Thanks to zhan zhang for his interest in “Wall” in Chinese Neighbourhood, a concept that interests me because the “wall” reflects the historical politics of China that has influenced the establishment of urban form, from the ancient “square” to the recent employee’s family buildings to the current development of small gated communities dominated by real estate developers. “I am interested in this concept because the ‘wall’ reflects the way in which China’s historical politics has influenced the creation of urban form, from the ‘square’ in ancient times, to the worker’s family buildings in modern times, to the development of small, gated communities dominated by property developers.
I strongly agree with your understanding of these ‘walls’. That is, the boundaries of some small communities form a large scale ‘wall’ around the perimeter, reduced to a courtyard wall for each household. These walls provided a secure and private environment. It was a refuge for everyone under the ancient ideology of agriculturalism and the suppression of commerce. On a micro level, the wall became a symbol of the self. I believe that these walls have evolved to bring a sense of security and privacy to the Chinese people, and through the public space and shared facilities within the walls, they bring a variety of ways of daily life to the residents, such as functional spaces for sports or leisure and conversation.
It is not just the psychological security and open space that the “walls” bring to Chinese residents, but also, I believe, the reliance on the property companies with which Chinese residents work in gated communities. In China, the property companies are responsible for the maintenance of lifts in gated communities, the basic inspection and maintenance of fire safety, the management of greenery and the maintenance of facilities within the gated communities, and they are also responsible for security patrols and other security work ‘inside the walls’, so I think that by ‘removing I believe that “removing” these walls to solve the traffic problem would be met with resistance from residents who would perceive a “threat” to their safety. In China, property companies can limit the scope of their management through ‘walls’ and these walls can also go some way to stop dangerous people or burglars from entering a gated community, and as Chinese people generally value the security of their living space, removing walls to solve traffic problems is not a sensible option.
“Wall“ in Chinese Neighborhood
There is a wall in the Chinese neighborhood
I have always believed that a significant responsibility of urban design is to improve people’s experience and living environment. Because humans build cities, the ultimate purpose of cities is to serve humans, and improving people’s experiences can improve people’s mental states. A good environment can improve people’s physiological state. Only in this way can the city become a beautiful place with both form and spirit. The closest living environment to everyone is the neighborhood. In the UK, planning scholars have long noticed the importance of neighborhoods. This semester, I also read this aspect’s detailed and marvelous guidance of British design. In 2016, China once wanted to push down the walls of neighboring communities, but many people opposed it. In this blog, I will discuss why Chinese people always have an invisible “wall” in their hearts.
The continuation of the concept of wall in Chinese culture
Macro perspective
I think this “wall” comes from the Chinese people’s habits and philosophies. In ancient Chinese philosophy, it is unanimously believed that “the sky is round and the earth is square.” 【1】Therefore, ancient Chinese planners made the city as square as possible when designing the city. This behavior is not only a response to etiquette but also convenient for the ruler to manage. In terms of urban structure, ancient Chinese cities had outer and inner walls. The function of the outer wall is to resist foreign enemies, while the function of the inner wall is to distinguish the noble from the humble, separating the royal family from the ordinary people【2】. Therefore, the long-standing planning form in China makes the wall a symbol of authority in the minds of the Chinese people.
Tang Chang’an City 【1】
Micro perspective
In a micro sense, from a family and a community perspective. China followed the Lifang system until the Song Dynasty【3】. For the needs of law and order and the military market, the residential areas in the city are separated by short walls of “squares” to manage the entry and exit of personnel and materials. The residential area is cut into small squares like a chessboard, and residents live in such small courts. The boundaries of these small communities form a large-scale “wall” on the periphery, narrowing down to a courtyard wall for each household. These walls provide a safe and private environment. It is a sanctuary for everyone under the ancient thinking of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce. On a micro level, the wall becomes a symbol of the self.
Traditional Chinese courtyard【2】
Modern process
After New China’s founding, the combination of work and residence was implemented in most cities to implement urban transformation comprehensively. This means that the Chinese neighborhood model then became the staff dormitory in the workplace【4】, which made the composition of the neighbors simpler and the walls between households disappeared, but the outsiders are not allowed to enter the unit. The famous Chinese writer Shen Congwen mentioned in the novel “Border Town” that people inside the wall always want to go out, while people outside the wall always want to go in【5】. However, he needed to think about how to remove the wall. The concept of the wall has never disappeared in Chinese history, but its scope is constantly changing.
A courtyard model that combines work units and residential life【3】
Reason for pushing against the wall
In modern times, the primary goal is to increase the density of the road network. Taking Beijing and Tokyo as examples, the road network density in Tokyo is 6.43 times【6】 that of Beijing. This is because there are too many walls in the courtyards of Chinese cities. This has turned many urban roads into internal roads, and traffic problems naturally arise.
The policy of tearing down the walls of the community has destroyed the authority and self in the hearts of the Chinese people. They worry about losing control of their neighborhood and their privacy and security.
Feasible solution and summary
It seems to me that there is also a solution to this dilemma, but it needs the cooperation of real estate developers and planning departments. That is to plan which parts can be opened to the outside world and which are private at the beginning of real estate development. There are many green spaces in Chinese communities so we can choose the green spaces as part of the urban public, but the residence is still a private territory. When the residents pay the fee, they can avoid the cost of maintaining their personal green space and let the government bear it. Then gradually, there will be a transition to the ideal state.
