Description
Book SynopsisThe unprecedented growth faced by the Chinese cities in the last decades entailed serious consequences: economic and social disparities, environmental crises, and demographic imbalances between the rural and the urban areas. These issues, together with a growing awareness of the intrinsic unsustainability of Chinese economic model, has stimulated debate on redefining the approach to urban development.
In this framework, Lishui, a minor municipality of Zhezjiang Province, launched the international competition Future ShanShui City. Dwellings in Lishui Mountains in 2020. In line with the main policies enacted at national level, this competition highlights the need of new spatial relations between urban and rural. This approach leads to a radical reconfiguration of the suburban spaces, which is giving rise to an unprecedent landscape where urban services are integrated in the countryside areas, and, vice versa, agriculture and environmental elements are part of the city.
The publication explores the ongoing processes of suburbanisation in Lishui Valley based on three years of design, research and teaching activities carried out by Politecnico di Torino and South China University of Technology since 2020. With a rich collection of original essays and projects, this book combines reflexive knowledge, critical imagination, and design experimentation to provide scenarios for Chinese suburban development.
Table of Contents4 The Tale of a Research Project Suburbanization Processes in Rural China The Lishui Valley The Competition Future Shan-Shui City The Suburban Valley as Ground for Teaching Activities About this Book References 36 Prosperous Lishui: Four Operational Spaces Spaces for Agricultural Production Dwelling on the Mountains Facilities and System of Mobility Ecological Reserve 100 Prosperous Lishui: Ten Site-specific Projects Farming an Online World The Hillside Farmland in a Frame Weak and Diffuse Facilities The Floating Community Living the Riversides The Agricultural Hub The Cultural Strip Inhabiting the Mountain Clusters Collecting Every Single Drop 158 Architecture for Suburban China by Gong Dong and Shida Liu Introduction In the Midst of Nature and the Human-made Interconnection Between the Old and the New A Translucent Interface of Air and Light Concluding Remarks 176 Illustration Credits 177 Text Credits and Acknowledgments 178 About the Authors
