HOW TO MAKE

URBAN CLUSTERS

BENEFIT FROM THE

CENTRALIZED-POWER PLANNING MODEL

HUI WANG

2014.12.11

Cluster

the very form of human settlements

the expansion of settlements with identical method form a generic city

a seemingly homogeneous city is indeed heterogeneous

Heterogeneous

Homogeneous

Manhattan

Barcelona

Grid a monotonous

urban subdivision method that dissolve an urban area into a passel of smaller blocks in order to be effective for the real estate speculation

Assimilation

Overlapping a cluster into such kind of a grid system, one will observe that a cluster of unity is immediately assimilated into a cluster of homogenous pieces by the grid system.

BEFORE AFTER

Source：archdaily. com

Case Study 1

Ground Zero Master Plan

how the identity of a cluster is lost

Daniel Libeskind won the master plan of Grand Zero by presenting a cluster of cohesive buildings.

After the plan was taken into reality, the wholeness of the cluster disappeared into a cluster of individual buildings.

Source：wikipedia.com

Rockefeller Center

the grid describes an archipelago of cities within the cities. the city of the captive globe/ Delirious New York/ Rem Koolhaas

individuality will eventually prevail over the interest of the community?

Case Study 2

how the identity of a cluster is lost

Unity

celebration of the party‘s upcoming 90th anniversary_Dexing, Jiangxi province_2011Source：Chinadaily.com

Centralized-Power

urban planning is by nature a system of executing centralized power

the success or failure of this top-down system is determined by its social agendas.

In the field of planning, the centralized power may not be condemned with all the pitfalls of totalitarianism. Although there is a general concern that the concentrated power will stifle the vitality of urban life, indeed, a well managed centralized power in urban planning may have some advantages

Centralized-PowerScattered-Power

GENTRIFICATIONDUPLICATION ISOLATION

A Typical Culture Center in China_ Tianjin

Bureaucracy EfficiencyVS.

ADAPTATIONMAXIMIZATION COOPERATION

A Typical CBD in China_Tianjin A Typical University Town in China_ Guangzhou

Lamarck's Giraffe diagramSource：thenounproject.com

Three Projects

In

Beijing

Olympic Park

Cultural Center

Core Area

Beijing CBD

Town Center

Future Science City

HOW TO MAKE URBAN CLUSTERS

BENEFIT FROM THE

CENTRALIZED-POWER PLANNING MODEL

Project 01

Olympic Cultural Center

a cultural village allows the co-existenceof diverse art participants

Project 02

Beijing CBD Core Area

a unified lower level urban space incubates new urban life

Project 03

Town Center

Future Science City

a mixture of urban and rural preserves the right of local farmers