Introduction
[Background]
The first district of Lotus Village is located in Suzhou Industrial Park, which covering an area of 108,785 square meters (Figure 1.1). This neighborhood is surrounded by several hospitals, schools and businesses. Furthermore, it is also existing in the number of 2679 households, and the total number of the floating population is approximately more than thousands every year.
Figure 1.1: The location of the case study site (Google Maps, 2019)
[Purpose]
Figure 1.2: The research areas
Our group had proposed a site improvement scheme for Lotus Village based on local situation and successful concepts and example of previous research. The research areas are divided into three main parts as Figure 1.2 shows. The target it to increase the sense of community and make the neighborhood more suitable for its residents.
[Log]
The role allocation for different aspects
(1) Social
* People and community: Jinhan Yan 1717932
* Local facilities: Bosheng Li 1715493
* Movement: Jilin Li 1717916
(2) Economy
* Local Enterprise: Yongqi Fan 1717061
(3) Environment
* Biodiversity & Material: Yiyuan Hu 1716817
* Energy: Shaohuai Pei 1613684
* Water: Kunye Liu 1715494
Food: Yang Shi 1718876
Figure 1.3: Working Calendar
Drama Video
Research Methods and Process
[Methods]
- ICE: Recommended Readings, Additional Readings, Videos in Week 1 to 4, PPTs from teachers.
- Other online resources: Maps, Related Articles.
- Interview: Q&A, Questionnaires for local residents.
- Record: Notes, Pictures, Drawing.
[Process]
(1) Before visiting:
- Division of labor through the chosen areas.
- Reading and watching the online resources, particularly the videos and PPTs.
- Preparing for the first filed trip (e.g. Maps).
(2) The first trip:
- Determining the route and observing the daily life of residents.
- Photographic record (e.g. Land use, Activities, Facilities).
- Interview the local residents (e.g. Basic information, Community profile).
(3) Group discussion to prepare questionnaires and individual analysis.
(4) Multiple access:
- Interviews typical questions of residents.
- More detailed photos.
- Walking the different routes.
- Recording the target buildings/key points.
- Collecting data.
(5) Drawing the maps for different aspects, Individual analysis, Group analysis.
(6) Improving the group page.
Social
[People and Community]
Questionnaire
(1) Are you local people?
(2) Why do you live here?
(3) Living alone or with children?
(4) Is there any intergenerational support?
- Areas where you often go to activities?
Population composition:
- About 65% of the local immigrants are immigrants, of whom 80% are residents under 60 years old.
- Of the 50 respondents (55-70 years old), 80% were locals and 20% were immigrants. Seventy percent of the respondents were relocated residents, and 30 percent of the respondents were purchased by their children because of the low local housing prices.
Public activities and exchanges among residents:
- According to the respondents, because the local dialect is difficult to understand and the local residents are not good at using Mandarin, the communication gap between the immigrants and the local residents is caused. Moreover, most of the immigrants said they generally did not contact the local residents.
- More than 90% of respondents said they needed to raise their children's offspring. In addition, 40% of the respondents live alone and 40% of the elderly live with their children.
- Sixty percent of respondents often move in front of their own units, and the vast majority of them are local residents. Thirty percent of the respondents often work in community activity centers, mostly immigrants.
Conclusion:
Through the study, the number of immigrants in this area is larger than that of local residents, and there is a certain gap between local residents and foreign residents. Many young villagers have left the community, leaving the elderly and children in need of care. To a certain extent, the problem of aging and left-behind children in rural areas of China has also been persisted. How to integrate the communicative atmosphere of the community and enhance the participation of residents is a key factor in the future construction of the community.
Activities in front of the unit door
[Local Facilities]
Garbage cans of the community and fire hydrants of the street are the most important facilities in the Lotus New Village.
As for the garbage can, each row building, including about 30 families, would share one big garbage cans and 0.5 small garbage cans (Figure 3.1). Those cans basically meet the demand of the residents to throw the living garbage and separate recyclable, non-recyclable and other waste (household waste). Besides, there are a small number of Used Clothes Recycling Boxes (Figure 3.2). But there are also phenomena that a little number of garbage bags exposed on the streets (Figure 3.3) and some garbage cans block the way of the parking space (Figure 3.4). Furthermore, the cans for recyclable and non-recyclable waste are not big enough. In addition, the community also lacks recycling bins for hazardous materials, such as batteries.
