The lost of street life
Five years ago when I had a chance to visit Guangzhou, a big city in the south of China, the most memorable thing I had is the strict division of the city into a ancient urban quarter and a super modern one. While the ancient area was full with a diversity of activities on the streets, the modern urban area showed a total difference.
The industrialisation has caused many significant impacts on the face of urban area. The division into separated zones and the growth of "monster and giant" buildings have led to the disappearance of street life. People are no longer use the street and pavement for any purposes rather than just driving and walking. The formal and specialised design of architects, urban designer and other experts has pushed people far away from the life on the streets, confining them in the prison of skyscrapers and malls.
Looking back to what we are able to observe in the ancient urban quarter, street life is the most special thing which forms the coherent urban system and even connects people together. Street is not only the place for walking or driving but it should content a range of activities which define the human life. It is the place for sitting, chatting, drinking coffee, playing, dancing, selling etc. The success of street life in the ancient urban quarter depends on the proportion of the street with the buildings and the human scale of every design. The small scale of those urban quarter has attracted people to get out of their house and to join in the small community outside.
The industrialisation has caused many significant impacts on the face of urban area. The division into separated zones and the growth of "monster and giant" buildings have led to the disappearance of street life. People are no longer use the street and pavement for any purposes rather than just driving and walking. The formal and specialised design of architects, urban designer and other experts has pushed people far away from the life on the streets, confining them in the prison of skyscrapers and malls.
Looking back to what we are able to observe in the ancient urban quarter, street life is the most special thing which forms the coherent urban system and even connects people together. Street is not only the place for walking or driving but it should content a range of activities which define the human life. It is the place for sitting, chatting, drinking coffee, playing, dancing, selling etc. The success of street life in the ancient urban quarter depends on the proportion of the street with the buildings and the human scale of every design. The small scale of those urban quarter has attracted people to get out of their house and to join in the small community outside.
Street life is something that helps build community and is a very important element that has been kind of lost with new urban environments where no one knows their neighbor.
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