ISSUE 02: MIXING LIVE, WORK & PLAY: TOWARDS CATALYTIC URBAN ENVIRONMENTS

Monofunctional land-use patterns and planning strategies have led to New Towns with various social issues, such as a job-housing imbalance and social segregation, which limits social mobility and the development of local businesses.

Future New Development Areas could be a test bed for new strategies to promote function mixing, based around planning, urban design and architectural solutions. These strategies should take into account that vibrant neighbourhoods are activated by different types of people, engaging in different socio-economic activities throughout different times of the day and week. New spatial typologies in mixed plots can enable new types of relationships between public and private spaces and different user groups.

Mapping the different activity patterns for various user groups shows how there are possibilities for overlap and social interaction, if urban spaces function as social condensor (research by Wang Yuxuan and Li Hejuan).

Mixed use areas should be designed with specific commercial and cultural functions that can function as anchor programs to public spaces. A wider network extending into the surrounding areas serves as connecting mechanism (drawing by Chen Yajuan and Wang Haowen).