Main entry:

Wang, Jun, 1969-

Title & Author:

Beijing record : a physical and political history of planning modern Beijing / Wang Jun.

Publication:

Singapore ; London : World Scientific, ©2011.

Description:

xxii, 512 pages : illustrations (some color), maps, plans ; 24 cm

Notes:
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Machine generated contents note: Chapter 1 -- Preservation vs. Demolition -- "Transformation" of Old Beijing -- Demolition vs. Preservation -- "Will our Capital City be Moved to another Place?" -- Chapter 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" -- Chapter 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 -- Chapter 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?" -- Chapter 5 -- Controversy on Dawuding.
Zhang Kaiji's "Self-Criticisms" -- Tradition vs. Modernism -- "For the Second Best" -- "Waste" under Attack -- Chapter 6 -- Perplexities of the Wise -- Chang'an Left Gate and Chang'an Right Gate -- Wu Han Launches Attacks -- Big Compounds Developed Into Enclaves -- Chapter 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" -- Chapter 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 -- Chapter 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 -- Chapter 10 -- Lingering Sound, Hard to Die -- Sigh at this Man -- Too Much Entanglement to Clear.

Summary:

"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."--Page 4 of cover.

ISBN:

9789814295727 (hbk.)
9814295728 (hbk.)

Subject:

City planning China Beijing History.
City planning.
Stadtplanung
Städtebau
China Beijing.
Peking

Form/genre:

History.

Holdings:

Location: Library main 275436
Call No.: BIB 209674
Status: Available