Better City, Better Life begins with a good street



(Photos by Urban Languge)

Urbanisation is a hot issue. Certainly in China, where the building industry is still seen as the powerhouse of the economy and cities are still sprouting out of the ground like mushrooms. How do you make good cities? Entitled Better City, Better Life, the World Expo that opened in Shanghai on May 1 focuses on the city. The Netherlands displays itself to its very best with a wonderful design.

While the economic, political and social paralysis of the Netherlands is enough to sadden you, the Dutch pavilion in Shanghai is called Happy Street. With Happy Street, the Netherlands shows itself as foreigners like to think of it: progressive, open, friendly, and with a clear vision. In contrast to earlier expos, this event features a remarkable amount of art and culture, with contributions from Viktor & Rolf, Piet Hein Eek, Gummbah, Dick Bruna and Joep van Lieshout. And, as expected at a world expo, there are also some technological discoveries to marvel at.

Wearing Chinese work clothes and riding a bike, the designer of the Dutch pavilion, John Körmeling picks me up from the metro station. We pass the security control without difficulty. Stretching before us are over five square kilometres of expo grounds full of big boxes and huge infrastructure, like elevated pedestrian paths. The pavilions are grouped per continent and per theme. We head for Europe. A heavily droning sound thumps harder and harder on my eardrums as we approach the Dutch pavilion, as though we’re about to enter a busy shipyard. It turns out to be an artwork by Peter Zegveld. Two speakers placed right below the pavilion blast out an ultra sonar wave entitled Good Vibrations.

The site around Happy Street is as big as a football pitch. We walk between the arrows that support the street. To the west is some sort of suction dredger with a drill head at the front. Körmeling: 'That’s the second largest in the world, by Boskalis, 18 tons and 3.5 metres in diameter’. Croquettes are on sale next door. Around the corner stands a folly with the letters HAPPY MONEY, originally intended as a currency counter for the money to be used on Happy Street. But then the banks collapsed and the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs (the client) thought Happy Money wasn’t such a funny idea after all. Now it’s home to a Nonolet developed by the Stichting De Twaalf Ambachten. Nonolet is an odourless and water-less toilet that is not connected to the sewage system and that is based on the natural organic life cycle.

Erected in steel, the Dutch pavilion was built well within budget. Rather than flying in expensive experts, the architects found Chinese building partners to work with. Also over 150 enthusiastic interns were flown in to take care of all sorts of odd jobs alongside about as many Chinese students. Körmeling: 'All details are the same; even the uprights of the balustrades were welded on the spot one by one. Most builders don’t even look at drawing and just do everything out of their head. Air bubbles under the paint surface indicate the hasty finishing. Shanghai’s climate is bad for building work, so it’s pretty impressive that they can build here, and do it fast too. Builders keep a watchful eye on the weather forecast. When the weather is fine they can suddenly cover a lot of ground. During the finishing stages I had to check everything all the time. That cloud of ash from Iceland turned out pretty handy in the end.’

'There weren’t any technical difficulties with or radical changes made to the design. Because of the circulation system, the street has become a route and can no longer be accessed from all sides.’ We walk along the street, which features a selection of replicas of Dutch architecture. 'That terraced house by Maaskant over there will soon contain the "floating stone" by Wim T Schippers. This is a replica of the Thonik studio house by MVRDV (white this time). Look, Maaskant aligned the frames precisely above one another, while MVRDV staggers them. The original version of that beach house there is in Zandvoort. We put a seagull on the roof because there was one on the roof when we went to take photos in Zandvoort. That workshop structure there diagonally opposite is by me. Next to it are the chauffeur’s house by Van Tijen and the house on Erasmuslaan in Utrecht by Rietveld.’

Körmeling: 'My ideal is a linear city; borders can disappear straight away. It’s an alternative to conventional coagulated cities that just keep growing and get so big that there comes a moment that they burst apart, so that new towns or gated communities have to be made and thus the city becomes uninhabitable.’ Happy Street is the translation of Körmeling’s vision for a better society: happiness begins on your own street, a street of houses with a front door at ground level, and a mixture of functions. Each house has a character and function of its own. Together, the houses form a close-knit village. Bells chime and there are squares, a football pitch and even a real barrel organ.