The envisaged open community after knocking the wall down【4】
Space has always been the shaping of the world by power. No matter how good the seed is, it will not bear fruit without suitable soil. We all need to understand a people’s history and philosophy when building our neighborhood.
reference
【1】Gaitian theory from wikipedia https://zh.m.wikipedia.org/zh-hans/%E7%9B%96%E5%A4%A9%E8%AF%B4
【2】Space and Power: Political and Cultural Connotations of Urban Form and Spatial Structure in Ancient China by Qi Lu and Jian Ma https://core.ac.uk/reader/41451440
【3】Ribo system from wikipedia https://zh.m.wikipedia.org/zh/%E9%87%8C%E5%9D%8A%E5%88%B6
【4】Archetypes and Evolution of Design History in China’s Gated Cities and Neighborhoods by Xu Miao* and Yang Zhen
【5】”Border town“ by Congwen Shen
【6】How to evaluate the current open community walls? https://www.zhihu.com/question/40672525
image reference
[1] Tang Chang’an City https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%94%90%E9%95%BF%E5%AE%89%E5%9F%8E
[2] Archetypes and Evolution of Design History in China’s Gated Cities and Neighborhoods by Xu Miao* and Yang Zhen
[3] Archetypes and Evolution of Design History in China’s Gated Cities and Neighborhoods by Xu Miao* and Yang Zhen
[4] Blue and green interweaving, urban landscape blending——Green urban design experience and strategy https://new.qq.com/rain/a/20210903a0b8af00
Thanks to zhan zhang for his interest in “Wall” in Chinese Neighbourhood, a concept that interests me because the “wall” reflects the historical politics of China that has influenced the establishment of urban form, from the ancient “square” to the recent employee’s family buildings to the current development of small gated communities dominated by real estate developers. “I am interested in this concept because the ‘wall’ reflects the way in which China’s historical politics has influenced the creation of urban form, from the ‘square’ in ancient times, to the worker’s family buildings in modern times, to the development of small, gated communities dominated by property developers.
I strongly agree with your understanding of these ‘walls’. That is, the boundaries of some small communities form a large scale ‘wall’ around the perimeter, reduced to a courtyard wall for each household. These walls provided a secure and private environment. It was a refuge for everyone under the ancient ideology of agriculturalism and the suppression of commerce. On a micro level, the wall became a symbol of the self. I believe that these walls have evolved to bring a sense of security and privacy to the Chinese people, and through the public space and shared facilities within the walls, they bring a variety of ways of daily life to the residents, such as functional spaces for sports or leisure and conversation.
It is not just the psychological security and open space that the “walls” bring to Chinese residents, but also, I believe, the reliance on the property companies with which Chinese residents work in gated communities. In China, the property companies are responsible for the maintenance of lifts in gated communities, the basic inspection and maintenance of fire safety, the management of greenery and the maintenance of facilities within the gated communities, and they are also responsible for security patrols and other security work ‘inside the walls’, so I think that by ‘removing I believe that “removing” these walls to solve the traffic problem would be met with resistance from residents who would perceive a “threat” to their safety. In China, property companies can limit the scope of their management through ‘walls’ and these walls can also go some way to stop dangerous people or burglars from entering a gated community, and as Chinese people generally value the security of their living space, removing walls to solve traffic problems is not a sensible option.
The wall in Chinese neighborhoods has been a hot topic, discussed in a large number of academic sources in both English and Chinese, and reading these discussions has certainly expanded my horizons. As this blog, walls in Chinese neighborhoods did not appear out of anywhere, but rather an ancient complex has been presented in a modern way. The Chinese government has been trying to push for the “removal of walls and the establishment of neighborhoods” for nearly two decades and has been under a lot of pressure from civilians. And now even in neighborhoods where physical walls have been removed, clear boundaries remain, sometimes in the form of thorny shrubs, sometimes in the form of new “walls” of tall trees.
Although I am against the blind removal of walls regardless of historical traditions and cultural practices, I have to admit that residential walls do hurt urban traffic and the public space environment. In such a contradiction, policymakers and designers should try to explore the possibility of creating an urban fabric with small neighborhoods and a dense road network while preserving part of the function of the wall.
For example, for large-scale residential areas built in new urban areas that can accommodate more than 100,000 people, it is necessary to reduce the scale of fences and open some of the main roads in the park; while for smaller-scale neighborhoods in old urban areas, if it is impossible to implement the policy of opening the fences, then one can try to adopt strategies such as reshaping the landscape of the fences and revitalizing the public space around the fences. For example, in Shanghai Changwu District, a project of wall renovation[1]. In this project, a 400m section of serious and stagnant community wall is gone, replaced by an attractive linear park that uses classical garden design techniques to provide space for citizens to move around.
The designer is in a way a balancing act between the contradictions of various aspects, and we may be able to take a more diverse approach to this dilemma involving traditional customs and modern life.
Reference：
[1] Tong M, Ren G. Boundary Reconstruction – Transformation of Changwu District Fence [J]. Journal of Architecture, 2020(10):7.