B.A.R.C. - Greening the Metropolis

BARC - Evolutionary Green Planning in China

超越中国的建筑规范: 案例研究：绿色规划的演变

Shanghai World Expo 2010, 2010上海世博会荷兰厅
MARS-1 + Dynamic City Foundation 动态城市基金会

~ Without integrated planning a collection of well designed sustainable buildings can still amount to a poorly operating, ultimately unsustainable city. ~ Neville Mars, Dynamic City Foundation

SUMMARY

Does it make sense that the new green cities heralded in Asia and the Middle-east look the same? That they are designed like any car city and constructed far from the rest of urban society? Sustainability seems to mean suburbia with solar panels. Pressure in the boom economies simply prevents innovation on a city-wide scale.

The Dynamic City Foundation has invited 5 Dutch and 5 Chinese aggressively creative companies to conceive a long-term vision for Caofeidian; the new green dream of northern China. Not building at once, but designing in relay, teams will one by one propose an expansion of the city and pass the project along. Evolution as the start of the Organic City. 

BARC aims to explore a process of evolutionary greening for the city of Caofeidian from 2010 to 2040. To do achieve this the teams will be asked to expand Caofeidian with 100000 people in a 3 year period. During a period of ten weeks the 3D file of the cumulative proposal will travel from office to office. The process is documented in order to trace the emergence of a green metropolis over time and understand the qualities of a city as an organic entity. The video footage and the proposals will be visualized in a set of ten videos and presented in ten boxes (image above) and presented at a Dutch Culture House of the Shanghai World Expo 2010.

简介

超越建筑规范
“超越中国的建筑规范”是由动态城市基金会发起的一个颇具抱负的设计／研究协作项目，该项目以有形的案例研究力图拓展可持续发展的中国视野。该方法以其整体性和长期性，模拟规划方案的演变，设计师和政策制定者均可由此借鉴新型可持续发展规划之要领。第一阶段主要是探索与激发灵感。为上海2010世博会荷兰展馆所作，项目汇总了来自荷兰和中国的八支团队，在四个月内集中设计。目的在于把绿色都市重构为一个随时间推移而不断发展的有机体。最终的作品将以引人入胜的视觉方式向世博会观众呈现，并将在专业论坛上接受著名规划师和生态学家的评判。第二阶段是实现。工作团队将在具体地点与地方政府部门密切协作，使“超越中国建筑规范”成为一个演进规划的先导性示范项目。将荷兰设计的理念与荷兰工程公司的见地与技术相结合，力图在可持续规划领域创造出独道的产品。

CHINESE FIRMS

Tsinghua School of Architecture: Dean Zhu Wenyi, Song Yehao, Terrence Curry, Alex Camprubi, Prof. Yehao Song
Urbanus: Hui Wang, Wu Wenyi
MAD: Ma Yansong, Dang Qun
Urban China: Jiang Jun, Han Yan
BAU: James Brearley, Fang Qun

DUTCH FIRMS

MARS-1: Neville Mars, Alain Fouraux
MVRDV: Winy Maas, Paul Kroese, Pirjo Haikola
Z.U.S.: Elma van Boxel, Kristian Koreman
Rocksteady Design: Barend Koolhaas, Femke Bijlsma, Reinier Suurenbroek
Powerhouse Company: Nanne de Ru, Charles Bessard

BACKGROUND

Two factors have given rise to this project:

Even today no over-arching, holistic or integrated green planning model exists in the world. While, particularly in boom economies such as China, the shortcomings of existing green planning models are quickly coming to the surface. Unable to adapt to changing needs China’s new cities are outdated the day of completion. Not surprisingly, as China’s young society rapidly creates many new demands and desires, the aggressively competitive market leaves designers no time to produce long-term strategies or think in flexible solutions. Sustainability however, can only be conceived, achieved and be paid for on the long term.

Project BARC aims to offer an antidote by inviting 10 progressive design offices to step by step imagine a visionary plan for Caofeidian Ecocity - one of the most prominent new green cities in China. Starting from scratch Project BARC simulates the growth of this city’s aspired high-speed development process for the period 2010 till 2040. One after the other, for 3 year cycles each team proposes an urban expansion of 100 000 people to achieve a city of 1 million people for the year 2040. For every three-year growth cycle DCF has prescribed different ‘hopes and hazards’ that are likely to impact urbanization - from rising sea levels, to a rise in wind power, etc. As the urban expansion proposals add up, an accelerated urbanization process becomes manifest. We can see how layers of designed solutions unfold and how each step impacts the next and shaping the evolution of a sustainable city.

The second hurdle for sustainability involves regulations. Urban planning codes have not yet been updated to deal with the broad implications of contemporary forms of urban sustainability. In previous research it became clear that in China, working within the official planning regulations effectively makes it impossible to design a sustainable city. Apart from inadvertently promoting sprawl, the regulations actually prevent innovation. The building off-set rules produce cities that are hostile to pedestrians. As a result, although green buildings and technologies are welcomed and often good planning is attempted, the city is unable to break away from inefficiency, congestion and pollution. This situation is particularly harsh in China, yet globally outdated regulations are slowing down the innovation of green planning and prevent much needed transition beyond basic solar voltaics or wastewater management.