While most national pavilions have an interior where you can shelter from the sun and dust, Happy Street is open and the houses are just show boxes. That explains the tens of ventilators inserted between the balustrades that blow air between the visitors. At almost the highest point there is a purification plant by Norit, where potable water is purified. Visitors can serve themselves. Back down stairs, in the shadow beneath the street, there is a landscape designed by ZUS and consisting of strips of green and blue carpet (grass and water) with synthetic sheep on them like moveable furniture.

At the end of the route there is a souvenir shop with the words KOE MENS HUIS ZON WOLK ZAND (= COW MAN HOUSE SUN CLOUD SAND) on the roof in alternating Dutch and Chinese. The original idea was to sell the Happyjama here too. In Shanghai lots of people walk around their homes and the surrounding streets in splendidly decorated pyjamas as they buy groceries or chat with the neighbours. Recently, however, Shanghai’s city authorities have forbidden the wearing of pyjamas on the street, 'because it is not appropriate in a modern society’. Accordingly, the Happyjama vanished from the souvenir shop, but it is available from the Dutch Culture Center on the other side of the city.

HdH


tinyurl.com (Nl.)
tinyurl.com (zie ook het interview met John Körmeling en Rijk Blok)
www.archined.nl (Eng.)

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ArchiNed
Shanghai, 31 May 2010
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Copyright: Urban Language

Research & Design


 

Academic research on waterfront redevelopment in Shanghai

2017-2023
Academic research into the changing use of Shanghai's waterfronts, both inner-city and peri-urban
 

Ecological Restoration Shanghai

2019-2020
In collaboration with Tongji University, we contributed to a research and design study for ecological restoration for the city of Shanghai
 

Urban Village regeneration

Changsha, 2018 -
Urban Language Studio joined in a regeneration strategy for an urban village in Changsha. Conceptual Design proposals have been approved.
The project is under construction...
 

Research and design on coastal communities in Vietnam

Vietnam, 2018-2019
Sustainable development perspectives for a vulnerable coastal area around the Tam Giang Lagoon.
 

Research & Concept Development at Vanke

2017-2018
During 2017 and 2018 Harry den Hartog worked for Vanke on research and concept development regarding revitalizing new towns in China.
 

Research on residential high-rise

2015-2017
Research with Tongji University on carbon emissions and sustainable development of residential high-rise complexes in the Yangtze Delta.
 

Living on Water

2015
Urban Language Studio performed preliminary research on possibilities for floating neighborhoods in China, in cooperation with DeltaSync
 

Salon and excursion on urban villages

November 2014
Organizing a salon and visits to Shanghai-based non-profit groups for the World Banks main economic expert and specialist on climate change, with as central theme the role of urban villages, the position of migrants and gentrification.
 

Resilient Port Development

November 2014
Capacity building by workshop in Singapore on resilient port development in the context of urbanizing deltas, organised by the Future Cities Laboratory at ETH and Delft University of Technology.
 

New Town development in Zhejiang

Ningbo, 2014
Consulting for World Bank on a New Town development in Zhejiang Province
 

Urban Sustainability in China

Shanghai, 2013
Research on urban sustainability and liveability in Chinese new towns commissioned by the European Commission.
 

Urban Design Workshop in India

Atal Nagar-Nava Raipur, 2012
Urban Language Studio was invited to participate in an intensive 10-day cross-disciplinairy urban design workshop on the development of a new town in central India.
 

Dutch New Worlds

Scenarios in Physical Planning and Design in the Netherlands, 1970-2000
Shanghai - Zurich - Rotterdam, June 2012
"Our decisions shape our future, but we know little about how. To find out, planners and designers construct vivid images of what could be."
 

Edge of Public

Exhibition + book + forum in Hong Kong's Kowloon Park, curated by Liu Yuyang, Li Xiangning, and Harry den Hartog
Hong Kong, 16 February - 23 April, 2012
In the countless new town developments in China, we witnessed an increasingly privatized domain both spatially and socially. What is the real shape of the public domain and how can architects respond to this phenomenon?
 

