The Wall: The re-discovery of ordinary public places in an alternative urban architectural model for Chinese cities, the case of Chengdu

The Wall: The re-discovery of ordinary public places in an alternative urban architectural model for Chinese cities, the case of Chengdu

Nijveldt, J.M.

Bekkering, H.C. (mentor)
Hauptmann, D. (mentor)

Architecture

Urbanism

Vertical Cities Asia

2012-02-03

This thesis is a specific research about the city of Chengdu in Western China. The city is at the very heart of the dramatic transformation of China and can be seen as a perfect model city of recent growth. The city showed an explosive growth in GDP, urban area, infrastructure and living standards. There are however enormous qualitative challenges for further growth concerning land use, domesticity, biodiversity, water and air quality; The city is at the crossroads. In order to attempt to resolve the challenges, which path will it take? It is the hypothesis of this thesis, that the underlying framework of the city, its streets and public spaces, is the basis for development, because these are a lasting foundation for years. The thesis takes on the perspective of ordinary public places that are meaningful for everyday life. Therefore it is crucial to understand space, the Chinese perception of it and how to structure it. The result of this thesis is a proposal for an alternative urban architectural model that will guide the city towards compact growth, giving at the same time ‘place’ to the millions of new migrants.

placemaking
China
public space
density
air quality
sprawl
Heidegger
perception of space

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:6b31e170-c4e6-408f-b07e-bb38aa090387

Student theses

master thesis

(c) 2012 Nijveldt, J.M.