Regional Outlook Paper
BUILDING ECOLOGICAL CHINESE CITIES: THE
NEED FOR A BIG FOOT REVOLUTION
Regional Outlook Paper: No. 28, 2011
Griffith Asia Institute
Regional Outlook
Building Ecological Chinese Cities: The Need for a Big Foot Revolution
Professor Kongjian Yu
About the Griffith Asia Institute
The Griffith Asia Institute produces innovative, interdisciplinary research on
key developments in the politics, economics, societies and cultures of Asia and
the South Pacific.
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the Griffith Asia Institute seeks to inform and foster academic scholarship, public
awareness and considered and responsive policy making.
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Griffith was the first University in the country to offer Asian Studies to undergraduate
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Institute can draw on the expertise of some 50 Asia–Pacific focused academics from
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The Griffith Asia Institute’s ‘Regional Outlook’ papers publish the institute’s cutting
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www.griffith.edu.au/business-commerce/griffith-asia-institute/
‘Building Ecological Chinese Cities: The Need for a Big Foot Revolution’, Regional Outlook
Paper No. 28, 2011.
About the Author
Professor Kongjian Yu
Professor Kongjian Yu is Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, and Founder and
Dean of the Graduate School of Landscape Architecture, at Peking University. He
received his Doctor of Design degree at the Harvard Graduate School of Design in
1995. Professor Yu is the Founder and President of Turenscape, one of the first and
largest private architecture and landscape architecture firms in China. His practice
includes planning and design of landscapes and urban development, such as the national
Ecological Infrastructure Planning and new urban development design projects in major
cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin. Professor Yu’s projects have received
numerous awards, including eight American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA)
Honor including the 2010 Award of Excellence (for the Shanghai Expo Houtan Park),
Design and Planning awards, 2008 Architectural Award, 2009 World Architecture
Festival World Landscape Award, 2009 ULI Global Award, as well as many international
design competition prizes. His projects have been featured in leading journals such as
Landscape Architecture, Architecture Review and Topos. Professor Yu has been keynote
speaker for three International Federation of Landscape Architects world congresses
and two ASLA annual conferences, and has been invited to lecture and design critique at
more than 30 universities worldwide, and is visiting professor of landscape architecture
and urban planning and design at Harvard Graduate School of Design. He published
widely: recent titles include Back to Land (2009); The Art of Survival – Recovering
Landscape Architecture (2006); and Negative Planning (2005). He is the chief editor of
Landscape Architecture China, and member of the editorial board for the Journal of
Landscape Architecture (Jola), Urban Planning Review, and some others. He serves as
member of several expert committees for the ministries of Housing, Rural and Urban
Construction, Culture and Land Resources of China, and for the City of Beijing. He is
currently serving the Master Jury of Aga Kahn Architecture Award.
Contents
List of Illustrations .......................................................................................................................................... vi
Executive Summary....................................................................................................................................... 1
1. ‘Little Foot Urbanism’ ............................................................................................................................... 2
2. The ‘Big Foot Revolution’: Ecological Urbanism ............................................................................. 6
Urban Development Based on Ecological Infrastructure ..................................................... 6
The New Aesthetics of ‘Big Foot’ .................................................................................................. 7
Making Friends with Floods: The Floating Gardens of Yongning Park ............................. 7
Go Productive: The Rice Campus of Shenyang Architectural University ....................... 8
Valuing the Ordinary and Recycling the Existing: Zhongshan Shipyard Park ................ 8
Let Nature Work: The Adaptation Palettes of Tianjin Qiaoyuan ........................................ 9
Minimal Intervention: The Red Ribbon in Qinhuangdao City, Hebei Province ........... 11
Land as a Living System: Shanghai 2010 Expo Houtan Park........................................... 12
3. Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................. 14
Notes................................................................................................................................................................ 15
List of Illustrations
Illustration 1(a):
Illustration 1(b):
Little foot of a Little Foot woman .................................................................... 2
Little shoes for the Little Foot woman ........................................................... 2
Illustration 2(a):
Little Foot women, although unhealthy and partially deprived
of physical capacity, were thought to be ‘beautiful’.................................. 3
Big Foot women, healthy, productive and capable of high
