On October 13, the 2016 International Forum on the "Vertical City for Beijing-Tianjin- Hebei Region (Jing Jin Ji)" hosted by Tianjin University and Nankai University was held at Tianjin University. The forum was hosted by James Jao, the famous Chinese American expert in urban planning. Wonderful speeches and discussions about the new urban construction concept of the "Vertical City" were held with top domestic and international architecture, engineering, environmental experts including Kenneth King, the Initiator of the Vertical City concept.
The three hundred seat Symposium Hall was fully occupied, and professional representatives from the design institutes and research institutes across the country expressed strong interest in the new concept.
The Vertical City concept proposes a multi-level and multi-function ultra-high-rise building structure. It will include all urban functions, such as three-dimensional transportation, food and clothing shops, office space, waste disposal, quality living facilities and a strong sense of community. Covering an area of only 800 square meters people can reach every place they want to within 15 minutes’ walk. Such cities without cars will be self-sufficient, energy-saving, pollution reducing, and solve urban problems such as land shortage, traffic jams and so on and at the same time create a healthy lifestyle.
Jin Shihai, an American architect, proposed that the solution to emerging urban problem is to build high-capacity and high-effect ultra-high-rise buildings on relatively small land areas. In the Vertical City he advocated that 2% of the land area be used to live on and 98% of the land be used to grow food and vegetables, while having a huge population, a high occupancy rate with a small amount of land occupied. At the same time, there would be hospitals, schools, parks, shops, dwellings, fitness and other facilities, featuring new urban models for recycling and sustainable development. By applying this model to “Jing Jin Ji” it could reduce population pressure, rising house prices and social management and regional development disparity and other problems effectively. Mao Qizhi, Associate Director of the School of Architect at Tsinghua University, has thought deeply on problems of promoting the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region. Major decisions and plans have recently been made by the central government of China and constitutes an important national strategy. Professor Mao fully supports the coordinated "Jing Jin Ji" development goals set by Chinese government.
With the current state of urban development, we are in urgent need of new models to protect the world. Richard Register, the founder of Ecocity Builders, compared the urbanization of the US and China, analyzing the threats to human, animals and plants, and believes it is very important to promote the Vertical City concept. To do so, Hong Zaisheng, Director of the Research Institute of Architectural Design and Urban Planning, Tianjin University emphasized these points: the Vertical City not only manifests a sustainable way of living, but also provides an option for low-impact development that is a growing concern in China. Choosing to establish a Vertical City in urban development will meet the requirements of people’s work and leisure environments and growth within a proscribed area.
With current technology creating a vertical city with a high quality environment can be fully realized. Dennis Poon, a structural engineering expert and Karl Schollkopf from the Thyssenkrupp Elevator Group analyzed the current technologies of super high-rise buildings architectural structure and rope-less elevator respectively. Dennis Poon believes, engineers are ready to embrace new design and construction challenges that vertical cities may bring. Firstly, innovation and creativity based on material properties and damping devices of super high-rise buildings can result in cost-effective structural systems compatible with the architectural design, budget and overall satisfactory building behavior. Moreover, improvement in building shapes and surface conditions can contribute greatly to the reduction of wind and seismic loads. Most importantly, structural engineers can now collaborate with architects and contractors on a whole new level with BIM and advanced modeling platforms. Karl Schollkopf said, the elevator industry has developed from the prevalent one-dimensional vertical arrangement to a two-dimensional vertical and horizontal arrangement. The first rope-less elevator systems for example, would increase the building's transportation efficiency by means of multiple car systems with reduced numbers of hoist-way space, which is the key to solving the transportation problem for the Vertical City. People transportation in both vertical and horizontal dimensions is the next step into a new era.
The second day’s speech started with Chien Chung Pei who is Ieoh Ming Pei's second son. As the founder of the Bay's construction firm, he made a comprehensive and detailed exposition of the concept of vertical city. He mainly focuses on major and permanent architectural design work, but is also concerned about the social problems in the process of urban construction. From the perspective of improving the quality of life, he believes that the vertical city is a very practical solution. Professor Shouyi Hao from Nankai University asked: Is this plan feasible in China? What difficulties and problems will be encountered? To answer these questions he gave the example of the central business district of Tianjin Central Eco City and the Binhai New Area, and made a comparative analysis of the concepts and designs of the Vertical City and Eco City, Low-carbon City, Compact City, Smart City which China has promoted for the construction of new urbanized areas. He pointed out the foreseeable problems in the planning, technology and cost of the construction of Vertical City in China, and put forward some ideas to solve these problems.
Prior to construction, budgeting is an important topic of concern, as the Vertical City's construction and management costs are bound to be high for such a large number of functions in a single building. Therefore, Lei Yian, professor at Peking University, discussed the economic issues and presented preliminary cost analyses of vertical cities. Professor Lei is engaged in physics, but has conducted research on the vertical city for many years, particularly on Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region development and the unique advantages the vertical city has. Contrary to popular opinion regarding the high cost of vertical cities, he believes building and living in a vertical city is much more economical and comfortable than might be expected, and would have a profound effect on human social development.
For the first time this forum put forward the concept of vertical city, and the need to thoroughly research the technology, management, and economics and the need to consider some basic questions:Is this the right forward direction for our cities? What will be the appearance of cities of the future? The Vertical City concept will stimulate imaginative thinking, and offers a reference point and example for way China's city can develop.
