Reverse cities: what is the art of atypical urban planning in Taiwan? New atmosphere of ecological environment

Why should you read this book?

"Anti-City" attempts to put forward a more inclusive and thoughtful atypical urban planning technique. Resistance is often only the initial correspondence of residents in some cases, and what is more worthy of our reference is the later specific actions and communication skills; how professional workers and residents ensure the existence of social justice in the gap between system and politics? it has become a precedent that other communities can emulate.

Since human beings promise to live together and evolve the crowd form of "city", we should make the city not only a geographical unit in space, but also worthy of the name, showing the meaning and value of living in groups. Whether it is respect for the environment, sharing of neighbors, the pursuit of democracy.

After a series of anti-forced relocation actions, negotiations, demolition and construction, the municipal government in 2011, under the implementation of the demolition plan and compensation policies, originally had 51 residents, leaving 33 "local rehousing". In recent years, some tenants have moved out of the community one after another, generally due to poor housing conditions, such as housing structural concerns and water leakage, or renting out houses for private reasons. At present, the total number of people living in the community is about 100. At the beginning, Mama Chang and her chest were stabbed with the national flag of the Republic of China, Uncle Liu, an "anti-communist" in the community, and one after another heard that the elders who had moved out of the community had left the world, and that the decline of life was the rule of nature. people who can experience or witness history together will eventually be washed away by time. Let's go back to the scene again to explore the current situation of the "back" public channels.

New park, new atmosphere?

The Jiaogong Shenzhen beautification project demolished the Diaojiao building, renovated the environment, and used modern landscape design techniques to improve the visual landscape: along the 100-meter corridor of the river channel, the river bank was re-laid on both sides with the construction method of washing and training. Residents feel that "the community has become brighter and the environment seems to have really become cleaner" for the renovation. However, the really thorny problem of drainage along the roadway, together with the section of the public tunnel, has not been comprehensively dealt with for a long time, resulting in a continuous stench, and the banks gradually become overgrown with weeds over time. After responding to such problems, the District Office can only inform the outsourced maintenance and management unit to deal with them passively. If there is a little laziness in the flow mark or manufacturer in that year, the environment will not be sorted out.

The newly built waterfront trails and parks have turned the original living space into parks where people walk their dogs, stop or walk on motorcycles, that is, the private areas familiar to the community are transformed into public spaces for citizens. Isn't this in line with the wishes of the Government? But the real situation is that the narrow waterfront park built between the state house and the military barracks is the same as the fate of most parks in Taiwan, because the poor use behavior of the public has caused a dirty environment. Don't the community start to clean the park in front of their homes? In fact, if the homes are forced to open up, it is very difficult to create the public shared space that planners have imagined. In addition, the elders and children of the community will not move in the narrow streets, so the new park can easily be reduced to an area that is ignored. In other words, there is always a question in the new construction of the Shenzhen public tunnel: whose park is this? The question of who should manage the "identity".

In terms of the change in the form of space, in the past, people would shuttle through the "thoroughfares" between their homes and the Diaojiaolou, visiting each other and talking about each other. With the demolition of the Diaojiaolou, the social opportunities in the neighborhood also disappeared. Diaojiaolou originally belongs to the social space, after the demolition, the kitchen of the residents moved to the house, people lost the legitimacy of moving in the public and private areas, thus creating an invisible gap between residents.

The scene in the demolition of Luo Gong's home. (courtesy of left Bank Culture / Photo by Wu Zhenting)

The smell of holding

After the anti-forced relocation operation, the phased mission of the Community self-help Association has disappeared, so there is no reason to gather at present. The emotion of the neighborhood still depends on large gathering places. In the past, neighborhood gatherings were mainly spring drinks organized by Huang's mother at the beginning of the year, inviting families and more close community partners to set up tables in an one-dish way. From a narrow Diaojiaolou kitchen, many large dishes are cooked to connect the taste and emotion of each household. At this time, relatives living abroad will get together, and at the same time, it is also a day for young people in the community to return to their hometown. On this night, the "thoroughfare" is brightly lit, everyone chats about the joys and sorrows of the past, and they also join hands to face the future. This is the familiar daily life of the family village.

After the anti-relocation campaign came to an end, the vitality of the community was greatly damaged, the Diaojiao building was demolished, and the shared kitchen also disappeared. in addition, Huang's mother's physical strength was not as strong as before, so spring wine was suspended. Huijuan, who is concerned about community affairs, does not want to let the taste of family affection disappear, hoping to regain the tradition of the community, so she decided to hold a Mid-Autumn Festival barbecue for two years, which has been quite fruitful. The community is still happy to eat and drink with familiar old faces in a park that is a little familiar but slightly cramped. It is often said that the food in the village is "homesickness", and here, what is eaten is "the joy of existence".

Uneasy

Luo Gong Home is a collective product in the changing history, regardless of residential justice, in a series of environmental construction, it broadens the field of vision and light, but also invisibly blocks people's psychological space. In the interview, most of the older generation of residents think that to live in place is happiness, to be able to live comfortably is a gift from heaven, and there are no too many fantasies about the future. For example, Mama Huang, in fact, it should be "Grandma Huang." the reason for the family of five living here is very simple: it is to help the family keep their "hometown" so that during important festivals, scattered children and grandchildren can go back to their old houses to get together, so that the feelings of a large family can be maintained. On the other hand, the residents of the Mesozoic era, especially the women who took part in the anti-forced relocation campaign, on the one hand, have the negative idea of "how long they can stay", and on the other hand, they are still worried about whether the policy will change after the rotation of political parties in the future. do you have to meet another struggle then? How much of the community can be mobilized? This kind of hidden worry, which is imprinted on the heart, will not be expressed in daily life, but it is also a fear shrouded in life.

● article is excerpted from "reverse City: Taiwan's atypical Urban Planning", published by left Bank Culture.