Project BARC (Beyond Architectural Regulations in China) temporarily abandons short-term restrictions and regulations to give room for green solutions beyond the current norm. The goal is to collectively generate an ideal master plan. Ideal, not simply in terms of energy efficiency, but as a future living environment. Apart from revealing the limits of current policies, visualizing what the green city could ultimately entail serves a number of practical purposes; an over-arching vision for the future allows engineers and designers working in this field to streamline their efforts towards a common goal. At the same time it can show policymakers and consumers what an evolutionary approach to planning today could offer residents of a green city tomorrow. As such, the proposed city for 2040 is both a pilot project to be realized in Caofeidian and a tool to discuss how to move towards real urban sustainability in China.

展示

走进绿色规划师的大脑

记录设计过程对于项目是非常关键。展示也将尽力地切合规划原作。考虑到知识更替的速度，对话交流与实际制作过程才是重点。初步的讨论和设计准备可在动态城市基金会的网络平台上被追踪。第一阶段——集思广益，草图素描及设计产生——将在动态城市基金会北京工作室的蓝屏房间进行。整个过程将通过DV详细记录，设计师被置于他们自己方案的渲染中，并讲述所设计城市背后的概念。最终的视频将以动画快进的形式,展现一个城市，如何从 2010年到2050年规模扩大了两倍；即一个绿色都市兴起的由来。

展览
动态城市基金会将搭建一个由八个盒子组成的视频演示空间。观众逐个走过的房间各代表每5年后的情况。房间的组合形成了一个玩味十足的雕塑装置，它也可以适应不同的空间条件。

论坛
已与世博会赞助商TNT电视台初步讨论了举行BARC论坛的事宜。这将是TNT/联合国关于城市的挑战的研讨会的组成部分，它将在荷兰展馆举行。

超越温室玻璃球

或者说，规划一定要大

绿色都市终于挤进了世界议程。在中东和中国，首批零碳城市的方案已经完成；所有大项目也不再局限于绿色建筑单体，而旨在创造闭合的环境体系。在野心和技术的推动下，这些零碳城市都是自上而下式新城规划的极品。但世界上的城市化进程——尤其是发展中国家——极少是建新城的产物，而是郊区蔓生或草根城市化的结果。尽管绿色新城的效率尚可，但它们与外界隔绝、不灵活、社会性被扭曲而且高度依赖于私家车，有些只能按特殊定义才勉强算得上环保。这些项目暴露的是——我们仍然缺少能应对“市场趋动型城市化”的划，同时证明了可持续规划固有的复杂性：

• 只有绿色都市才够大,才能形成闭合的综合体系。
• 要成就规模，绿色都市必须在现存的城市中心基础上发展、演变。
• 若要绿色都市的效率超过绿色插件之和, 则要与周围、社会及文化环境发生相当细密的关联。

中国规范之噪 或者说

为什么规划需要灵活性

关于全球的可持续性，全世界都既焦虑又期待地看向中国。既然中国城市化的热潮还将持续三十年，一个着眼于未来的规划必然会让中国大大受益。中国很愿意照搬来自西方的绿色模式，但实际上只是在做绿色的表面文章。首先，世界上没有可持续规划的现成模式，也没有能适应中国高速城市化进程的模式。其次，中国的规划编制和规划文化是以理顺疯狂的建设秩序为目的，这从根本上抑制了顾全大局的方法的产生。近来，一些最先进的国外规划都因为与中国情况脱节，最终沦为了概念废品。同时，更为务实的技术升级让原本低效的城市系统和本地的生活方式得以持续。此番分离基本上让中式西式的努力互相抵消，只有以下情形有可能解决问题：

• 形成可持续规划的远见：兼顾市场驱动性且着眼于未来。
• 能在规划完成后进一步演变，能适应中国建设速度的巨大压力和中国的规划文化。
• 有超越中国建筑规范的意愿

规划快进

或者说，模拟演变的扩张

规划快进 或者说，模拟演变的扩张为了达到高度的设计整合，项目必须跟得上中国发展的加速度。“超越中国建筑规范”项目以动态城市基金会对中国闪电城市化数年研究的结果为基础。动态城市基金会认为城市是一个有机整体，在自上而下和自下而上的力量的碰撞的推动下不断发展演变。要对有机生长有效地回应，必须长期在各个层面有序地努力——从国家规定、地方网络、到街区并最终到终端用户才有可能实现。因此项目应该追踪规划不同层面的决策。这有一个矛盾，那就是在短短四个月的时间里，项目需要分析数十年、持续规划决策的叠加效应。为了实现目标，我们根据中国的五年经济规划周期设计了一个具体的研究方法来模拟未来四十年的状况。我们邀请了八个设计团队，四个来自荷兰，四个来自国，他们将为同一个城市做接力设计。每个团队负责在上一团队的规划之上开发下一个五年规划。具体的设计在workshop中完成。每个团队有一周的准备时间，另有两天用于现场估，并于一周后完成。他们将在限期内的最后一天把自己的设想方案交给下一个五年计划的负责团队。项目完成后，将展现从2010年至2050年四十年间长期而具体的规划，以及规划本身加速发展的模拟。