performance, were thought to be rustic, rural and
unattractive............................................................................................................... 3
Illustration 2(b):
Illustration 3:
The gentrified rural irrigation ditch by turning the messy and
productive into useless ‘beauty’ ........................................................................ 3
Illustration 4:
The ‘Funny Hats’ of Shanghai ............................................................................. 4
Illustration 5:
‘Jumbo Dream’ ......................................................................................................... 4
Illustration 6(a):
Illustration 6(b):
Illustration 6(c):
The National Stadium ............................................................................................ 5
The CCTV Tower..................................................................................................... 5
The National Opera House .................................................................................. 5
Illustration 7:
China is covered with a huge brown field ..................................................... 5
Illustration 8:
Regional ecological infrastructure .................................................................... 6
Illustration 9(a):
Illustration 9(b):
Illustration 9(c):
Yongning Park before development ................................................................ 7
Yongning Park during development ................................................................. 7
Yongning Park after development.................................................................... 7
Illustration 10:
The rice campus of Shenyang Architectural University,
Liaoning Province .................................................................................................... 8
Illustration 11(a):
Illustration 11(b):
Illustration 11(c):
Illustration 11(d):
Zhongshan Shipyard Park before development .......................................... 9
Zhongshan Shipyard Park after development.............................................. 9
Zhongshan Shipyard Park original docks ........................................................ 9
Zhongshan Shipyard Park regenerated docks.............................................. 9
Illustration 12(a): Qiaoyuan Park in Tianjin City before development ................................. 10
Illustration 12(b): Qiaoyuan Park in Tianjin City after development..................................... 10
Illustration 12(c): The recovery strategy for Qiaoyuan Park using a sampling
bubble ....................................................................................................................... 10
Illustration 12(d): Shallow pond at Qiaoyuan Park ...................................................................... 10
Illustration 13(a): Plan of the Red Ribbon Park in Qinhuangdao City ................................... 11
Illustration 13(b): The Red Ribbon in Qinghuangdao City ........................................................ 12
Illustration 14(a): Houtan Park, Shanghai before development............................................. 12
Illustration 14(b): Houtan Park, Shanghai after development ................................................ 12
Illustration 14(c): Operation of the water cleaning mechanism in Houtan Park ............. 13
Executive Summary
China’s urbanisation has its genesis in footbinding, for more than 1,000 years a rite of
urban initiation and urbanity for Chinese women. Forcing young girls to bind their feet to
become aesthetically appealing to elite men in Chinese cities meant that women’s
natural, healthy ‘big’ feet were distorted into unhealthy deformed and citified small feet,
seriously limiting women’s capability but considered to be ‘beautiful’. Thus a highly
privileged class sacrificed ‘function’ in pursuit of ornamental value. The privileged urban
minority has continued to use this ‘Little Foot’ value system to build and appreciate cities
and landscapes, ridding cities of the messy, fertile, productive and functional landscapes
associated with healthy, satisfied people.
‘Little Foot’ urbanisation today sees the natural endowment of cities laced with dams
and water management systems, fancy flowers replacing ‘messy’ local flora, and
domestic animals harming local fauna. The whole city is ornamental and cosmetic while
bearing the burdens of water shortage, air pollution, global warming, massive waste of
land and natural resources, and loss of cultural identity. Yet even though ‘Little Foot’
urbanism is a path to destruction, it is sought by most of the world’s people. In China,
millions of people are urbanised each year, and as Chinese adopt the ‘American Jumbo
Dream’ of jumbo cars, houses, and other buildings, no wonder the consequences: two
thirds of China’s cities suffer water shortage and three quarters of the nation’s surface
water is polluted.
This paper urges a ‘Big Foot Revolution’ through ecological urbanism – an ecologically
sensitive approach to urban planning – to provide a badly needed alternative to the
present development mode and offer guidance for sustainable cities in the future. This
entails a new approach to urban development through ‘Ecological Infrastructure’, which
requires planners to understand the land as a living system to safeguard the integrity
and identity of the natural and cultural landscapes and secure a sustainable ecosystem. It
also entails a dramatically new aesthetic that I term ‘Big Foot’, to replace the aesthetic
and ethical features of Little Foot urbanism that have so misshapen our urban
environments and appreciation of them.
