Research proposal Urban Acupuncture

research proposal

HUANG Feiliu

high-density urban community renewal for the elderly

Department of Architecture Southeast University

research proposal

High-density urban community renewal for the elderly

contents

1. Background Study

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2. Methodology

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3. Literature Review

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4. Site Analysis

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5. Design Proposal

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6. Node Design Development

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7. Bibliography

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1.1 Ageing of Population 1.2 Urban Concentration 1.3 Problem Definition

4.1 Land Inventory 4.2 Small space collation 4.3 Retail Form Typology 4.4 Behavioural Habits of the Elderly 4.5 Programme Survey 4.6 Questionnaires of Senior Needs

5.1 Hypothesis 5.2 Urban Analysis 5.3 Urban Strategy 5.4 Unit Selection 5.5 Unit Typology

6.1 Sample Node Selection 6.2 Community - City 6.3 Community - Campus 6.4 Community - Community

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research proposal

High-density urban community renewal for the elder

background study

1.1 Ageing of population

Population ageing is progressing rapidly in many industrialized countries, but those developing countries whose fertility declines began relatively early also are experiencing rapid increases in their proportion of elderly people. This pattern is expected to continue over the next few decades, eventually affecting the entire world.

The following facts reflect the background of China's ageing population problems: Between 2000 and 2050, the proportion of aged people will rise from 6.9% to 22.7%, equal to about 332 million, far greater than combined elderly populations in North America, Europe and Japan. By 2020, China's aged population will account for 25% of the world's aged population.

Population ageing has many important socio-economic and health consequences, including the increase in the old-age dependency ratio. It presents challenges for public health (concerns over possible bankruptcy of Medicare and related programs) as well as for economic development (shrinking and aging of labor force, possible bankruptcy of social security systems).

The ageing of the population is indeed a global phenomenon that requires international coordination of national and local actions. The United Nations and other international organizations developed recommendations intended to mitigate the adverse consequences of population aging, which include reorganization of social security systems, promotion active and healthy life styles, and more cooperation between the governments in resolving socioeconomic and political problems posed by population aging.

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Observed and Forecasted Percentages of the Elderly (65+ years) in Selected Areas, Regions, and Countries of the World: 1950, 2000 and 2050.

Major Area, region and country

1950

2000

2050

World

5.2%

6.9%

19.3%

Africa

3.2%

3.3%

6.9%

Latin America and the Caribbean

3.7%

5.4%

16.9%

China

4.5%

6.9%

22.7%

India

3.3%

5.0%

14.8%

Japan

4.9%

17.2%

36.4%

Europe

8.2%

14.7%

29.2%

Italy

8.3%

18.1%

35.9%

Germany

9.7%

16.4%

31.0%

Sweden

10.3%

17.4%

30.4%

U.S.A.

8.3%

12.3%

21.1%

Source: United Nations 2001.

Table 1. Dynamics of Population Aging in the Modern World

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research proposal

High-density urban community renewal for the elderly

background study

1.2 urban agglomeration The urbanization process around the world has led to a portfolio of viable and livable cities, differentiated by size, location and density. China's urbanization process resembles that of developed economies such as the United States and Japan, with a substantial number of people moving to large urban agglomerations. The 10 largest metropolitan regions in China have become the main engines of growth, creating 26 percent of China's GDP in 2010.

China's urbanization rate rose from around 20 percent in 1980s to 50 percent in 2010. This fast-paced urbanization has led to a shift away from the countryside and toward increasing concentrations of people in cities and city regions, especially in the Yangtze and Pearl River Deltas, and in the Beijing-Tianjin region in the north.

Although urban concentration brings about proximity to markets, reduction of merchandise transport costs and availability of a supply of suitable labour. However, the trend of migration to metropolitans are accompanied by serious problems such as heavy charges on account mainly of high site values, loss of time through street traffic congestion and overcrowded living environment. The extreme land cost makes it almost impossible for the construction of non-profit public infrastructure.

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Photographer Michael Wolf ’s “Architecture of Density” series focuses on the looming scale of high-rises in Hong Kong.

“At some point I just took a photograph and I folded away the sky and the horizon until I just had the pure architecture,” the photographer says.

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research proposal

High-density urban community renewal for the elderly

background study

1. 3 problem definition As mentioned before, all countries are facing a demographic transition with increasing life expectancy, with those in developing countries aging faster than developed countries.

At the same time, populations tend to congregate in cities. There are particular features of living in a large city that may pose specific problems for elderly people, with respect to isolation, meighborhood support, accessibility to vatious services such as health, social, transport, as well as leisure and shopping facilities.