Critical advice on developing a new town (2)

Liaoning, 2011
Urban Language Studio was asked to give an independent critical reflection on existing plans for a new town near Shenyang supplemented by suggestions for further development.
 

Critical advice on developing a new town (1)

Beijing, 2011
Urban Language Studio was asked to give an independent critical reflection on existing plans for a new town near Beijing supplemented by suggestions for further development.
 

Advice on various international projects

Shanghai, 2011
In the autumn of 2011, Urban Language Studio worked on several studies and consultations commissioned by professionals related with Tongji University.
 

Urban China magazine

Shanghai, 2011 - 2012
Urban Language Studio consults regularly with the urban research center of Urban China magazine. Harry den Hartog was member of the editorial board of #51 and #52, and ongoing expert board member.
 

Area development in rural Henan

Zhengzhou, 2011
Urban Language has been consulted by a local developer for independent critical advice in an area development in rural Henan.

 

Chinese Triptych

Exhibition and debate in architecture center Casla
Almere, 8 April - 18 June 2011
Works by Urban Language Studio exhibited in Casla architecture center
 

Shanghai New Towns

Searching for community and identity in a sprawling metropolis
Shanghai, 2010
Research on the rapid urbanization and decentralization in the direct controlled municipality Shanghai, resulting in the book Shanghai New Towns - Searching for community and identity in a sprawling metropolis, published by 010 Publishers.
 

From Almere to Qingpu

Shanghai, 13-19 May 2010
Urban Language Studio coordinated an excursion for the International New Town Institute (INTI) with as central theme the new towns and new cities around Shanghai.
 

Urban Flux

Beijing, Summer 2009
The Chinese magazine Urban Flux invited Harry den Hartog as a guest-editor to make this special issue on Dutch Architects and China. The magazine also discusses the state of architecture in the Netherlands.
 

BNSP workshop discussion

Amsterdam, 22 October 2009
Urban Language Studio organized a workshop discussion on the urbanization of the Dutch countryside during a BNSP Congress.
 

Shanghai Dialogues

Shanghai, 17 October 2009
Urban Language Studio mediated the Chinese contacts during a Sino-Dutch conference, as part of the Shanghai International Creative Industry Week.
 

Shanghai Globalism

Shanghai, 2009
Organisation of a study tour to the 'One City - Nine Towns' development around Shanghai commissioned by New York University.
 

Urban Galleries

Nanjing - Rotterdam, 2009
Organization of a study trip through Germany and the Netherlands for a group of young Chinese designers and critics with a special interest in museums
 

Are cities more important than countries?

Rotterdam, 2008-2009
Publication commissioned by the Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS) on the occasion of its 50th anniversary
 

Urban Meetings

Rotterdam, October 2008
Urban Language Studio made a series of reports and an essay, commissioned by the Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS), meant to explore the outlines of an 'Urban Agenda' for the 21st century.
 

ArchiNed

2008
Editor E-zine
 

Vreewijk

Rotterdam, 2008
Design study on urban renewal and restructuring of a monumental neighbourhood
 

The power of small scale

Rotterdam - Almere, 2007
Design study for urban renewal in the Dutch newtown Almere.
 

Huig

Executive-editor of Huig#8 and Huig#9
Rotterdam, 2007
Harry den Hartog was executive-editor of Huig#8 and Huig#9, the biannual magazine of the Rotterdam Academy of Architecture and Urban Design.
 

NL2040 - Hints for later

The Hague - Rotterdam, 2007
Harry den Hartog wrote a number of columns, reports and an extensive essay as input for a series of meetings and debates with the aim to give an 'alternative' vision on future spatial tasks for The Netherlands.
 

Living farmyards

Overijssel, 2006
The Dutch Province of Overijssel counts thousands of farmyards. Yearly several hundreds of them loose their agricultural function. The province asked us to do a research on the possibilities for transformation of abandoned and old farmyards.
 