Over the past decade, the author designed and executed six projects that demonstrate
some of the major principles of ‘Big Foot’ aesthetics and practice. This paper discusses
these six projects:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
making friends with floods: the Floating Gardens of Yongning Park;
going productive: the Rice Campus of Shenyang Architectural University;
valuing the ordinary and recycling the existing: Zhongshan Shipyard Park;
letting nature work: the Adaptation Palettes of Tianjin Qiaoyuan;
minimal intervention: the Red Ribbon in Qinhuangdao City, Hebei Province;
and
6. land as a living system: Shanghai 2010 Expo Houtan Park.
Based on ecological awareness and environmental ethics, all of these projects enable the
operation, maintenance and appreciation of ecological urbanism.
Regional Outlook 1
1. ‘Little Foot Urbanism’
For more than 1,000 years, young Chinese girls were forced to bind their feet to make
themselves suitable for marrying elite men in Chinese cities. Women’s natural, healthy
‘big’ feet, which naturally endowed them with greater capability, were considered to be
rustic and rural. In their place, unhealthy deformed and citified small feet, noxiously
deprived of functionality and seriously limiting women’s capability, were considered to
be ‘beautiful’. Footbinding, together with the Mayan practice of deforming the head
(along with many other body-deforming practices), were appreciated as a rite of urban
initiation and urbanity.
Deliberate head deformation, also known as head flattening or head binding, entails
intentionally distorting the normal growth of a child’s skull by applying force. Part of a
cultural ritual, the practice aims to create a skull shape that is seen to be aesthetically
more pleasing or associated with desirable attributes such as intelligence. In the Maya
culture, the head shaping is accomplished through the use of cradleboards and other
cephalic apparatuses. It is found that this head-deforming trend increased, rather than
decreased, as the Maya moved from the Preclassic to the Postclassic time period. Head
deformation is seen the most frequently in individuals of high social status.1
Therefore China’s urbanisation began with a highly privileged class that sacrificed
‘function’ in pursuit of ornamental and cosmetic values. This ‘Little Foot’ value system
has been used for thousands of years by the privileged urban minority to build and
appreciate cities and landscapes. By definition, ‘Little Foot Urbanism’ is the art of
gentrification and cosmetics. Its superficial condition drives away the messy, fertile,
productive and functional landscapes that are associated with healthy, satisfied people.
Illustration 1(a):
Little foot of a Little Foot woman
Illustration 1(b):
Little shoes for the Little Foot woman
Source: Baidu.com
Source: Baidu.com
Bound feet, although unhealthy and depriving females of productivity and performance
capacity, were considered ‘beautiful’, thus representing sacrifice of function for
ornamental value.
Today we bind the natural feet of city women with fashionable tiny high-heeled shoes.
In the same way we build out of concrete a 500-year flood control dike to surround a
city and keep it distant from the water. We build a fully controlled storm water
management system that does not allow re-infiltration of water to the aquifer before
being flushed into the ocean. We replace native, productive ‘messy’ shrubs and crops
with the fancy flowers that bear no fruits and support no other species but please
human beings. We uproot the hardy wild grass and replace it with smooth ornamental
Regional Outlook 2
lawn that consumes tons of water. We watch funny deformed puppy dogs and baby
pigs running along the paved streets chasing away wild birds and native species …
Illustration 2(a):
Little Foot women, although unhealthy and
partially deprived of physical capacity,
were thought to be ‘beautiful’
Source: Image Baidu.com
Illustration 2(b):
Big Foot women, healthy, productive and
capable of high performance, were
thought to be rustic, rural and
unattractive
Source: ‘The Big Foot Girl’, painting by Ou
Yang
Urbanised landscapes are designed with an ornamental criterion. So we have ornamental
buildings such as the many landmark buildings in Beijing and Shanghai and in cities
outside China such as Dubai. Almost all of the landmark buildings are crowned with some
kind of peculiar ornamental hats. Indeed, the whole city becomes ornamental and
cosmetic, while bearing the burdens of water shortage, air pollution, global warming,
massive waste of land and natural resources, and loss of cultural identity.
The landscapes, cities and buildings evolving from today’s ‘Little Foot Urbanism’ trend
resemble the noxious ‘Little Foot’ girl: unhealthy, deformed, deprived of functionality,
with limited capability and malodorous. Little Foot Urbanism is a path to destruction and
death.
