Go to Long Beach and climb the Aiqun Building standing on the beach.
It's nice to set this party with friends in the revolving restaurant on the top floor of Aiqun Building. I can't wait to see this ancient city through the glass curtains of the dining room. Aiqun Building is a Gothic building with a history of nearly a hundred years. The arcade corridor around the building is built on the ground floor of the building, with a considerable area, which is naturally connected with the arcades of adjacent buildings, forming a loop convenient for pedestrians and making itself a part of the original environment. This is a city landmark that blends in with the surrounding environment. In 1960s, a new building was built on the east side of the building, which was connected with the old building layer by layer to form a whole. Later, this revolving restaurant was built on the top floor of the new building. Looking around, the traditional urban atmosphere is coming.
My seat faces the west first and turns slowly clockwise. At this time, I saw the trapezoidal tower with long windows and several small minarets on the old roof of Aiqun Building. Behind the tower, I saw rows of buildings in the old city. I know that in the Ming Dynasty, there were Shangxiajiu Road, Jinlong Road, Bao Hua Road, Enning Road, Shisanhang Street and Huaiyuan Street, as well as xiguan big house in Hua Yao Street and modern western-style buildings in Shamian Island.
Gradually turning to the north, there are many buildings in the distance, covering zhenhai tower and Yuexiu Mountain, where countless cultural relics are located, and also covering the oldest landmark of the city-Liu Rong Flower Pagoda, which has a history of 1400 years. Overlooking the vast old city under the golden sunset, you may find the Five Immortals Temple of Shishi, the Huaishengguang Pagoda and the high double minarets of Sacred Heart Church. Looking eastward, it is the central axis of a modern city, including Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, Guangzhou Fuya, Central Park, Uprising Road and Haizhu Bridge under renovation.
Turning south, you can see the scenery of the Pearl River and the two banks opposite the old city of Guangzhou. The river reflected by the sunset glow is sparkling, scaly and colorful. 1400 years ago, the north bank of the Pearl River was the Pantang-Shangxiajiu-Huifu Road-Wen Ming Road line in Xiguan, and it was not until the Ming and Qing Dynasties that it gradually reached a position roughly consistent with today. Historically, Guangzhou City has been extending southward along the traditional central axis, and the process of extension is the process of approaching the Pearl River step by step with the siltation of the river banks.
There used to be an island called Haizhu Stone. According to historical records, the Cidu Temple and Wenchang Pavilion stand on the island, with painted buildings and shady trees. Later, the island merged into the north shore, which is the area where Yong' antang is located in the Republic of China today. Nowadays, there are modern buildings mixed with old and new everywhere on both sides of the Pearl River, from the old Guangdong Customs Building with dome bell tower, the post office building with neoclassical style and Xinhua Hotel to the Guangzhou Hotel with modern international style and the Aiqun Building with super high-rise buildings, all of which witness the history and architectural culture of the city's modern development.
Overlooking the river, I saw countless cruise ships and ferries shuttling and various cargo ships returning. Long before Qin Ren built the city, it was already a busy scene here. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Huangpu Port in the east and White Swan Pool in the west were the traffic arteries of the city. Presumably,18th century "empress of china" also visited this waterway after arriving at Huangpu Port, leaving its trademark here. At this time, I also thought of Tang Xianzu's poem describing this place in the Ming Dynasty:
There are thousands of wells in Linjiang and thousands of ships in the site.
The origin of this is Guangzhou.
As night falls, the old city and the riverside are brightly lit. Looking around at the hazy and flickering scenes, if we continue to search, there are really more: where is the Nanyue King Museum? Where are the Chenjiaci, the Big Buddha Temple and the Academy Group? Where are Xiaobei Road and Cangbian Road in Panyu City? There are also the "Millennium Ancient Road" and "Shuangmendi Ruins" on the pedestrian street, the former Canton Fair site of Pan Hao Street, Mama Street and Haizhu Square, and countless old streets and narrow lanes full of secular fireworks such as jellyfish Bay, Mupaitou Street and Seafood Street ... This revolving restaurant night and the ever-changing city scene became endless topics during the dinner.
