern metropolis has tens of millions of people, and it is difficult for a small city with tens of thousands of people to survive independently in it.
However, this ideal can be expressed in another way and can be realized in other ways. There are many "districts" in a metropolis. Although they are not independent cities, they are clearly defined and have their own characteristics and history. Most importantly, tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of residents in this area have a sense of belonging. Many people were born here, grew up here, and grew up here. The region is their universe. In the minds of "residents", the boundaries of districts are very clear. Everything in the area belongs to them, and they also belong to this area. We planners should regard these areas as "small cities" of big cities and cultivate them to make them healthy and prosperous.
Through planning, the environment in the region can meet most of the material and spiritual needs of the residents. I think "shot" is a good planning index. Everything you need for your life and work should be obtained by walking. The distance is limited to 45 minutes, which does not mean that residents in the area can't work, shop and entertain outside the area, but that they should be able to find satisfaction in the area and there is no need to go outside. Therefore, the performance and environment of the district should directly and correctly reflect the characteristics and wishes of "district citizens". For example, the Hui area should have the characteristics of the Hui people and the university area should have the characteristics of students.
This has nothing to do with Jane. Jacob's story is different. She suggested that every region should be diversified and multifunctional. She emphasized the diversity of the region. But if each district is diversified, it is the same between districts. I suggest that each district should have its own characteristics. But in this area, we should emphasize the harmonious life of the same kind. In other words, the region is unitary and the regions are diversified. I believe that similar places can best promote mutual communication and create the same environment. Similarly, it takes us a long time to get familiar with the surrounding environment before we have feelings, appreciate it and cherish it. Just like an old friend, its flaws become the beauty of flaws, and its inconvenience and difficulties become its unique character. No matter between people or between people and the environment, more, closer and longer contact can lead to understanding, recognition and a sense of belonging.
Step 3: concave and convex
Environmental psychology is a profound knowledge. Kevin lynch advocates "understanding"-a good environment should be an "understandable" environment. Amos. Porter, on the other hand, advocates "recognition"-a good environment should be in harmony with our "environmental ideal". The key is what kind of environment can be understood and bring * * *?
In June 1999, in the article Urban Design and the Pursuit of Truth, Goodness and Beauty, I talked about Alexander's New Theory of Urban Design. His arguments of "wholeness", "centrality" and "centripetal force" are very suitable for analyzing the macro phenomena such as "inside and outside" and "size" of the metropolis mentioned above. It is commendable that Alexander can master the interaction between macro and micro. He emphasized that the big is the synthesis of the small, and the small is the foundation of the big. His guiding ideology is that every building and every building should undertake the mission of "healing" the city-creating an integral and continuous urban structure ... the whole city is complete and every part is complete.
Among the seven design principles put forward in his book, the fourth one I admire most is "positive space". The environment of each "district" (small city) in the metropolis I mentioned above is mainly about the treatment of urban space. Now translate Alexander's idea.
Every city should set a "vision" for the future, and then realize it step by step through architectural design. A "complete" city must have "positive space". Unfortunately, many modern urban spaces are "negative spaces"-spaces left after buildings are completed. Designers of historic cities understand that urban space should be "created" by architecture. The principle of "frontal space" is simple: every building should create a compact, coherent and suitable public space next to it. Therefore, urban design should focus on space, supplemented by architecture, which is only a tool to create urban space. These spaces consist of five factors-walking space, buildings, gardens, streets and parking lots.
There are several "secondary principles" under the main principle, among which three deserve special attention:
(1) Every time a new building is added, its shape and location should create suitable walking space.
Simply put, it is "buildings surround space", not "space surrounds buildings". Nowadays, many buildings are simple geometric bodies, but there is a "three-point-eight-point" extra space between buildings, which is neither practical nor beautiful. On the contrary, in the design of ancient cities, such as Rome, the urban space is a simple geometric figure, while the buildings around the urban space are mostly irregular in shape and unconstrained in layout. The main function of these buildings is to surround and shape urban space. Therefore:
A, every new building should cooperate with existing buildings to create a beautiful and appropriate urban space. Therefore, the location and direction of the building is extremely important.
B, every new building should be used to determine the walking space, and at the same time consider how to create walking space with future buildings.
C according to the importance and location of the building, the walking space created by each building should be wide? Suitable.
D. Urban space and pedestrian space can be regarded as the organization of points and lines. The point is a small park (with a diameter of 60~ 100 or 18~30m and an average distance of about 300 or 90m), which is connected by a line (pedestrian street or alley).
(2) The volume of each new building should be concise and fit.
First, the volume of the building itself should be simple and three-dimensional, or it can be several simple and three-dimensional volumes, depending on their size and weight.
B the main entrance of the building should be the visual focus of the surrounding pedestrian space.
C. The building volume should be "transparent": the thickness of the garden, courtyard, lighting well and wing room should not exceed 40 or 12m.