Illustration 3:
The gentrified rural irrigation ditch by turning the messy and productive into useless
‘beauty’
Source: Photo Kongjian Yu
Regional Outlook 3
Illustration 4:
The ‘Funny Hats’ of Shanghai
Source: Photo Kongjian Yu
Until the latter half of the twentieth century, the Little Foot dream used to be limited to
some portion of the high class urban minority. Now Little Foot Urbanism is becoming a
massive common dream of most of the world’s population. In China alone, 18 million
people are urbanised each year, immigrating to the city from rustic rural land, willing to
search and seek their place in the differently furnished urban settings. These people
carry the same dream: to be ‘urbane’, to be gentrified; to keep their distance from the
natural functioning of the land and from healthy and productive life. When poor,
economically developing countries that follow the ‘Little Foot Urbanism’ encounter the
‘American Jumbo Dream’, the scenario becomes even worse. Such is the case for China
and India, where people now follow the American dream of jumbo cars and houses, and
whatever jumbo else.
Illustration 5:
‘Jumbo Dream’
Source: Courtesy of Dr Mitchell Joachim
So we ‘jumbo’ the buildings such as the National Stadium in Beijing with its 42,000
metric tons of steel, accounting for roughly 500 kilograms per square meters. We
celebrate the ‘jumbo’ CCTV Tower in Beijing that consumed 250 kilograms of steel per
square meter. We ‘jumbo’ the urban squares of 10 or even 20 hectares in an area of
pure granite pavement and ‘beautify’ them with ornamental patterns. Thereafter, the
land can be seen as a little donkey with a heavy burden: China has only 7 per cent of the
world’s arable land and sweet water but needs to feed 22 per cent of the world’s
population. Contemporary China has inherited its own ‘Little Foot’ tradition and is now
also attracted to the American Jumbo Dream.
It can only be imagined where the Little Foot Urbanism combined with the push for a
Jumbo Body will lead China. Already two thirds of China’s 660 cities suffer water
shortage and 75 per cent of the nation’s surface water is polluted. Sixty-four per cent
of cities’ underground water is polluted and one third of the national population lives
Regional Outlook 4
with the threat of drinking polluted water. Fifty per cent of the nation’s wetlands
‘disappeared’ in the past 50 years. How can we survive in the future?2
Illustration 6(a):
The National Stadium
Illustration 6(b):
The CCTV Tower
Illustration 6(c):
The National Opera House
Source: Image Baidu.com
Illustration 7:
China is covered with a huge brown field
Source: Image Baidu.com
Regional Outlook 5
2. The ‘Big Foot Revolution’:
Ecological Urbanism
Clearly, now is a time for change from the Little Foot approach that appears to be
destroying our urban environments. Now is the time for ecological urbanism, an
ecologically sensitive approach to urban planning that we may well call the Art of
Survival. I have identified two strategies that I believe need to be followed through now
to provide a badly needed alternative to the present development mode and offer
guidance for sustainable cities in the future. The first is a new approach to urban
development rooted in a clear understanding of what I term ‘Ecological Infrastructure’.
The second entails a dramatically new aesthetic that I term ‘Big Foot’, to replace the
aesthetic and ethical features of Little Foot urbanism that have so misshapen our urban
environments and appreciation of them.
Urban Development Based on Ecological Infrastructure
Illustration 8:
Regional ecological infrastructure
Source: Kongjian Yu, Sisi Wang, Qiao Qing and Dihua Li, ‘Ecological baseline for Beijing’s
urban sprawl: Basic ecosystems services and their security patterns’, City Planning
Review, no. 2 (2010), pp. 19–24
This alternative to the negative ‘Little Foot’ approach entails a spatial strategy for urban
development planning that requires planners to understand the land as a living system.
Drawing from this understanding, planners identify the Ecological Infrastructure (EI) that
Regional Outlook 6
should be used to guide and frame urban development. EI is the structural landscape
network that comprises critical elements of the landscape and spatial patterns. EI also
has strategic significance in safeguarding the integrity and identity of the natural and
cultural landscapes, which in turn secure the services necessary for a sustainable
ecosystem.