I try to observe those dense neighborhoods closely, paying special attention to those related to my life. It is hard to find in many places. It is hidden in countless buildings. Why is this brightly lit ancient city so fascinating to us? Oh, I see, it bears our life from the past to the present, and bears countless memories of the city from the past to the present. It is the soul of the city.
Guangzhou is Guangzhou because of its existence. As a material building and its place, it can be copied anywhere, but this place can't be copied. The spirit of Guangzhou, the urban characteristics of Guangzhou, was born here. The character of this city and its citizens is the character of Baiyun Evening News and Yuexiu Building. The temperament of this city and its citizens comes from the Pearl River, including Guganxi, Liu Mai Canal, Liwanyong, Didayong, Qingshuihao and Dai Yu Haohao. The place where the soul of this city is located should be the core of this city now or in the future. A few days ago, I thought about the vagaries of Guangzhou city center today, and I still have some unfinished business. This is the problem: Guangzhou, which is developing at a high speed, must first become itself. Furthermore, no matter what scale Guangzhou expands, it should take Baiyun Yuexiu to Zhushui Goose Pond as the core to lead and support the civilization of the whole city.
With the development of the city, there will definitely be new districts in Guangzhou, such as Zhujiang New Town, Haizhu Eco-city, Baiyun New Town, International Financial City and Nansha New District ... These new districts should be regarded as sub-centers or new blocks of the city. At best, they can only become a pole of modern multipolar cities and cannot replace the core position of traditional urban centers. ①
Obviously, there are many problems in this old city itself. You can easily see this in the revolving restaurant. There are low and shabby buildings here, which is probably the oldest block in the city. I vaguely saw on the roofs of those houses that some dilapidated tile roofs were covered with waterproof tape and the like, while others and shacks built on them were ugly. From this, you can imagine living here. In fact, the sanitary conditions in many blocks here are extremely poor, public safety is not guaranteed, and life is extremely inconvenient. Are these places to be preserved or rebuilt? Some people in the audience said that there is a contradiction: most people living in it want to change completely; Most people who oppose the transformation in the name of protecting the old city and advocate the overall preservation do not live in it. This statement may not be accurate, but it reminds us that both urban construction and old city protection must be people-oriented, and it is not advisable to consider the so-called protection of residents' living environment and quality of life. It is not advisable to simply relocate the residents who live here.
No wonder some urban designers think that the inner space of the old city of Guangzhou is narrow and cramped, and it is difficult to carry out effective planning and adjust urban development. This provides a reason and basis for the transfer of the city center. Starting a new stove is simple. However, difficulty in planning does not mean that you will not plan. The key is to understand the life characteristics and basic needs of this city, the value and possibility of planning and reconstruction of the old city, and overcome difficulties with a sense of history. As for how to plan effectively, I think all kinds of in-depth reading should help us find the answer. We can read the history of the city and walk into the soul of the city; You can read the current situation of the city and wander in the narrow streets of old streets; You can look at lewis mumford's History of Urban Development-Origin, Evolution and Prospect, Jane Jacobs' Death and Life of American Big Cities, Liang Sicheng's Architectural History of China, john reid's City, Edmund Bacon's Urban Design, Allen Jacobs' Great Streets and Cliff Mountford's Streets and Squares.
The world-famous London Olympic Games has just come to an end. During this period, London attracted the attention of countless people, including its urban construction itself. According to statistics, the population of London now exceeds 6.5438+0.2 million. But West End of London and Old London are still the undisputed centers of London. I just don't know, in the future urban development, will Londoners set up another center in places like Guangzhou to replace the Tower of London and Big Ben, Victoria Market and Westminster Abbey, Downing Street and Buckingham Palace, as well as West End of London and Old London where the British Museum is located?
