Book Commentary on Wanderlust: A history of walking Simin Xu Walking is like constellations in human culture, linking the three independent stars – the body, the imagination, and the world (Solnit, 2001). The body is the citizens who are dwelling in the city; the world is the historical and cultural world; and the imagination, is the mind generated by walking, of how the body respond to the cultural world. In planning and design perspective, these three important elements therefore highlight three issues which should be focused in my future work:
Planning for citizen or tourists?
In Solint’s book, Las Vegas was built for tourists. The eight traffic lanes with fantasy architecture and lure facade attract tourists, but the ugly backside of the city in another boulevard with shabby apartment and local shops serves citizens. Also, the “no obstructive uses permitted” sign in the Strip aims to restrict citizens’ democratic movement on the pedestrian. However, in my opinion, a livable and sustainable city should first satisfied their own citizens, a well-designed streets should focus on citizen’s demand because only the citizens who walk most often use the street, and have the most deepest reflection about the environment during walking. For example, most great revolution in Europe was created by citizens who are not satisfied with the outside environment, thus they use the street, walk on it and express their feelings. In this condition, the pedestrian designed to provide a lot of possibilities for citizen activities.
Planning to maintain local history and culture or keep up the pace of modern style?
An important element of walking is the cultural imposition. Las Vegas is disappointing, it is a theme park, only contains the simulations of real world cities like Paris and New York, but eliminates the origin part of the city, the glamorous desert culture. In contrast, some Europe cities are old-fashioned, e.g., Dresden, a large city full of history and culture which devastated in WWII has been rebuilt on the ruins, the reconstruction fully protected every historic remains, every cement and stones reminding the past and guide the future. Thus, reflecting history and culture of a city, planning not only provides people with comfortable and glamorous environment like Vegas, but also represents the glamour of a city, the permanent part shared by local residents. Different city has entirely different charms, and the mission of planners is to maintain this charm and share it to citizens. In my country, the old city walls built of seven hundred years ago in Beijing would be torn down because the neighboring road needs to be widened and the modern style buildings needs to be erected, and it did so in 1957. After read the book, I just realized that most cities in China now are just like Vegas, they are in the cycle of demolishing and rebuilding, giving up the history to embrace modernization, and it is our urgent mission to inheritance history and promote the cultural context.
Planning for the process or the purpose?
Walking is not only a way from park to tomb, but the linkage between human body and the world, a meditation process to think the relationship between subject and object, from which the new ideas, new innovations and inventions generate. In Vegas, People there are tourists who would rather get the visual satisfaction than think about the city. In order to feed this purpose, Vegas is planned as a modern mazes, moving people by fast ramps and make them lost. It is more about from a destination to another, with little meditation process. However, our city requires pedestrian streets which strike people’s imagination, generate philosophers, streetwalkers, pilgrims who made masterpieces during walking. Thus, the pedestrian design should not only provide the route for walking, but some space for stopping, e.g., the bench in a semi-private space surrounded by trees provides comfortable environment for thinkers, the outdoor cafes in pedestrian prompt intercommunicating of people and make them linger. Although the perspective of the author is based on a walker, it still gives a hint of perfect pedestrian design, that is, to well consider the three complete elements – the people, the world and the thinking. Only in that way, walking can better align them together to play a pleasant chord.