Figure 3.1: the type of the garbage can
Figure 3.2: the Used Clothes Recycling Box
Figure 3.3: exposing garbage bags
Figure 3.4: a post about trash cans blocking the road
As for the fire hydrants, most are located in grassy fields outside buildings. According to Chinese law, these fire hydrants can only be used for emergency purposes. But some sanitation workers or businesses have taken up these hydrants to get water. In addition, these fire hydrants look very ugly when they are exposed on the street. In Japan, many fire hydrants are set in the grass, which greatly improves the aesthetic sense of the community (Mitsukado, 2016; Figure 3.5&3.6).
Figure 3.5
Figure 3.6
[Movement]
The key for the objective of the movement planning in a neighborhood is encouraging all kinds of people to walk (Barton, Grant and Guise, 2003). According to the field investigation at the Lotus Village, the movement planning in this neighborhood is relatively reasonable while there are still some problems.
In the Lotus Village, the division of roadways and sidewalks is clear, and the roadways are broad. In addition, there are clear speed limits, driving prohibited, stopping prohibited and honking prohibited signs (Figure 3.7). It can reduce the occurrence of traffic accidents and prevent the impact of honking noise on residents. However, there are no bicycle lanes, riders can only choose to ride in roadways or on sidewalks, which has potential safety hazard. Moreover, there is no designated parking space, most of the cars, lorries and motorcycles are parked in the open space between two single buildings (Figure 3.8). It makes the space for people’s activities between two single buildings become very narrow and the road between the two buildings can accommodate only one car. It will cause congestion and make it inconvenient for people to travel.
、
Figure 3.7 The signs on the side of a road
Figure 3.8 Cars parked between two buildings
During the process of investigation in the Lotus Village, I haven’t seen anything are designed for people with mobility problems. For example, easily graded ramps can help elderly people and wheel chair users. It is a serious problem needs to be considered. Refer to the advantages of the Lotus Village, there is a recreational center for residents (Figure 3.9). It is a local social network that can improve the quality of life of residents and the sense of local community (Barton, Grant and Guise, 2003). In addition, according to the investigation, the nearest bus stop “Lotus School Station” is only a 2 - to 5-minute walk from the community. It can encourage people walk out in order to travel by bus.
Figure 3.9 Activity Center
Economy
[Local Enterprise]
During the investigation, we found that some local economic phenomena in the community were spontaneous and sustainable. We can consider the economic benefits of lotus new village from employment opportunities, home-based work and environmental audits.
As one of the large communities in Suzhou, lotus new village is surrounded by many stores for daily necessities, such as supermarkets, pharmacies and vegetable markets. Most of the employees of these stores are older, and most of them are residents of the community. Thus, we can think that the birth of these stores has provided many employment opportunities for the lotus new village. Every town or town should provide employment opportunities commensurate with the quality of the local workforce(Barton, Grant & Guise, 2003).
In addition to these lifestyle stores, lotus new village has spawned home shops in everyday life that allow people to work and earn money in their own homes. During our field trip, we found one of the most representative home shops for massage as Figure 4.1 and Figure 4.2 shows. The shop is a family-run massage parlor on the first floor of unit 2, building 17, lotus new village. These stores provide individuals with work and lifestyle options, and create additional sponsorship of local services that strengthen local social networks(Barton, Grant & Guise, 2003).
Figure 4.1
Figure 4.2
No matter how developed a region's economy is, environmental quality is always an important factor that cannot be ignored. In addition to the fact that the goods or services provided may be considered sustainable, the question of how companies' own activities affect the environment (including climate change) cannot be ignored(Barton, Grant & Guise, 2003). After investigation, restaurants and fruit stores near the community will have some bad effects on the local environment, which requires them to have a deep reflection.
Enviornment
[Biodiversity]
Community green coverage rate of 20%, with rich plant species and a small river surrounding the community area. Most of the plants are easy to survive, don't need the community to provide additional care. Plants attract small insects and birds, such as ants, bees, earthworms, sparrows, etc. In addition, the water can provide site for aquatic animals and plants. This made the biological community is diversity.
Figure 5.1： Map
Figure 5.2.1 Field Trip
Figure 5.2.2 Field Trip
Figure 5.3: Species of Trees in The Community
[Material]
We collected samples of materials used in the community, such as building materials, infrastructure materials, and materials used in daily life.
Firstly, the community was built in 2007. Most of the materials used on the building surface are ceramic tiles and exterior wall paint. The materials used for the sidewalks are mostly cement or asphalt pavement. Urban space materials (buildings, infrastructure) and urban form define the heat island effect (Dessì, 2011). According to the thermal analysis in the figure below, these materials have low thermal conductivity and the resulting heat island effect is relatively small.
Figure 5.4
Figure 5.5
Secondly, regarding the living materials of residents, a variety of materials have been used.
Figure 5.6
The community has taken some measures to integrate material resources, such as: setting up several recycling stations in the community, garbage sorting and various repairing stores.