On the eve of the Asian Games in Guangzhou, I walked into the Jade Belt House in the inner street of the old city opposite Beijing Road, and wandered along the street from east to west at the section from Li Fulin to Zhelingli. I saw the street that surprised me. At that time, Guangzhou was in full swing for urban renovation, and this place close to downtown was actually tattered and motionless. Low shacks and broken walls can be seen along the street. There is sewage and garbage in the street. Many places are simply not suitable for living. Most of them are just warehouses for off-street shops, and some migrant workers barely live in them. This place is not small.
A place like this is by no means unique to the old city of Guangzhou. There are many such places in the old street just seen in the revolving restaurant. It makes me sad to think about it. How can the old city not be rebuilt? With such a large space for renovation, how can we say that there is not enough space for effective planning? It can only be said that the planning of the old city is really much more difficult. If Guangzhou is to be built into the "first good area" in Guangdong's urban and rural areas, Yuexiu Zhushui should be the first good area in Guangzhou. It is imperative to rebuild the old city of Guangzhou. It needs to be turned into a veritable city center.
The climax of Guangzhou's urban expansion and development in the past 20 years can be regarded as the remolding and transformation of urban internal space and spatial relationship with the goal of building a modern international city with local characteristics under the background of globalization. However, whether this remodeling and transformation can achieve the goal depends on whether we can handle the relationship between the old city center and the emerging cities and control the excessive expansion of the city. Because the blind expansion and development around any city will threaten the rational evolution of the spatial order of the city center, lead to the decline of the city center and then lead to the alienation of the city.
/kloc-the modern transformation of Paris more than 0/50 years ago seems to reflect the urban reality of Guangzhou today. Baron Haussmann, the governor of Seine Province appointed by Charles Louis Napolé on Bonaparte, has made a drastic transformation of Paris, which is still controversial. However, the baron at least did not shy away from the problem of old city reconstruction. On the contrary, he firmly locked the focus of Paris reconstruction in the city center, instead of setting up another center outside the old city and gradually transforming it according to the original layout. Osman resolutely pushed forward his transformation plan and finally laid the basic pattern of modern Paris.
Since then, this model has been continuously followed and strengthened. Dai Xi Island and its left and right banks are still the core of the city, and Paris is still Paris. Osman also built a huge underground system in Paris under difficult conditions, which has benefited the city a lot so far. In a sense, it was Osman who made modern Paris. People can criticize him a lot, but at the same time, we should objectively see his contribution. David harvey, a historian and philosopher, said that Osman's achievement in making the interior space of Parisian cities more reasonable naturally became a great legend of modernist cities. ②
Today, on the basis of ensuring the effective protection of valuable historical blocks and buildings, it is an unavoidable problem to realize the modernization of Guangzhou's central city. In Guangzhou, only by effectively transforming the traditional central city, making it continue to assume the functions of the central city and leading the whole city to realize historical modernization, can the spatial strategic concept be reasonable. Only in this way can Guangzhou continue to be Guangzhou.
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Aiqun Building is an excellent observation point. Overlooking the revolving restaurant tells me that the historical heritage of the city is reflected not only in the cultural spirit, but also in the geographical material structure, and the two are interdependent. The relationship between Baiyun Yuexiu and Zhushui Goose Pond can best reflect this relationship. Numerous broken places in the old city of Guangzhou must undergo a "rebirth of ruins", so that Guangzhou can maintain its history and develop continuously, and we can inherit the characteristics of Guangzhou life.
? (Revised on August 20 17)
Comment ※
There is a view in urban social geography that urban development has experienced pre-industrial cities, industrial cities and modern cities. The former industrial cities were single-centered. Modern cities have become more complex and diverse, and may differentiate into multipolar countries in the process of transformation. See City and Reading, edited by Yang, Mechanical Industry Press, 20 12, 1 edition, P29—P38.
(2) See [America] david harvey's translation of The Story of Paris: The Birth of the Capital of Modernity by Huang Yuwen. Guangxi normal university press, 20 10, 1, P 120.
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Most of the pictures in this article were taken between 2007 and 2065438+00. ※.
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