D, if possible, the new building should at least be connected with the existing building to form a continuation of the urban organization.
E, the new building must have at least one wall without windows, so as to connect (contact) with other buildings in the future.
F. The building is placed in front of the parking lot, not the parking lot.
(3) When building a garden, the garden space should be compact and concise, but it should be more intimate and quiet than the nearby walking space.
The garden space between buildings should also be treated according to the first "sub-principle". Of course, all buildings can't be gardens, but the garden space should be quiet and private.
The garden should be in the south of the building.
B, not on the roadside or in the parking lot.
C, the shape should be beautiful and attractive ... not just the lawn, but like an ornament-the lawn, flower beds and trees constitute a clear and beautiful whole.
Alexander's urban space design principle is simple and powerful-good concave and bad convex. What is concave is that the building surrounds the space, and what is convex is that the space surrounds the building. This also symbolizes the contradiction between urban design and architectural design. An architect (including the owner) wants to "highlight" his building. "Outstanding" has two meanings: distinctive and visual focus. For an architect, the surrounding buildings are the background, and only his buildings are the protagonists. This is very contradictory to the pursuit of harmony and unity in urban planning. Furthermore, the architect always hopes that there is enough visual distance in front of his building so that the audience (citizens) can appreciate his architectural design. So many buildings, like monuments, stand upright in the empty square. Whether in essence or in meaning, the "prominence" of architectural design is also the prominence of urban design.
But I believe this contradiction reflects the contradiction between modern architectural culture and planning culture. Architectural culture emphasizes individuality and competition. Market? Architects in the world are all their own, regardless of the coordination between buildings. However, the planning culture lacks design and ignores aesthetics, so the power to handle and control the plot design of a single building is weak in law and technology. In addition, the planning under the market economy emphasizes property rights, and only pays attention to measurable things, such as sanitary environment and convenient transportation, when dealing with public interests. Therefore, the management of parcel design is limited to red line concession and building spacing. These will only contribute to the independence of the building and the spatial phenomenon around the building.
I hope that China's planning education will not abandon architecture and aesthetics, and the planning practice will consider the integrity of urban space. Western cultural cities, such as Rome and Paris, have colorful urban spaces-some spectacular, some peaceful and cordial, some lively-which are the essence of spiritual civilization accumulated for thousands of years and cannot be copied mechanically. But the progress (or retrogression) of spiritual civilization is a driving force. As long as the time is right, there will be an answer. I believe that public buildings, including those of government agencies, are suitable leaders. Especially the buildings of administrative districts and institutions in cities, don't pursue "Excellence". This is not to say that the design of the government building is crude. The design of "Gong * * *" building is of course to serve "Gong * * *". The best "public service" must be the urban space that the public appreciates and enjoys.
Not long ago, urban planning and architectural design in the west were not separated, and there was no concept of friend or foe. Unfortunately, capitalism is hostile to planning (it treats urban planning and planned economy equally), and market economy attaches importance to property rights (self) and emphasizes efficiency (competition), which is not conducive to the ideal of cooperation and great harmony. In China, a socialist market economy, I think planning has the responsibility to create positive urban space. Buildings can be privately owned, but the urban space between buildings is owned by the whole people.
4. Conclusion
The revelation of Inside and Outside is that the economic logic of capitalism has completely destroyed the organic connection between the city and the hinterland. Marginal cities are just a special phenomenon in the process of infinite diffusion of urbanization. The crux of the problem is still spreading. Controlling diffusion is not only to prevent division, but also to protect cultivated land and ecology. The best way is to improve the efficiency of urban land use and control the development of cars.
"Big and small" and "inside and outside" are related. Small cities have no internal troubles and foreign invasion. But a metropolis can also be a "small town". At present, there are problems in both directions in the west-the marginal cities are too shallow and the garden cities are too ideal. Instead of creating a new small city, why not make good use of the districts in a metropolis (not only a metropolis, but also several districts in a large-scale city) to make it a "small city"? A 45-minute walk (about 3km) is the ideal scale of a "small city". Facilities in the area should meet the daily life and work needs of residents. The planning task is to carry forward the characteristics of each region, create a friendly urban environment and cultivate the sense of belonging of "residents".
The most important link in urban environment is urban space, especially the space between buildings. Alexander's "frontal space" is concave, which is deliberately created through the shape, location and layout of various buildings. At the level of urban design, architecture is a tool to create urban space, which is in great contradiction with the free competition of capitalism and the private property system. Planning is a city matter, and architecture is a package matter. Planning emphasizes the whole and architecture emphasizes the individual. Capitalist society emphasizes construction over planning. In socialist China, the planning conditions should be better. The key is whether we can maintain the socialist spirit of "self" in the process of transforming into a market economy. While advocating economic benefits, we should not forget social benefits.
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