Figure 5.7
Figure 5.8
[Energy]
Energy use needs to comply with the following four objectives：
- Reducing energy costs
- Tacking fuel poverty
- Safeguarding future fuel flexibility
- Reducing global warming emissions
First of all, I conducted a questionnaire survey on what kind of energy is used to regulate the room temperature (Figure 5.9). According to the results, I found that the main energy source is electricity, coal and other inefficient energy has been rarely used (Figure 5.10).
Figure 5.9: Heating energy use
Figure 5.10: Inefficient Energy
For these four purposes and the investigation, I have come up with the idea of using passive solar design and CHP systems in residential areas that I have learned before(Barton, Grant & Guise, 2003).
CHP means to generate heat and electricity from the same fuel. CHP is an integrated system based on power generation and heat recovery. By exporting heat from power production to heating or industrial applications, CHP plants can usually convert 75-80% of fossil fuels into effective energy (Figure 5.11).
Figure 5.11 CHP Sketch Map (Alkia.eu, 2019)
At the same time, According to the field investigation, I found that the residential buildings in Lotus Village are basically using active solar energy (Figure 5.11), but lack of passive solar energy (Figure 5.12).
Figure 5.11
Figure 5.12: Working Principle of active Solar Energy System (Cstif.com, 2019)
Passive solar building is an environment-friendly building that makes full use of solar radiation heating in winter and reduces solar radiation in summer by architectural design. It relies entirely on strengthening the shelter function of the building without using mechanical equipment to achieve the goal of indoor environment comfort (Figure 5.13).
Figure 5.13: passive solar energy building (Baike.baidu.com, 2019)
Figure 5.14: Working Principle of Passive Solar Energy System (Mediaload.xjtlu.edu.cn., 2019)
[Water]
According to the research after the group visited Lotus Community, in this part, the water system and some water resource problem in the Community will be analyzed.
As the water system in a neighborhood (Barton, H., Grant, M., & Guise, R., 2003) concluding:
1. Blue water used to enhance wildlife on site.
Figure 5. 15, The river source of lotus new village
2. White water for washing, cooking and drinking.
After the interview, we found that the water fee of lotus new village is based on the civil water fee, which is 2.4 yuan per ton. Residents are satisfied with the water price and quality.
However, there are some water using problem remained in this community. According to article 48 of the fire control law of the People's Republic of China, fire hydrants cannot be used by private sector without permission. But just when our team conducted the survey, we found that residents here used water from fire hydrants for private purposes such as the wedding .
figure 5.16a , Fire hydrants in use
figure 5.16b, using fire hydrant in wedding)
This not only violates the law, but also has a negative effect on the surrounding environment. When these people take water without proper pipes, some of the water will leak out into the land, which causes the waste of water. Furthermore, if the drain of earth is not timely, will lead to serious soil erosion problems showed by figure 2. Therefore, water regulation in Lotus New Village needs a further and more standardized rectification.
3. Green water from rain to watering gardens.
figure 5.17 , Rainwater collected from the roof is piped into the garden
4. Grey water comes from baths used to some facilities washing and the biological treatment & Black water comes from flushing WCs and kitchen sinks.
figure 5.18, the drains in the neighborhood
[Food]
Maps
The location of food sold in Lotus Village
There are several places for selling fruits and vegetables (Figure 5.18), and I’ve been looking into some issues of the food in these survey areas. These data were obtained through daily interviews with about 50 local residents, which including different ages and gender. The survey results are shown in the following charts (Figure 5.19).
1. Survey
Figure 5.19 A The food investigate in Lotus Village
Figure 5.19 B The food investigate in Lotus Village
2. Survey Results
For the majority of residents in the first district, it is convenient to buy vegetables, particularly in the roadside stalls overflowing with pep fruit and fresh produce (Figure 5.20). However, these stalls are not legal and the vendors have to vigilant against urban management officers confiscating their goods.
Figure 5.20 The roadside stalls for selling vegetables in Lotus Village
As shown in Figure 5.21, there is a small store selling fruits and vegetables. After interviewing with several elderly people who are active nearby, the vegetables are divided into two parts according to freshness. The price of fresher vegetables will be higher. Moreover, the price of vegetables that have been displayed for a long time will be more suitable for people with lower incomes.
Additionally, the location of this store is closer to the community center. It leads people to be more willing to buy vegetables in the store. According to rough estimates, the profit of one day in a busy period could be as high as more than 10,000 Yuan. However, the variety of goods is too singular. For instance, the meat has not been sold.