Private Territory

Study on the rise of private controlled outdoor spaces in the Netherlands
Rotterdam, 2005-2006
Following his graduation project at the Academy of Architecture and Urban Design in Rotterdam Harry den Hartog researched the rise of private controlled territories in The Netherlands.
 

EXURBIA

Living outside the city
Rotterdam, 2005-2006
The book Exurbia - living outside the city, made by Harry den Hartog, criticizes the fast changing Dutch countryside. The new spatial policy in the Netherlands seems to be a threat for the countryside and the edges between urban and rural. This book gives some critical comment on the new policy, supplemented with appropriate suggestions.

Publications (selection)


 

Engineering an ecological civilization along Shanghai’s main waterfront and coastline

Published in: Frontiers in Environmental Science
Shanghai, 2021
Journal paper for Frontiers in Environmental Science. (eBook)
 

Shanghai: Excellent en duurzaam, maar inclusief?

Published in: Geografie
Utrecht, October 2021
Magazine for Economic and Social Geography published by the Royal Dutch Geographical Society
 

China Urban Lab: Nut en noodzaak van experimenten

Published in: Rooilijn
Amsterdam, November 2016
Article for Rooilijn, a journal by the University of Amsterdam on science and policy in spatial planning
 

Attempts to Control Urbanization

Published in: Volume #39
Amsterdam, April 2014
Article on China’s Hukou System: Attempts to Control Urbanization by Strictly Separating Urban and Rural
 

Correspondent for Mark magazine

Published in: Mark magazine
Since 2009
Harry den Hartog regularly contributes articles to Mark magazine, a platform for the practice and perception of architecture at the dawn of the third millennium.
 

Urban Tensions in the Yangtze River Delta

Published in: IOSPress
Delft, April 2014
Essay contribution in the book 'New Urban Configurations'.
 

Eastern Promises

Published in: Hantje Catz Verlag
Vienna, June 2013
We were invited by MAK (Austrian Museum of Applied Arts / Contemporary Art) to contribute a series of critical articles on pioneering architectural projects for an exhibit and accompanying catalog 'Contemporary Architecture and Spatial Practices in East Asia'.
 

Shopping for History

Published in: Mark #43
Zhujiajiao, April/May 2013
Article on an urban renewal project in an ancient Chinese water town west of Shanghai.
 

Correspondent for ArchiNed

Published in: ArchiNed
Since 2004
Harry den Hartog regularly contributes articles to ArchiNed and made temporarily part of the editorial team.
 

Made in China

Published in: MARK #45
Dalian, Aug/Sept 2013
Article written at the request of MARK about the Dalian Conference Center, designed by Coop Himmelb(l)au: a prime example of thoroughness and precision work.
 

重细节与长远规划

Published in: Society and Public Welfare
March 2013
中国应复制与改进欧洲城市规划与设计的途径
Harry den Hartog contributed an article at the request of a renowned Chinese magazine
 

Quality towers over quantity in building cities

Published in: China Daily
Shanghai, 22 June 2012
Opinion piece for the newspaper China Daily, by Harry den Hartog. The inducement for writing this article was the Joint Declaration on the EU-China Partnership on Urbanization, signed by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and China's Vice-Premier Li Keqiang on 3 May 2012.
 

From central control towards laissez faire

Published in: S+RO
Shanghai, June 2012
Article about the similarities and differences between the Netherlands and China in the field of urban and regional planning.
 

Everyday Theme Parks 日常主题公园

Published in: Urban China magazine #52
Shanghai, May 2012
Essay about the role of malls in contemporary China, with references to worldwide experiences, the decay of existing cities, an urban renaissance, and of course Michael Sorkin's 'Variations on a theme park: the new American city and the end of public space'.
 

From Qingpu to Jiading

Published in: T+A magazine
Shanghai, January 2012
Paper on the urbanization of the countryside around Shanghai and the role of architects in creating new cities.
 

Nanjing Perspectives

Published in: MARK magazine #32
Nanjing, June/July 2011
Conversation with Steven Holl on the design and building process of the Art & Architecture Museum in Nanjing.
 

