Field Notes From the Frontlines

Zero City book outline here

CHINA: UNWITTING URBAN LABORATORY

China’s rapid ascent from a state of near economic dormancy to a position of global supremacy has been driven by accelerated urbanisation. Over the past three decades, relentless city expansion has profoundly transformed both its society and geography. This unprecedented speed and scale have created unique conditions to observe the nuances of Chinese urbanism* from inception to realisation. Often criticised, this powerful form of urbanism now serves as a driving force in over a hundred countries across the Global South. Simultaneously, within its own borders and with varying success, China continues to apply its template to the development of the world’s first comprehensive ecocities. The question at the heart of ZERØ CITY* : is Chinese urbanism* an appropriate spatial template for the next global wave of urbanisation? To a western audience this may seem obvious, but this thesis deserves a surprisingly nuanced answer.

Through initiatives centred on ecocities and smart cities, China has staked its future on technological solutions and expansive planning blueprints. Nevertheless, its decades long efforts to fully orchestrate the urban landscape increasingly prove inadequate. Even under the guidance of the world’s largest planning apparatus, China’s cityscapes are not immune to the unpredictable forces accompanying market-driven urbanisation, or MUD*. As the ramifications of wholly artificial landscapes become apparent, China’s urban environment challenges prevailing conceptions of what is a city and undermines traditional approaches to urban development. Modern China reveals the fundamental schisms between urban theory and the planning practice. Although theory anticipates the emergence of unintended urban forms, planners worldwide, grappling with the demanding realities of emerging economies, continue to rely on rigid templates and coarse spatial models that fail to nurture communities or accommodate the city’s intrinsic need for persistent evolution.

ZERØ CITY* embraces the evolutionary tendencies of urban spaces, advocating for unequivocal densification and urban renewal as crucial prerequisites for social and sustainable development. Drawing on a decade of urban studies and planning strategies, the deliberate juxtaposition of research and design within this volume aims to bridge the chasm between urban theory and practice. For each case study we have developed specific tools and theories that are effective within contexts marked by hyper-acceleration, staggering density, and extreme fragmentation. In other words, ZERØ CITY* sets out to to operate at the meso level, where centralised planning and grassroots initiatives meet, where theory faces off with urban reality, where forces of globalisation manifest forging the future of local communities.