Figure 5.21 A small stores for selling the fruits and vegetables
In this community, the larger vegetable market is located a few hundred meters away, such as the Lotus Market (Figure 5.22). According to the statistics, it takes most residents who living in the first district about seven minutes walking to this market. The goods offered of the Lotus Market are quite complete (Figure 5.23), covering fruits, vegetables and various of meats. The diversity of food choice seems not only shows balance and nutritive market but also indicate the healthy residents collective diets. Furthermore, in terms of the food source, from the interview with the local retailers in the neighborhood, they said that the produces are usually wholesale form factories and transported by truck.
Figure 5.22 The Lotus Market
Figure 5.23 The food category in the Lotus Market
3. Allotment
There are several allotment, and they are close to residential homes being easily access by foot (Figure 5.24). Some elder people have the attachment of land after being forced to live in the urban area due to policy reasons. Although they could easily buy fruits and vegetables in the market, they are still more willing to have their own land allotment because of the food price and safety. For example, they could grow fast-growing vegetables near their homes, such as garlic.
There are several benefits for allotments. Firstly, it could improve accessibility to obtain vegetables. Then, it also provide the healthy and safe food. Furthermore, the neighborhood could achieve self-sufficiency in fruits and vegetables that are easy to grow.
However, it has a controversial impact on people’s living environment. Allotment takes a large number of public space which might have negative impacts on the residents daily life and hard to manage the allotment if each residents have their own gardens.
Figure 5.24 The allotment in the Lotus Village
Summary
This article studies and discusses the community planning of Lianhua New Village from nine perspectives: Energy, people and community, local enterprise, Access to local facilities, Movement, Water, Food, Materials and Biodiversity.
First of all, for Facilities in the community, the team found that the number of garbage collection facilities in the community is too small to meet the current needs of the community. In addition, the lack of aesthetic considerations and design of fire hydrants and other facilities in the community reduces the quality of the landscape in the community.
In addition, the lack of biodiversity in the community, especially in wild animals, is noteworthy. With regard to the use of water resources, the irregular use of fire water has resulted in waste of public resources and damage to public facilities. The Group here believes that supervision and education should be strengthened.
There is no clear division of the road system within the community, which increases the risk of pedestrians on the road. Therefore, community management departments need to strengthen the management of road use in the community.
Recommendations
Firstly, as the road situation in Lotus New Village, the distinction between motor and non-motor vehicles paths needs to be made more clearer to prevent the risk of car accident. Furthermore, the path for vulnerable groups such as the disabled and elderly needs to be improved specially in the connected area from resident area to shop and public transport station.
Secondly, for some illegal sales of vegetable and food in Lotus New Village, Outright prohibition and strangulation are not community-friendly initiatives. In response, our group suggested that relevant departments could strengthen the supervision of these vegetable farmers and set up a legal area for them to sell their vegetables for evaluation, so as to maintain the self-sufficiency of residents, which also prevents food safety problems.
Thirdly, in Lotus New Village, some ground floors of resident buildings have the situation of illegal shops. In response to this phenomenon, our group suggest that these shops should be legally controlled without depriving residents of their livelihood. Specifically, Assess the business level and sanitary environment of a shop before issuing a special business license.
Fourthly, some illegal water using problem in Lotus New Village such as using fire hydrant privately will cause series of negative impacts. Relevant departments should strictly prohibit this kind of behavior. Furthermore, for large private events such as wedding which needs a large amount of water, there should be a special dining area for residents having reasonable water charges.
In addition, when it comes to the facilities of the community, more garbage cans should be set and install some cans for toxic substance, such as batteries. Furthermore, some passive solar energy system can be used to save energy and reach the sustainability of the community.
Last but not the least, from the perspective of the relationship between people and community, the drainage system should be regenerated. Besides, to seize more light, local resident can reform the windows.
Reference
Alkia.eu. (2019). Principle of CHP System. [online] Available at: http://www.alkia.eu/?page_id=256 (Accessed 6 April 2019)
Barton, H., Grant, M., & Guise, R. (2003). Shaping neighborhoods: a guide for health, sustainability and vitality. London and New York: Taylor & Francis. (Accessed: 6 April 2019)
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Baike.baidu.com. (2019). Passive Solar Architecture Photo Baidu Encyclopedia. [online] Available at: https://baike.baidu.com/pic/%E8%A2%AB%E5%8A%A8%E5%BC%8F%E5%A4%AA%E9%98%B3%E8%83%BD%E5%BB%BA%E7%AD%91/7471503/0/b2de9c82d158ccbf77d205c410d8bc3eb03541e5?fr=lemma&ct=single#aid=0&pic=960a304e251f95caccf43548c0177f3e660952ce
(Accessed 6 Apr. 2019)
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