As a spatial strategy for ecologically sensitive urbanism, EI needs to be planned across
small and medium scales at national and regional levels. At both levels EI needs to be
planned through identifying strategic landscape patterns (security patterns).3 These
patterns safeguard critical ecological processes that act as a framework directing the
overall regional land use planning and urban growth patterns. In medium scale, the
structural elements of EI such as corridors and patches are clearly identified and drawn
up to guarantee the integrity of regional scale. In small scale, the ecosystem services
provided by the regional EI are extended into the urban fabric and are used to guide
urban design for individual sites.4
The New Aesthetics of ‘Big Foot’
The alternative I propose to Little Foot urbanism requires a new aesthetic to enable the
operation, maintenance and appreciation of ecological urbanism. I call this the aesthetics
of ‘Big Foot’, as an alternative to ‘Little Foot’ aesthetics. Over the past ten years I have
designed and executed six projects that I believe demonstrate some of the major
principles of ‘Big Foot’ aesthetics, based on ecological awareness and environmental
ethics. I discuss these below.
Making Friends with Floods: The Floating Gardens of Yongning Park
Modern cities that follow ‘Little Foot urbanism’ are designed against natural forces,
especially those related to water. Where cities are built, nature’s servicing of the
landscape is replaced with man-made services that impoverish the landscape. As an
alternate approach to conventional urban water management and flood control
engineering that uses concrete and pipes, the Yongning Park project demonstrates how
we can live and design with the natural ‘Big Foot’ of water. The project takes an
ecological approach to flood control and storm water management, letting loose the
urban water system from the bounds of concrete and revealing the beauty of native
vegetation and the ordinary landscape. The results have been remarkably successful;
flood problems have been addressed effectively and ‘Big Foot’ native grass has been
appreciated by local people as well as by visiting tourists.5
Illustration 9(a):
Yongning Park
before development
Illustration 9(b):
Yongning Park
during development
Illustration 9(c):
Yongning Park
after development
Source: Kongjian Yu/Turenscape
The riverbank of Yonging Park before the project was lined with concrete and the whole
river was being channelled.
Regional Outlook 7
During the development of Yongning Park concrete was removed, diverse terrain was
laid on the river bed and along the riparian plane to create habitats for native plants, and
the river bank was graded, allowing people to access the water.
After the project of Yonging Park was completed the ecologically recovered riparian
wetland of Yongning Park is conducive to the natural processes of flooding and native
species and is also accessible to people.
Go Productive: The Rice Campus of Shenyang Architectural University
For centuries, universities have been places to gentrify the rustic young generation into
the urbane, and the university landscape itself serves this purpose. In the past three
decades hundreds and thousands of hectares of fertile land in China have been
transformed into campuses of ornamental lawn and flowers. As an alternative, the
Shenyang Architectural University Campus was designed to be productive. Storm water
is collected to make a reflecting pond, which becomes a reservoir to irrigate rice paddy
right in front of the classrooms. Open study rooms are located in the middle of the rice
fields. Frogs and fish are cultivated in the rice paddy to eat the lava of insects and in
maturity become additional harvest for the lunch table. This project demonstrates how
an agricultural landscape can be part of the urbanised environment while still being
aesthetically enjoyable. This productive landscape is a clear example of the new ‘Big
Foot’ aesthetic: unbounded, functional and beautiful.6
Illustration 10:
The rice campus of Shenyang Architectural University, Liaoning Province
Source: Kongjian Yu/Turenscape
Valuing the Ordinary and Recycling the Existing: Zhongshan Shipyard Park
For a long time, we have been proud of ourselves as human beings for our capacity
to build, destroy and rebuild. Because of this human instinct, both natural assets
and man-made assets have been over-used and are now on the brink of a survival
crisis. As an alternate approach, the Zhongshan Shipyard Park demonstrates the principle
of preserving, reusing and recycling natural and man-made materials. The park is built
on a brownfield site where an abandoned shipyard was originally erected in the 1950s.
The shipyard went bankrupt in 1999. Although this shipyard story may seem to
be insignificant in Chinese history, the shipyard itself reflected the remarkable
50-year history of socialist China. Original vegetation and natural habitats were
restored, with only native plants used throughout the landscape design. Machines,
docks and other industrial structures were recycled for educational and functional
purposes. This unconventional approach made the park a favourite site for weddings
and fashion shows as well as for daily use by the local communities and visiting tourists.
