The death of growing cities?! : reconstructing the post-utopian urbanism in China now!

Abstract

THROUGHOUT HUMAN CIVILIZATIONS; THERE WERE MOMENTS OF COLLECTIVE ATTEMPTS TO REBUILD A UTOPIAN FUTURE TRIGGERED BY POLITICAL, ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL AND/ OR ECONOMIC CRISES. CRISIS SEEMS TO BE A UNIQUE MOMENT TO INITIATE/ GAIN CRITICAL MASS ATTENTION TOWARDS MAKING A NEW PAGE/CHANGE IN HISTORY. IN OTHER WORDS, AS (ARCHITECTS AND URBAN PLANNERS) WE ARE CONSTANTLY RECONSTRUCTING UTOPIAN FUTURES, GREAT MODERNIST VISIONS IN THE 1920S' AND LATER IN 1960S'; THOUGH THEY WERE NOT ABLE TO COPE WITH THE EVOLVING ECONOMIC/ SOCIAL CONSTRUCT OF THE CURRENT SYSTEM--THE URBAN DEVELOPMENT MODEL OF CAPITALISM - THAT WE ARE OPERATING WITHIN SINCE THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION. THE DISCREPANCY BETWEEN REALITIES AND THE INDIVIDUAL/ COLLECTIVE, PROJECTED FUTURE HAS SEEMED TO FAIL US. UTOPIA- BECOMES DYSTOPIA- OR EVEN SOMETHING UNREACHABLE - A MERE IDEOLOGICAL HOPE OF HUMAN CIVILIZATION--ALMOST LIKE A DOGMATIC RELIGION. PROJECTING INTO THE FUTURE, IN THE YEAR 2050, WHAT IF MOST DEVELOPMENTS IN DEVELOPED COUNTRIES ARE FACING PROBLEMS OF MAINTAINING OR DEALING WITH OVERSIZED INFRASTRUCTURES? PROBING THE FUTURE IN TODAY'S EYES SUGGEST THAT THE FATE OF "NEW" CITIES HAVE LONG BEEN SCRIPTED AND ARE PRESCRIBED TO DOOM. AND NOW, WE ARE IN A CRITICAL MOMENT OF CRISIS/ OPPORTUNITY IN TURNING OVER TO A PATH TO A NEW ATTAINABLE REALITY IN THE MIST OF UNIMAGINABLE SPEED OF CITY MAKING PROCESS IN CHINA. NEVER BEEN MORE URGENT THAN BEFORE, ECONOMIC GROWTH ACCOMPANIED BY VAST URBANIZATION-THE CITIES AND THEIR QUALITY OF LIFE ARE IN TROUBLE NOW.... HOW SHOULD ARCHITECTS/ URBANISTS REACT IN A SMART WAY THAT COULD DEVISE A REMEDY TO "CORRECT" THE ULTIMATE "SYSTEMATIC FAILURE" IN THE POST-UTOPIAN FUTURE? AND WHAT SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED TO URBANISM--30 YEARS AGO-WILL HAPPEN NOW? THIS THESIS INTENDS TO REVISIT AND UNPACK THE ARCHITECTURAL TYPOLOGY OF HYBRID GROUP-FORM IN HOUSING, QUESTIONS THE PERMANENT/ INFLEXIBLE NATURE OF THE IDEOLOGIES OF THESE TYPOLOGIES. THE THESIS ATTEMPTS AS AN COMPREHENSIVE DOCUMENTATION OF AN ANATOMY OPERATION IN FINDING THE ELEMENTS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO THE PARADOX OF INCAPABILITY IN ADDRESSING THE CYCLE OF LIFE AND DEATH OF CITIES ESPECIALLY AT THOSE MOMENTS OF ARISING COMPLICATION AND MULTIPLICITY OF ECONOMIC, POLITICAL, ENVIRONMENTAL AND CULTURAL CRISIS IN THE NEW ERA OF CHINA.