Since 2007, the importance of aging in world cities has been promoted by the World Health Organization through its ElderFriendly World Cities Initiative(WHO 2007). The Guideline drew attention to various characteristics that contribute to "agefriendliness": outdoor space and buildings, transportation, housing, social participation, respect and social inclusion, civic participation and employment, communication and information, community and health services.

However, the needs of elderly people are often neglected by the policy makers and urban designers, who tend to take overall macro views of the general population and make decisions from their own perspective. As consequences the present urban living environment is extremly unfriendly to aged residents and it reflects a severe lack of specific functional modules for senior target group.

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A group of elderly people were playing Mahjong on the sidewalk in downtown Nanjing.

Due to the lack of outdoor/indoor space for elderly activities, the aged could only bring their own tables and chairs, scattering on the sidewalk beside a busy urban street, suffered from vehicle exhaust and industrial noises from a construction site nearby.

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research proposal

High-density urban community renewal for the elderly

2. statement on methods

3. literature review

The research methodology comprises two interrelated aspects: urban study from macro as well as micro perspectives and behavioral study of the senior local residents.

Yun X., Weixuan S., Xigang Z. and Qiyan W., "Formation mechanism of gated communities and its social spatial effects", in Urban Problem, vol.

168, no. 7, 2009.

The land inventory is concerned with the social and spatial diagrams of different community types. And it will investigate the roots of different properties of the gated communities through the history of housing system reform in China. The functional mapping will analyze different existing functions and services on the site and their spatial relationships with the urban context. It will help to build a big picture of the whole site and to improve a general understanding of living environment in high-density urban areas.

On the basis of expounding the context of the rising Of gated community in China and its characteristics, this article analyzes the social and cultural mechanism of the rising of gated community in China, and then discusses the social-spatial problems when gated community becomes dominant living mode in cities, such as the tendency of the private owning of urban public space, residential segregation and social exclusion.

The urban study from micro aspect concerns more about the space usage inside and around gated communities. The small space collation gives possibility for urban renewal and a typological study of retail form is a continuation of land inventory.

The behavioral study will investigate the living habits of elderly locals and try to identify the different features of the rensidents living in different types of communities. Questionnaires and individual interviews are used as means of information collection.

Based on the study of the urban context and the elderly's behaviors, the research identifies the drawbacks of the urban environment and specific needs of the residents. The urban solution will provide a particular proposal to the context of the site in central Nanjing and also an generalizable model of contemporary high-density urban areas.

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It puts forward that gated community is the necessary product of social transition in China and that its inherent abuses severely affect social harmony.

Therefore, it points out that it is necessary for the government and planners to adopt planning measures to reduce side effects aroused by gated community.

Xiao Zhang, "Discussion on the Urban Acupuncture" in Huazhong Architecture, October 2012.

The article discusses urban acupuncture as a new strategy in urban renewal, and it has received remarkable results and reflected its superiority in many countries. But in China, its development is still in its infancy.

It explores the meaning, types and development process of urban acupuncture, and analyzes the enormous impact of "unban acupuncture" for urban renewal by taking two actual cases of Barcelona and Milan. Finally this article elaborates the enlightenments of the development in China.

However, it doesn't mention any certain circumstances that are suitable for applications of urban acupuncture and the particular situation in China has only been discussed at a macro degree.

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research proposal

High-density urban community renewal for the elderly

Zhipeng H., Huiqin H., "Thoughts of Community Planning for the elderly based on New Urbanism" in Housing Industry, April 2010.

On the basis of the living status research of senior people in Beijing, this article proposes that community planning should absorb concepts in new urbanism theory on the basis of meeting the needs of the elderly.

It explores a new type of residential community for senior residents, which contains diversity, sense of neighbourhood and suits human scale, from three aspects - the living space, means of transportation and facilities.

In the proposal the main focus is on the interior space design of a residence for the elderly and it is barely mentioned about the open public space in the community.

OECD, Ageing , Housing and Urban Development. (Paris, OECD Publishing. 2002) The book mentions broad lines for urban policy that respond to ageing appear already in practical demonstration projects which are helpful in raising awareness, testing ideas and developing innovations and best practice, which include: adapting old and new housing; offering a range of well integrated housing options; promoting greater access to public spaces and public transport; redesigning and broadening the range of services; improving home-care.

developing both the functions and resources of local communities; designing co-ordinated territorial development strategies; providing the conditions for participative democracy, firmly based at local level; widely extending the use of new forms of public sector initiative; more tailor-made approaches as regards living and care.

Wei Li, Yiqian Yuan, "The Strategy Adjustment and Optimization for the Existing Problems of Space For the Senior in City" in Architecture and Culture vol.2 in 2014.