Haphazard growth in a land of plenty

Published in: DAMn°28
Shanghai, April 2011
Essay on extremely fast and uncoordinated urban developments in Shanghai.
 

Creación de comunidad e identidad en los pueblos nuevos de Shanghai

Published in: Materia Arquitectura #2
Shanghai, November 2010
Essay on the creation of new communities and new identities in Shanghai for a Chilean magazine.
 

World Expo Shanghai

Published in: de Architect
Shanghai, May 2010
Report on the World Expo in Shanghai for the Dutch magazine 'the Architect'.
 

Bubbles in Shanghai: decentralization, speculation and the housing shortage

Published in: SR+O
Shanghai, April 2010
Essay on the effects of spatial and administrative decentralization, increasing speculation and huge housing shortage.
 

Letter from Sichuan

Published in: MARK magazine #23
Chengdu, December 2009 - January 2010
Report about reconstruction activities in the earthquake devastated area.
 

Green Fields, Orange Clouds

Rotterdam, September 2009
Essay on urban - rural relations in American cities, notably Chicago
 

Greener City, Better Life

Published in: Urban China #37
Shanghai, August 2009
Essay for the magazine Urban China on the meaning of parks as public spaces, in east and west
 

City in a city: Linked Hybrid

Published in: de Architect
Beijing, May 2009
That it is possible to combine climatic, economic and social sustainability in an overall concept has been demonstrated by Steven Holl Architects with Linked Hybrid.
 

Dutch architects building global architecture in China?

Published in: Urban Flux #7
Shanghai, May 2009
Essay on the works and experiences of Dutch architects in China.
Harry den Hartog was invited as a guest-editor for a special edition about 'Dutch architecure'. (circa 60 pages). The magazine also discusses recent projects and developments in the Netherlands.
 

Sidewalk versus Mall

Public spaces under threat
Published in: Urban Flux #6
Shanghai, April 2009
Essay on the similarities and differences between the Netherlands and China, regarding the use and meaning of public spaces.
 

Building your own house

Published in: id+c
Nanjing, April 2009
Column on private commissioned housing in the Netherlands for the Chinese-language magazine id+c
 

Architecture in the Netherlands

Published in: id+c
Nanjing, January 2009
Essay on recent developments in the field of architecture in the Netherlands. This essay is also an introduction for an extended special on Dutch Design.
 

Greenery & Community

Community gardens in New York
Published in: Club Donny #1
Rotterdam, Spring/Summer 2008
Essay for Club Donny, a new biennial magazine on the personal experience of nature in the urban environment.
 

Beijing 080808

The meaning of the Olympic Games for Beijing
Published in: de Architect
Beijing, August 2008
Host country China intends to use the Olympic Games that will take place this year in Beijing to show off what it has achieved. What is the impact of the Olympic Games on this city?
 

The Limits to Growth?

How Beijing is preparing for the future
Published in: de Architect
Beijing, August 2008
Beijing, like Shanghai, wants to present itself as a model city for the future. How will Beijing continue to develop itself after the Games?
 

Olympic Games, a motor for urban renewal

Conversation with Kees Christiaanse
Published in: NAi Publishers
Rotterdam, May 2008
Harry den Hartog interviewed Kees Christiaanse and others about the usefulness of Olympic Games in the Netherlands. These conversations are included in the book Olympic Fire, published by NAI Publishers and edited by Winy Maas.
 

How to build a good architecture school?

Interview with Herman Hertzberger
Published in: Huig magazine
Amsterdam, February 2008
As editor-in-chief of Huig Magazine, Harry den Hartog interviewed the well-known architect Herman Herzberger on the question "How to build a good architecture school?"
 

Tamed 'wild living'

Municipal management versus freedom of building
Published in: de Architect
Almere, June 2007
Over the coming years the municipality of Almere will make 30,000 sites available to private individuals so that they can build homes as they want to. A new balance has to be found between municipal management and this new freedom.
 