The shipyard park demonstrates how ‘messy’ and ‘rustic’ can be aesthetically attractive,
and how environmental ethics and ecological awareness can be built into our urban
landscape.7
Regional Outlook 8
Illustration 11(a):
Zhongshan Shipyard Park before
development
Illustration 11(b):
Zhongshan Shipyard Park after
development
Source: Kongjian Yu/Turenscape
Illustration 11(c):
Zhongshan Shipyard Park original docks
Illustration 11(d):
Zhongshan Shipyard Park regenerated
docks
Source: Kongjian Yu/Turenscape
Let Nature Work: The Adaptation Palettes of Tianjin Qiaoyuan
From the classics of Versailles and Chinese gardens to the contemporary Beijing Olympic
Park and other places with ‘Little Foot’ imprint, we have seen great efforts to create and
maintain ornamental artificial landscapes. Instead of providing ecosystems that service
the city, public spaces are actually made into the burden of cities in terms of energy and
water consumption. The Qiaoyuan Park in Tianjin City alternatively exemplifies how
natural processes originate and enable nature to work, providing an environmental
service rather than a burden for the city. Formerly a shooting range, the site was
converted into a garbage dump and drainage sink for urban storm water, thus heavily
polluted and deserted. The soil presented heavy saline and alkaline properties. Inspired
by the adaptive vegetation communities that dot the regional flat coastal landscape, the
designer developed a solution called The Adaptation Palettes. Numerous pond cavities of
different depths were dug to retain storm water, diverse habitats were created, seeds
of mixed plant species were sown to start vegetation, and a regenerative design process
was introduced to evolve and adapt over time. The patchiness of the landscape reflects
the regional water- and alkaline-sensitive vegetation. The beauty of the native
landscape with its ecology-driven and low maintenance Big-Foot has become an
aesthetic attraction that lures thousands of visitors every day.8
By sampling instead of collecting, the park was expected to resemble the overall
experience of the regional landscape. Diverse habitats were created with a spectrum of
delicate change in the ecosystems. These moves enabled recovery of a regional
landscape in the city for:
1. storm water management
2. vernacular education
3. recreation
4. improvement of the soil itself and the urban environment
Regional Outlook 9
Illustration 12(a):
Qiaoyuan Park in Tianjin City before
development
Illustration 12(b):
Qiaoyuan Park in Tianjin City after
development
Source: Kongjian Yu/Turenscape
Illustration 12(c):
The recovery strategy for Qiaoyuan Park using a sampling bubble
Source: Kongjian Yu/Turenscape
Illustration 12(d):
Shallow pond at Qiaoyuan Park
Source: Kongjian Yu/Turenscape
Regional Outlook 10
Minimal Intervention: The Red Ribbon in Qinhuangdao City, Hebei Province
In the process of urbanisation, a natural landscape is usually replaced with overly
designed and gentrified gardens and parks. Qinhuangdao city on the Bohai Sea in Hebei
province, about 300 kilometres east of Beijing, has an alternative in the Red Ribbon Park.
Designers of this park explored an alternative that integrated art with nature and
dramatically transformed the landscape with minimal design. Against the background of
natural terrain and vegetation, the landscape architect placed a 500 metre ‘red ribbon’
bench integrating lighting, seating, environmental interpretation and orientation. While
preserving as much of the ‘messy’ natural river corridor as possible, this project
demonstrates how a minimal design solution can achieve dramatic improvements,
turning a ‘messy’ natural Big Foot landscape into a beautiful urban park, while still
maximally preserving the natural processes and patterns.9
Illustration 13(a):
Plan of the Red Ribbon Park in Qinhuangdao City
Source: Kongjian Yu/Turenscape
Regional Outlook 11
Illustration 13(b):
The Red Ribbon in Qinghuangdao City
Source: Kongjian Yu/Turenscape
Land as a Living System: Shanghai 2010 Expo Houtan Park
Built on a brownfield of a former industrial site, Houtan Park is a regenerative living
landscape on Shanghai’s Huangpu riverfront. The park’s constructed wetland, ecological
flood control, reclaimed industrial structures and materials, and urban agriculture are
integral components of an overall restorative design strategy to treat polluted river
water and recover the degraded waterfront in an aesthetically pleasing way. Houtan
Park demonstrates a living system where ecological infrastructure can provide multiple
services for society and nature and new ecological water treatment and flood control
methods. The post-industrial design demonstrates a unique productive landscape
evoking memories of the past and glimpses into the future of ecological civilization,
paying homage to a new aesthetic based on low maintenance and high performance
landscapes.10
Illustration 14(a):
Houtan Park, Shanghai before
development
Source: Kongjian Yu/Turenscape
Illustration 14(b):
Houtan Park, Shanghai after development
Source: Kongjian Yu/Turenscape
Regional Outlook 12
Illustration 14(c):
Operation of the water cleaning mechanism in Houtan Park
Source: Kongjian Yu/Turenscape
Regional Outlook 13
3. Conclusion
All six of the projects I discuss above illustrate new approaches to urban development
through ‘Ecological Infrastructure’ – understanding the land as a living system, to
safeguard the integrity and identity of the natural and cultural landscapes and secure a
sustainable ecosystem. We see in these examples how an ecologically sensitive
approach to urban planning enables the operation, maintenance and appreciation of a
differently informed, ecological urbanism. All six projects are rooted firmly in ecological
awareness and environmental ethics. They present a badly needed alternative to the
destructive development mode of ‘Little Foot’ urbanism and offer future guidance for
sustainable cities in China and elsewhere.
