Urban mediator : future infrastructure network for the village in the city

Abstract

With the expansion of city development due to the land reform policy in the 70s in China, it leads to an inevitable urban phenomenon - village in the city. These villages become the remanents to the city which will be demolished and reconstructued in the future. Adding social value to the villages towards the city or reforming the villages cannot solve the problems. Indeed, by introducing a public device, urban mediator, it can improve the living condition, provide facilities to the villages, and benefit to the urban neighboorhood. That is the re-engagement of social life and facilities both back to the village and the city. Instead of treating it as a problem, it can be seen as a great opportunity to reform, reconfigure, and design for a new urban identity for tomorrow. Concerning and accepting the fact that the village will be demolished and reconstructed in the future, this thesis will bring out the importance of a project timeline: proposing an urban mediator as a remarkable function on how it can be transformed and performed from today to tomorrow. It involves a system of dynamic: a dynamic that reacts to the change of social position, village development, and urban reconfiguration. It is a network of urban infrastructure which acts as a mediator between the scales of the village and the city. It is a new public domain with implication in global, regional, and local levels. Global: the urban mediator is used as a mean to speculate as a new urban identity to the city in which it can be applied to other villages and countries at large. It helps the village to sustain today, performs with the urban city programs, and transforms into a different programs tomorrow. Regional: the urban mediator establishes an interactive social platform which can be enjoyed and shared by the village and the city. It is a public domian generating a connection in the layers of spatial, functional, formal, and social levels. Local: the urban mediator provides the urgency of needs. It serves as the basic facilities provision to support the existing village. It reprovides a communal center for the village breaking the original individual solitude living style. Furthermore, it sets up a framework for future development programs. Therefore, the urban mediator proposes an infrastructure system that can regulate, guide, and as reference for the future development. Furthermore, it will become a new urban typology for the city through demonstrating and catering for different scales of programs, building and structural system which can be shared by today and tomorrow.