The paper advocates an grim reality of aging population and the increasing willingness of the aged to participate in social life as a background, explores methods to encourage and guide the elderly to change the negative single aging life style in the past and to explore and implement a more constructive and innovative mode in later life.

It Studies the innovative design strategies of the urban space, discoursing the significance of 'active aging' for the healthy development of a aging society, on the basis of which discusses the adjustment strategy and optimization approach to rational layout of urban space of diverse functions and social interactions.

It also provides broad lines of action that could move communities closer to the objective of "good urban governance" :

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research proposal

High-density urban community renewal for the elderly

site analysis

4.1 land inventory

China

Jiangsu Province

Nanjing

Xuanwu District

As one of the significant node in the Yangtze River Delta, Nanjing is the capital of Jiangsu Province as well as the top ten largest metropolitan regions in China.

The chosen site, which consists of 6 blocks, covers an area of 7 hectares in the heart of Nanjing, Xuanwu District. There are 30,000 permanent rensidents, 22.3 percent of which are above 60 years old (6,700 people). Its central location and high density make the site a good sample for the study.

This area is surprisingly complicated, made up of 22 different enclosed communities, which could be roughly defined in three types - replacement housing, work-unit compounds and commodity apartments (mainly built after 2000).

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33# Jinxianghe Rd

Shipopoxiang

Danfeng Apartment Muma Apartment

Anjuli

Type Reform Housing Construction year 80's Number of Stories 6-7 Gross Area of Units 60-100m² Plot Ratio 1.30

Type Replacement Housing Construction year 90's Number of Stories 7 Gross Area of Units 40-70m² Plot Ratio 1.40

Type Replacement Housing Construction year 90's Number of Stories 40 Gross Area of Units 50-120m² Plot Ratio 5.20

Type Historical Housing Construction year 80's Number of Stories 2-4 Gross Area of Units unknown Plot Ratio 1.00

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Type Commodity Housing Construction year 2006 Number of Stories 30 Gross Area of Units 30-70m² Plot Ratio 4.69

research proposal

High-density urban community renewal for the elderly

site analysis

4.2 small space collation In order to find solutions for space shortage of the elderly's activities in high density urban environment, we explored the site and tried to sort out small underutilized space in the gaps of buildings.

4.2.1 space on both sides of the wall In post-reform China, especially after the privatization of the urban housing sector in the late 1980s, the gated community has gained overwhelming prevalence in the housing market. About 80 percent of urban Chinese live in gated communities. The walls around each community divide the neighbourhoods and provide privacy and safety for the residents.

However, not to mention the necessity and expediency of the enclosed community, we've found out that small space on the side of the walls are usually irrationally used or even wasted.

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High-density urban community renewal for the elderly

4.2.2 unutilized bike shed

during the exploration inside the gated communities, it's easy to find out that although the density of buildings are high and there are very few free ground space for outdoor activities, but quite a lot of areas are occupied by the unutilized bicycle sheds.

Normally in front of every residential building locate a row of bicycle sheds. however, as the usage of private cars become popular and more affordable, the demand for bicycle parking space has decreased and people tend to use the sheds for some other purposes, for example, furniture storage, clothes hanging and a shelter for outdoor activities.

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research proposal

High-density urban community renewal for the elderly

site analysis

4.3 retail form typology

there are a variety of commercial and service points on the site, mainly serving for the local residents. living necessities including key cutting and bike repair, tailors as well as shoe repair are provided. There are also retails selling breakfast, fast food, fruit and vegetables.

Due to the high rental price in downtown, which most retailers can't afford, the commercial and service points are usually selfbuilt mobile booth on the street corner, where there is a large stream of people that brings potential customers. Some retailers rent the ground floor of a residential building inside a community and transform it into a store or restaurant. There are also illegal additional constructions beside the residential building that are used as small retails.

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research proposal

High-density urban community renewal for the elderly

site analysis

4.4 behavioural habits of the elderly

In order to get to know the behavioural habits of the senior residents, the research observed their daily life and recorded their favourite places to have outdoor activities.

The most popular activity among the elderly is to play chess and mahjong together. Some of the seniors prefer quieter environment and enjoy reading newspapers outside and have small chats with friends.

For the elderly who feel inconvenient to walk for a long distance, they usually only move round inside the community, sitting beside the residential building or near the entrance of the community (where they could meet more people) and enjoying the sunshine, or gathering together under the bicycle shed and chatting or playing mahjong.

For seniors with better health condition, they prefer to carry their own chairs and gather around some stores or retails, to chat with each other and sometimes the retailer will also join the conversation.

