Sustainable Urban Design Master - Lund University
Individual academic project, 2018
Earthquake site, Dujiangyan, China
“Local life and tourism in the right scale”
It is easy to overlook that life in China, more often than not, happens in the small spaces, in small groups. When we think of China, we generally imagine mega-cities such as Shanghai or Beijing and, like these two, most Chinese cities have a massive scale that reflect the country’s population numbers.
It is rare to come across a city that has not built high-rise buildings yet, a city that’s keeping its small scale and original character. This design proposal seeks to keep that character, strengthened by a modernised take on the Linpan typology. These principles have led to a design that is formed by many small spaces, corners, nooks… of which the local population can feel as their own.
The main pedestrian connections create a legible structure and a seamless integration with the existing urban fabric, bringing the city centre into the site and continuing towards the other parts of the city. It als oallows tourists to explore the area while keeping the more hidden spaces for residents.
Dujiangyang’s popularity for travellers is rapidly growing, therefore it is key to create a successful combination of tourism and local communities, where tourists can experience the local life but without compromising the people of Dujiangyan’s sense of privacy and ownership to their neighbourhood.