City and Countryside

Physical planning and design in contemporary China
Published in: de Architect
Shanghai/Beijing, May 2006
The relation between the rural and urban economy have been changing ever since China became a World Trade Organization member in 2001. To overcome the dichotomy between city and countryside, farmers must find a way to join the world economy.
 

Collective Housing in Suburbia

Published in: SR&O
Rotterdam, October 2005
Article (in Dutch) on new forms of collective housing in suburbs and new towns in the Netherlands.
 

China imports European flavoured suburb

Published in: de Blauwe Kamer
Beijing, April 2005
Article on a new community in Beijing (Dutch only).

 

Roadside tourism in China

Published in: de Blauwe Kamer
Zhejiang / Anhui, februari 2005
Article (in Dutch) on emerging rural tourism
 

Rice with gravy

Holland Village in Shanghai
Published in: ArchiNed
Shanghai, 31 January 2005
Article on a 'Dutch' new town in Shanghai.

News about us


 

www.ruralfootprints.blog

Check my new blog about 'Research by Walking in Zhejiang'
2024
A new blog about my work within the Abe Bonnema chair at TU Delft is online now: https://www.ruralfootprints.blog. Read here weekly new impressions of the research on rural revitalization strategies that I carry out on foot in the Chinese province of Zhejiang.
 

The New Countryside in China: An Urban Vision?

12 December 2021
Public talk at China Crossroads
 

Ecological civilization as an alternative development model?

Published in: Free State of Amsterdam
September 2021
Blog by Prof. dr. Zef Hemel in response to my paper in Urban Planning.
 

Benefits of Urban Wetlands and Scaling Up the Sponge City Approach

18 June 2019
Public talk at Floriade Dialogues #3 "Climate resilient strategies for water sensitive cities" in Beijing
 

Interviewed by CCTV

19 October 2018
During a conference on new town developments Harry den Hartog was briefly interviewed on urbanization in China
 

ZAOjiu talk on 'Shared Urbanism

9 September 2017
ZAOjiu talk on 'Shared Urbanism"
 

Interviewed on metropolitan agriculture by Shenzhen TV

Shenzhen, July 2016
Interviewed on metropolitan agriculture by Shenzhen TV
 

TEDx

TEDx talk in Caohejing High-Tec Park, Shanghai
Shanghai, 28 October 2015
 

Urban Agenda

November 2013
Visiting Beijing as participant at EU China Urbanisation Partnership Forum.
 

OCT LOFT Talk

invited as panel-member by Urbanus
Shenzhen, 7 December 2013
 

Urban Interiors in contemporary China

Invited speaker at World Interiors Event
Amsterdam,7 September 2013
 

Lecturing in Italy

Invited by two universities in Italy for guest-lectures
Milano/Pavia, May 2013
 

Creating liveable cities in China

Debate at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
Lausanne, 23 October 2012
 

Study session on high-rise in Asia

Shanghai, 19 September 2012
 

History and Design Studio Shanghai

Workshop and lecture at Politecnico di Torino
Turin, 2012
 

Debate in Rockbund Art Museum: Disappearing Rural Shanghai

Discussion on 'Disappearing Rural Shanghai'
Shanghai, 29 June 2012
 

Book presentation 'Edge of Public'

Hong Kong, 16 February 2012
Today our bilingual booklet Edge of Public was presented in Hong Kong's Kowloon Park, during the opening ceremony of the Hong Kong & Shenzhen Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism \ Architecture 2011-2012.
 

Shanghai New Towns to see on the UABB biennial in Shenzhen

Shenzhen, 8 December 2011 - 10 February 2012
 

Needed: Architecture with Chinese characteristics

Interviewed by Shanghai Daily
Shanghai, 25&26 October 2011
 

Sanghay ile Istanbul

Turkish-language review of Shanghai New Towns
September 11, 2011
 

Rural Kitchen

Lecture and jury member during the Rural Kitchen workshop
Chongming Island, Fall 2009
 

Beijing International Book Fair 2011

Beijing, 30 August - 5 September 2011
 

Blue eyes looking at China

Beijing, 4 September 2011
Urban Language Studio in debate during the Beijing International Book Fair 2011
 

Photos by Urban Language on display in the NAi

Rotterdam, 1 July 2011 - 15 January 2012
During the exhibition Daring Design in the NAi, some photos by Urban Language Studio were exhibited.
 