In some specific locations a large group of elders will occupy the pavement and set up their tables and chairs to play chess or cards.

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research proposal

High-density urban community renewal for the elderly

site analysis

site analysis

4.5 programme survey

4.6 questionnaires of senior needs Ideal walking distance to senior activity center

Some interviews have been carried out with the local residents to figure out what kind of functions are considered needed but lacked and the different demands of each community.

A. <5 min

Because of the different properties of the communities (People live in reform communities are better educated than people in replacement communities because most of them work or used to work in gorvernment institutions; People who live in commodity communities are younger and have higher income), the target groups and their specific needs differentiate from one another.

C. 10-15 min

B. 5-10 min

D. >15 min

Is there any senior activity center in the neighborhood A. Yes

B. No

C. Don't know Activity

Reading

Coffee

Tea

Chess/Card Shopping

Medical Service

Jinxianghe Rd 33# Can the neighborhood satisfy the elder's needs for activities

Shipopoxiang A. Totally Anjuli B. Basically Muma Apartment

C. Partly not

Danfeng Apartment

D. Totally not

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research proposal

High-density urban community renewal for the elderly

design proposal

5.1 Hypothesis Instead of replanning a large urban areas to temporize changes of urbanization,which will need a long period of construction and cause inconvenience to the local residents, urban acupuncture is regarded as a more appropriate approach in central city renewal.

Urban acupuncture is a socio-environmental theory that uses smallscale interventions to transform the larger urban context. Just as the practice of acupuncture is aimed at relieving stress in the human body, the goal is to relieve stress in the built environment. It is intended to produce small-scale but socially catalytic interventions in the urban fabric.

The space in between two gated communities gives a potential to insert a continuous footpath inside a city block and when the informal constructions are removed, functional modules can be placed along the walking system with the aim of satisfying the local residents' needs.

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research proposal

High-density urban community renewal for the elderly

design proposal

5.2 urban analysis

The existing walls of gated communities make the space of their both sides negative.

T here are lots of illeg al constr uctions on the site which make the living environment crowded.

The existing medical points on the site can not satisfy the elder's needs.

The existing activity rooms on the site can only serve less than half of the elder.

According to the existing reading rooms we can find that people on the north have higher interest in reading.

According to the locations of existing retail, the added retail points are set near intersections of footpaths and urban roads.

Remove all the walls and use the gap between communities to insert a footpath with greening, giving the boundary a new soft form

Ta ke d ow n s o m e i l l e g a l construcitons and use the space to create activity nodes of various functions along the footpath.

Based on the subsistent conditions of the site, the medical points are distributed to different neighborhoods One point will take charge of a specific area.

The added activity rooms ensure that the elder can reach one of them in less than 5 minutes on foot.

According to the existing chess/card rooms we can find that people on the south spend more time in playing chess and cards.

Green space is designed as community gardens and is owned by residents, which can provide vegetables and fruits for local groceries.

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research proposal

5

1

1

design proposal

5.3 urban Strategy

4

3 2

1

1 21

1 infrastructure 1 1

21 321 32 432 43 543 54

2 living 2 necessities 2

54 5

1

5

3 retail 3 3

4 community 4 service 4

5 senior 5 service 5

bike shed

key cutting

grocery

coffee shop

tea house

community garden

shoe repair

snacks

community library

activity room

4

1 5

4

3 5

1 tailor's

vegetable

activity room

3

chess/card room

1

2 3

By means of investigating the site and nearby blocks we summarize the subsistent activities, reform some infrastructures that can not satisfy the needs of local residents right now and supplement ser vices targeting the senior group.

5

4

1

The whole system has two typical forms of space, which are a linear footpath with greening and functional nodes serving the locals.

They work together as bones and muscles.

1 4

2 3

2

A program system with five defined categories are set up along the footpath. Each intersection is analyzed individually and functions are plugged in according to the specific needs.

5 3

1 5 4

1 2

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1

2

3

4

home

living survice

retail

community

5 senior service

research proposal

High-density urban community renewal for the elderly

design proposal

5.4 unit selection

Containers can be assembled rapidly and are cheap and green. The form itself is also special and artistic. When budget is tight or the time islimited for the project, container construction has a obvious superiority.

Containers are strong and easy to be transported, which are suitable to be the media for urban acupuncture.

