Beijing Record A Physical and Political History of Planning Modern Beijing 1st Edition by Jun Wang ISBN 9814295728 978-9814295727

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Product details: 

ISBN 10: 9814295728 

ISBN 13: 978-9814295727

Author: Jun Wang

Beijing Record, the result of ten years of research on the urban transformation of Beijing in the last fifty years, brings to an extended Western audience the inside story on the key decisions that led to Beijing’s present urban fragmentation and its loss of memory and history in the form of bulldozing its architectural heritage. Wang’s publication presents a survey of the main developments and government-level (both central and municipal) decisions, devoting a lot of attention to the 1950s and 1960s, when Beijing experienced a critical wave of transformative events.

Shortly after its original Chinese bestseller edition was published by SDX joint Publishing Company House in October 2003, it ignited a firestorm of debate and discussion in a country where public interaction over such a sensitive subject rarely surfaces. The Chinese edition is in its 11th print run and was translated into Japanese in 2008. This newly-translated English version has the latest update on the author’s findings in the area. As the only edition printed in full color with nearly 300 illustrations, the English version powerfully showcases the stunning architecture, culture, and history of China’s Dynamic Capital, Beijing.

Home to more than 15 million people, this ancient capital city – not surprisingly – has a controversial, complicated history of planning and politics, development and demolition. The publication raises a number of unsettling questions: Why have a valuable historical architectural heritage such as city ramparts, gateways, old temples, memorial archways and the urban fabric of hutongs (traditional alleyways) and siheyuan (courtyard houses) been visibly disappearing for decades? Why are so many houses being demolished at a time of economic growth? Is no one prepared to stand up for the preservation of the city?

For his research, Wang went through innumerable archives, read diaries and collected an unprecedented quantity of data, accessing firsthand materials and unearthing photographs that clearly document the city’s relentless, unprecedented physical makeover. In addition, he conducted more than 50 in-person interviews with officials, planners, scholars and other experts. Many illustrations are published here for the first time, compiled in the 1990s when archival public access was reformulated.

Table of contents: 

Chương 1
Preservation vs. Demolition
“Transformation” of Old Beijing
Demolition vs. Preservation
“Will our Capital City be Moved to another Place?”

Chương 2
Antagonizing Views on Beijing’s City Planning
Differences Surface
Beijing, the Greatest
Debate between Friends
Map of Monumental Structures in Besieged Beiping
“Transforming Consumption Cities into Production Cities”

Chương 3
The “Liang-Chen Proposal”
“Charlie Chen”
Planning for New Urban Center
Debate with Soviet Advisors
Proposal on the Location of the Central Administration District

Chương 4
Controversy on “Liang-Chen Proposal”
Opponents to “Liang-Chen Proposal”
City Walls: Preservation vs. Demolition
In Defense of Old Beijing
“Death” of Liang-Chen Proposal
“Where Have Those New Buildings Actually Been Built?”

Chương 5
Controversy on Dawuding
Zhang Kaiji’s “Self-Criticisms”
Tradition vs. Modernism
“For the Second Best”
“Waste” under Attack

Chương 6
Perplexities of the Wise
Chang’an Left Gate and Chang’an Right Gate
Wu Han Launches Attacks
Big Compounds Developed Into Enclaves

Chương 7
Pedantism
Self-defense in the Campaign of Airing Views
Political Storm
A Pair of Famous Opponents
“Chen-Hua Alliance”
A Pair of “Sworn Enemies”

Chương 8
Blueprint Revealed
Master Plan Drawn
City Wall Dismantling Spree
Forbidden City Rebuilding Plan Unimplemented
Administrative Center in the Old City
Urban People’s Commune

Chương 9
Clean Break between the Old and the New
Disputes over “Wide Roads”
Final Demolition of the City Walls
Paris Tour – A Day like A Year
“Making a Clean Break with Old Material Culture”
No Answer to be Found

Chương 10
Lingering Sound, Hard to Die
Sigh at this Man
Too Much Entanglement to Clear

Index

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Tags: Jun Wang, Beijing Record, Political History, Planning Modern