Shanghai New Towns rewarded by 'The Best Dutch Book Designs 2010'

Exhibited from 11 June to 17 July 2011 in the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam
Amsterdam, 11 June to 17 July 2011
 

Book review by Time + Architecture magazine

Chinese-language review of our book 'Shanghai New Towns'
Shanghai, May/June 2011
 

Interviewed by Urban China magazine

Shanghai, June 2011
...on sprawling cities and the edge between urban and rural.

 

Ontwerpen aan China

Rotterdam, May 2011
Interviewed by Arjen Oosterman
 

Public lecture and debate in the Shanghai Study Center of the Hong Kong University

Shanghai, 7 March 2011
Presentation of the main findings of our recently published book "Shanghai New Towns - Searching for community and identity in a sprawling metropolis".
 

Exported to China

Shanghai, February 2011
'Shanghai New Towns. Searching for community and identity in a sprawling metropolis' is also available now in Chinese bookstores.
 

Book Launch and debate in Trouw Amsterdam / De Verdieping

Amsterdam, 30 November 2010
Presentation of our book Shanghai New Towns - Searching for community and identity in a sprawling metropolis followed by a debate.
 

Presentation in Tai Wu

Rotterdam, 20 September 2010
Presentation in Tai Wu for an association of architects on recent architectural developments in China.
 

Local wisdom and globalization

Shanghai, 20 July 2010
Urban Language was member of the jury during the CUMULUS Shanghai Conference 2010 at the College of Design & Innovation.
 

First copy Shanghai New Towns

Shanghai, 14 May 2010
Today a first (preliminary) copy of our book 'Shanghai New Towns - Searching for community and identity in a sprawling metropolis' was handed over to Sun Jiwei, the District Governor of Shanghai's Jiading district, during a conference organized in cooperation with INTI, in the VIP lounge of the Dutch Pavilion 'Happy Street' during the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai.
 

Presentation on urban developments in Shanghai

Delft, 28 November 2009
Presentation on the turbulent urban developments in Shanghai during the international conference 'The New Urban Question - Urbanism beyond Neo-Liberalism' that took place from November 26th to 28th, 2009 at Zuiderkerk in Amsterdam and Delft University of Technology (TU Delft).
 

Interviewed by the Chinese-language newsmagazine Modern Weekly

Shanghai, 3 October 2009
This well-read newsmagazine, which has a wide circulation, interviewed Harry den Hartog on the changing urban-rural relations in China.
 

Interviewed by Urban China magazine

Shanghai, March 2009
We were interviewed by Chinese-language Urban China magazine on 'the ideal city'.
 

Looking for green

The Hague (Nl.), 29 September 2008
Lecture on community gardens during the debate 'Greenspotting Haaglanden' in Stroom The Hague
 

Book launch Exurbia - Living outside the city

Amsterdam, 5 January 2007
Today a first copy of our book was handed over to Government Advisor on Landscape Dirk Sijmons in Architectura & Natura.

Column / 哈利评城


 

Shanghai: Timid signs of recovery and lessons to learn

Published in: Spread stories not the virus
February 2020
 

我为什么着迷于上海里弄 Living in a lilong

Published in: The Paper / SixthTone
October 2016
 

如何重新连接城市与农村 City and Countryside

Published in: The Paper / SixthTone
September 2016
 

Better City, Better Life begins with a good street

Published in: ArchiNed
Shanghai, 31 May 2010
A visit to 'Happy Street' with John Körmeling.
 

Local Global

Published in: Architectuur Lokaal
2010
Serie of columns for the Dutch magazine Architectuur Lokaal on architecture and commissioning in China.
 

Report from China

Published in: ArchiNed
Hangzhou, 19 February 2009
The volume of reporting on the rampant growth of Chinese cities is causing a sense of China fatigue in The Netherlands. But China remains a very fascinating country nonetheless.