We use a single container as our unit, to arrange it in different ways, that could form modular functional volumes. standard 20 inch container standard 40 inch container exterior 6.10M×2.44M×2.59M exterior 12.2M×2.44M×2.59M interior 5.69M×2.13M×2.18M interior 11.8M×2.13M×2.18M

Strong loading capacity

Mobility

Temporality

Assembled rapidly

Easy to be transported

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Recycling

Severe environment endurance

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research proposal

High-density urban community renewal for the elderly

design proposal

5.5 unit typology

Bicyle Shed

Retail Unit

Medical Point

Location In front of apartments

Location crossroads, footpath entrances

Location Community nodes

4 UNITS

1-2 UNITS

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8 UNITS

Activity Room

Coffee Shop

Community Library

Location Community Nodes

Location Campus Nodes

Location Community Nodes

10 UNITS

6 UNITS

10 UNITS

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research proposal

High-density urban community renewal for the elderly

node design development

6.1 sample node selection Three nodes in the site are chosen for design samples and each of them represents a specific type of urban relations.

site a Community - City the site is on the edge of a residential block. Gulou park and jsbc headquarter are in the block next to it. In macro perspective it locates between the enclosed community and the open, public and large scaled urban space. It has a good commercial atmosphere.

There are already a chain supermarket as well as various local retail points, where quite a number of people come to buy breakfast and fast food.

Site b Community - Campus The site is situated in between the residential part of the campus of southeast university and a local gated community, which serves as a parking lot for now. It's location is quite deep in the centre of the street block and it has no close access to outer streets. The environment therefore is relatively quite and private.

Site c Community - Community On the southern part of the whole 8 blocks lies site c. there's an old formed community anjuli, which can be traced back to Qing dynasty. The traditional style houses used to be individual home for each family, but for now, are redivided and occupied by several different families. To the north of anjuli situates a 10 story commodity apartments built in the 2000s.

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research proposal

High-density urban community renewal for the elderly

node design development

6.2 community - city

As a connection between enclosed communities and urban space, we decide to comply with the existed commerce but reorganize the spatial form.

Some illegal constructions are tore down to make space for the new added node. A medical point and a community library are inserted targeting senior group. existed retails are reordered in container units.

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research proposal

High-density urban community renewal for the elderly

node design development

6.3 community - campus

located between community and campus, node B is designed for both young and old user groups.

To cohere with the present quiet environment, instead of card roomsand retails, coffee shops mainly for the university students, a community library for both age groups, as well as a medical point for the elderly are set up.

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research proposal

High-density urban community renewal for the elderly

node design development

6.4 community - community

Node C is situated among three different communities. The functions inserted here are more about daily nessecities.

On the street corner we reform the mobile bike repair's into a standard container unit. According to the residents' preference, a chess/card room and an activitiy room are also added, as well as a medical point for the seniors.

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High-density urban community renewal for the elderly

7. bibliography Peter Uhlenberg, International Handbook of Population Aging. (Berlin: Springer Science & Business Media, 2009)

Jaime Lerner, Urban Acupuncture. (Washington DC: Island Press, 2014)

Gavrilov L.A., Heuveline P., â&#x20AC;&#x153;Aging of Populationâ&#x20AC;?, in The Encyclopedia of Population. (New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2003)

Iris Chi, Neena L. Chappell, James Lubben, Elderly Chinese in Pacific Rim Countires: Social Support and Integration. (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2001)

Jean Woo, Aging in Hong Kong: A Comparative Perspective. (Berlin, Springer Science & Business Media, 2012) Mark Y. Wang, Pookong Kee, Jia Gao, Transforming Chinese Cities.

Routledge Contemporary China Series. (London: Routledge, 2014) Youqin Huang, Si-ming Li, Housing Inequality in China, Routledge Contemporary China Series. (London: Routledge, 2014) The World Bank; Development Research Center of the State Council, The World Bank, Urban China: Toward Efficient, Inclusive, and Sustainable Urbanization. (Washington DC: World Bank Publications, 2014)

Uwe Altrock, Sonia Schoon, Maturing Megacities: The Pearl River Delta in Progressive Transformation, Advances in Asian Human-Environmental Research. (Dordrecht: Springer Science & Business Media, 2013) Lucy Bullivant, Masterplanning Futures. (London: Routledge, 2012) Hirofumi Minami, Handbook of Japan-United States EnvironmentBehavior Research. (New York: Springer Science & Business Media, 1997) Joseph D Lewandowski, Gregory W Streich, Urban Social Capital: Civil Society and City Life. (Farnham: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2012)

OECD, Ageing , Housing and Urban Development. (Paris, OECD Publishing. 2002) Asiya Nasreen, Urban Elderly: Coping Strategies and Societal Responses.

(New Delhi: Concept Publishing Company, 2009) William Falk, Gated Communities and Spatial Inequality, in Journal of Urban Affairs, 2007(2).

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