Shanghai’s new waterfront: economic engine or inclusive public space?



[Photo by Urban Language]

Since the beginning of the 21st century, Shanghai has started to relocate its ports far outside the urban core to accommodate the expected massive urban growth and to allow the new ports to further develop. This created an opportunity for urban regeneration of the formerly inaccessible and polluted waterfronts of the Huangpu River, a manmade tributary of the Yangtze and the central waterway of Shanghai. In this blog, urban designer Harry den Hartog assesses how Shanghai could execute this extremely fast regeneration, and identifies the downsides of a waterfront that is especially useful for taking selfies.

The Yangtze River Delta region in China used to be the dynamic scenery of daily life activities along waterways and in canal towns (King, 1911; Ball, 2017). However, industrial development had made many of these waterfronts dirty and smelly, while others became repositories of household waste. Living by the waterside was an unattractive option in Shanghai for a long time as it had negative connotations of pollution, industries, and poor working-class accommodation. During the last three decades of massive urbanization, many waterways and canal towns even disappeared to make place for urban expansion.

This all changed since the Expo 2010 in Shanghai. Located central along the Huangpu River, the Expo 2010 played a key role in redefining Shanghai’s relationship with its waterfronts under the motto “Better City, Better Life”. The redevelopment of Suzhou Creek – a canalized tributary of the Huangpu and until a decade ago one of the most polluted water outlets in the world - is indicative of a change in official attitudes. Luxurious new housing complexes have sprung up along its banks, overlooking the newly odor-free river. According to Shanghai’s current master plan, the Huangpu River waterfront is earmarked to be a “demonstration zone for the development capability of the global city of Shanghai.” Already today this ambition has been partially achieved. During the last few years, almost half of the Huangpu’s 120 kilometers of waterfront has been transformed, at an unprecedented speed and in high quality. Additionally, another 100 kilometers of waterfront along the Suzhou Creek are in preparation of being transformed.

The former ports along the Huangpu River, which used to be China’s industrial nursery and starting point for international trade since the Treaty of Nanjing in 1842, are being transformed into a space for urban life and leisure. In poetic phrases, the city’s latest master plan, “Shanghai 2017-2035, Striving for an Excellent Global City”, describes how the river will be returned to the people of this city. This transformation however is not only used for ‘beautification’ and to bring back ‘harmony’ - two key concepts in Chinese urban planning - but especially to transform the waterfront spaces into an economic engine yet again. The newly made scenic waterfront has become the backdrop for massive speculative real estate projects and is expected to transform Shanghai into a world leader in finance, innovation and globalism.

The scale and speed of this waterfront transformation led to a number of contradictions and conflicts. Through academic research, and design and research studios with students at Tongji University in Shanghai, I have started to identify and assess these contradictions. Questions we ask include how Shanghai managed this transformation so quickly, while it took other world ports as London, Tokyo, Singapore, New York, and Rotterdam decades to realize much shorter interventions. One observation is that in China there is no landownership and the state has full mandate on the use of lands. The revenue of selling land use rights is an important source of income for the local government. Shanghai’s recent limitation on urban expansion at the fringes and shift to further urban densification made the waterfront into the ideal setting for redevelopment and densification. As continuation of the international atmosphere of the nineteenth century trade houses and concessions on the Bund riverside promenade, Shanghai invited the world’s top architects: projects by David Chipperfield Architects, Foster + Partners, Heatherwick Studio, Kengo Kuma, OMA, Sou Fujimoto, and Tadao Ando are lined up along the former industrial waterfronts.

Despite the public spaces being pleasing to the eye, the number of users is still relatively small. The spaces still lack facilities and places to sit. People are prohibited to fly a kite or bring a pet, except for the West Bund area, a kind of experimental free place that offers many exemptions (Den Hartog, 2019; Den Hartog, 2021). Another issue is that new housing is largely lacking along or near the waterfronts. Most new projects are commercial investment projects, with millions of square meters of retail and office buildings (Den Hartog, 2021). A large number of industrial artifacts have been reused and integrated in the new waterfronts, and dozens of top cultural institutes have been attracted to open their branches along the waterfront, such as the Centre Pompidou, meant to attract people to the water, and to attract investors for adjacent real estate projects (Den Hartog, 2020). New flood defense systems are well managed and integrated in new designs, but in a technocratic way: hard embankments and high floodwalls on the city-side limit the options for the desired ecological connections. Moreover, these walls are limiting accessibility from the city-side. This makes the new waterside into a mere backdrop for taking selfie-photos, or a decorative scenery for the massive real estate projects.

It is very positive that Shanghai’s waterfronts are better accessible and no longer dominated by polluting industries, but its new relationship with water still seems superficial as a temporary decor. The function of the waterfront, therefore, is not primarily for people at this point (Den Hartog, 2019; Li and Zhong, 2020). Analogous to the 1930s, when the classic Shanghai Bund, with its line-up of international banks and capital formed the connection between Shanghai and the world, today's waterfront revitalization is mainly a showcase for financial institutions and global power. It is a vehicle to please and attract a selective upper (middle) class, and a setting for investment (Den Hartog, 2021).

With miles of creeks and canals still waiting to be developed, authorities will have many more opportunities to explore the city’s bond with its waterfront history. They will need to take account place-making with seats or picnic spots, socio-economic opportunities with more affordable housing and startup workspaces, and the creation of ecological connections in the coming years. Hopefully, these future projects will find more direct and inclusive ways to create an interactive relation with the water again, and make Shanghai into an excellent water metropolis.

Acknowledgement
This post is a guest blog by Harry den Hartog, Harry den Hartog is an independent urban designer and author of ‘Shanghai New Towns: Searching for Community and Identity in a Sprawling Metropolis’. The post was edited by PCF blog editors Carola Hein and Hilde Sennema.



References
Ball, P. (2017). The Water Kingdom: A Secret History of China. Chicago: University Of Chicago Press.

Den Hartog, H. (2019). Re-defining the appreciation and usability of urban watersides in the urban center and peri-urban fringes of Shanghai. European Journal of Creative Practices in Cities and Landscapes, Vol.2 no.1, P37-64.

Den Hartog, H. (2020). How can the massive reuse of Shanghai’s former industrial waterfronts become more than a city branding strategy and reconnect the city with the water? In: Ed. Mager. Tino. Water Heritage. Global perspectives for sustainable development, 291-306. Taichung City: Bureau of Cultural Heritage, Ministry of Culture, Taiwan, R.O.C.

Den Hartog, H. (2021, forthcoming). Experimental real estate clusters as urban labs with Chinese characteristics along Shanghai’s regenerated industrial waterfronts. Urban Planning.

Li, Y, Zhong, X. (2020). ‘For The People’ Without ‘By The People’: People and Plans in Shanghai’s Waterfront Development. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research. doi:10.1111/1468-2427.12964.

King, F. H. (1911). Farmers of Forty Centuries: Or, Permanent Agriculture in China, Korea and Japan. Madison, Wisconsin: Democrat Printing Co.

www.portcityfutures.nl (original publication on www.PortCityFutures.nl)

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Port City Futures
19 April 2021
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.