The ‘Big Foot Revolution’ that I urge in this discussion seeks to replace the aesthetic and
ethical features of the long dominant Little Foot urbanism, which has sacrificed ‘function’
in Chinese cities for pursuit of superficial ornamental value. The privileged urban minority
in China has long upheld this ‘Little Foot’ value system, depriving cities of the fertile,
productive, functional landscapes endowed by nature. ‘Little Foot’ Urbanism has instead
produced toxic ornamental cities scarred with air pollution, water shortage, wastage and
destruction. By contrast, the ‘Big Foot Revolution’ opens up practical, aesthetic and
ethical paths to bring back function, natural beauty and healthy living into our urban
environments. Certainly in China, but also worldwide, now is the time for the Big Foot
Revolution, the Art of Survival through ecologically sensitive living.
Regional Outlook 14
Notes
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Vera Tiesler, ‘Head shaping and dental decoration among the Maya: Archeological
and cultural aspects’, Society of American Anthropology, no. 64 (1999), pp. 1–6.
Data sources are Chen Kelin, Lü Yong, and Zhang Xiaohong, ‘No water without
wetland’, China Environment and Development Review (2004), pp. 296–309.
See also John McAlister, China’s Water Crisis, Deutsche Bank China Expert Series,
22 March 2005.
Kongjian Yu, ‘Security patterns and surface model and in landscape planning’,
Landscape and Urban Planning, vol. 36, no. 5 (1996), pp. 1–17.
See Kongjian Yu, Sisi Wang, Qiao Qing and Dihua Li, ‘Ecological baseline for Beijing’s
urban sprawl: Basic ecosystems services and their security patterns’, City
Planning Review, no. 2 (2010), pp. 19–24.
See Graham Johnstone and Xiangfeng Kong, ‘Making friends with floods: An
ecological park reclaims a degraded stretch of a Chinese River‘, Landscape
Architecture, April 2007, pp. 106–15.
See Mary G. Padua, ‘Touching the good earth – an innovative campus design
reconnects students to China’s agricultural landscapes’, Landscape Architecture,
vol. 96, no. 12 (2006), pp. 100–107.
See Mary G. Padua, ‘Industrial strength – Zhongshan Shipyard Park‘, Landscape
Architecture, vol. 93, no. 6 (2003), pp. 76–85, 105–07.
Kongjian Yu, ‘Qiaoyuan Park: An ecosystem services-oriented regenerative design’,
Topos, no. 5 (2010), pp. 26–33.
See also Antje Stokman and Stefanie Ruff, ‘The Red Ribbon Tanghe River Park
reconciling water management’, Landscape Design and Ecology, no. 63 (2008),
pp. 29–35; Mary G. Padua, ‘The Red Ribbon – The Tanghe River Park‘, Landscape
Architecture, no. 1 (January 2008), pp. 91–99.
Kongjian Yu, ‘Landscape as a living system: Shanghai 2010 Expo Houtan Park’,
Architectural Journal, no. 7 (2010), pp. 30–35.
Regional Outlook 15