Dynamic Growth in China

Or, Dealing with the reality of MUD
In three decades China has radically reconfigured itself spatially, economically and socially. The scale and speed of construction has supported double-digit economic development while facilitating the emergence of a vast domestic consumer market. But such speed comes at a price. With no time to consider the future, China’s aggressive real estate market has reduced urban planning to a single formula of sealed-off megablock neighborhoods loosely connected by highways - a fail-safe method to privatize China’s once communal land plot by plot.

In a massive wave of modernization dozens of megacities have been reconstructed from center to suburb, while entirely new cities mushroom around them, contributing to a sense of infinite control over the urban landscape. However, exactly thirty years after the economic reforms the limits of top-down planning are starkly revealing themselves. In contemporary China all common problems of modernity, from congestion to alienation, can be found simultaneously on an enlarged scale. Seemingly in control, the mega-compounds are micro-planned, while accumulated countless real estate projects grow together into vast organic urban patterns. The DCF has mapped and analyzed this process of increasing Market-driven Unintentional Development, or M.U.D., as the starting point to regain control of the sprawling city.

BIGGER CITY, BETTER LIFE

After thirty years of high-speed growth China is now halfway done. This simple fact renders China’s top-down planning approach ineffective. Instead China is increasingly at the mercy of its urban context. However new, the existing built environment is shaping the direction and quality of planned development. To curb the impact of MUD formation the DCF has developed a flexible planning model called Dynamic Density (DD). The model is based on the premise that a city has an inherent optimum proportion between footprint and population. DD helps planners to streamline growth by anticipating the market-driven trends of the metropolis. That means China’s cities can grow (much) bigger without losing their efficiency or living comfort.
The ultimate conclusion of DD is that any new city, from the standpoint of sustainability, is undesirable. Every new satellite is a likely starting point for sprawl, and requires excessive infrastructure to connect to the the urban network. Steadily agricultural land is converted and the distinction between urban and rural areas in China is all but lost. The result is a typically Chinese production city with logistic and economic lines that run from the CBD to the factories deep in the countryside. Spatially and economically the rural periphery is becoming an integral part of the Chinese city. This peripheral zone, socially still diverse and growing aggressively, will define China’s chances for compactness and sustainability.

~ BARC will investigate how an approach can be formulated within the zone of urban expansion rather then for new cities.

更大的城市让生活更美好

经过三十年的高速增长，中国已经建成过半。这让中国自上而下的规划不再有效。然而中国却日益受其城市环境之摆布。建成的环境尽管墨迹未干，却在塑造发展规划的方向和质量。为了遏制市场化无序开发的形成，动态城市基金会设计了灵活的规划模式，被称作动态密度（ DD ）。该模式的依据是，城市在人口规模和发展轨迹之间有着固有的最佳比例。动态密度能帮助规划者预见大都市以市场为导向的增长趋势，从而让发展更顺畅。这意味着
中国的城市在不降低效率或者舒适度的情况下能够变得更大。动态密度的终极结论是任何新城，从可持续发展的角度来讲，都是多余的。每个新的卫星城都可能是蔓生的开始，且需要大量的基础设施来连接到城市的网络。农业用地的用途被改变，城市和农村的区别日益被抹杀。其结果是一个典型的中国制造的城市，物流和经济线路从中央商务区延伸到工厂。周边的农村从空间上和经济上都正在成为城市的一部分。这些周边地区，社会性仍然多样且发展迅猛，将决定中国的紧凑度和可持续性的程度。动态城市基金会将探讨如何在城市扩张的范畴内发展，而不是建新城。

TIMETABLE OPENING AND FORUM II

The exhibition "Organic City" opens mid-August at the Dutch Culture Center, part of the Shanghai World Expo - Better City, Better Life. 
Following the opening, DCF will host a full-day of 'organic debate'.  Forty top minds in the field discuss, in a continuous dialogue, how to achieve sustainability for the future city. 

Previous Forum BARC, Shenzhen Biennale 2009

Moderator / respondent:

Adrian Hornsby - Writer, Co-author, The Chinese Dream, London
Jeffrey Johnson - Director of China Lab, Columbia University, New York

Reference material

CONTACT

TEAM B.A.R.C. Dynamic City Foundation:

Neville Mars +86 15601200050 neville at dynamiccity dot org
Kafung Lau +86 13466633230 kafunglau006 at gmail dot com
Katie Li 中文 +86 13521699954 info at dynamiccity dot org