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Urban Tomographies (The City in the Twenty-First Century)
by Martin H. KriegerTomography is a method of exploring a phenomenon through a large number of examples or perspectives. In medical tomography, such as a CAT scan, two-dimensional slices or images of a three-dimensional organ are used to envision the organ itself. Urban tomography applies the same approach to the study of city life. To appreciate different aspects of a community, from infrastructure to work to worship, urban planning expert Martin H. Krieger scans the myriad sights and sounds of contemporary Los Angeles. He examines these slices of life in Urban Tomographies.The book begins by introducing tomographic methods and the principles behind them, which are taken from phenomenological philosophy. It draws from the examples of Lee Friedlander and Walker Evans, as well as Denis Diderot, Charles Marville, and Eugène Atget, who documented the many facets of Paris life in three crucial periods. Rather than focus on singular, extraordinary figures and events as do most documentarians, Krieger looks instead at the typical, presenting multiple specific images that call attention to people and activities usually rendered invisible by commonality. He took tens of thousands of photographs of industrial sites, markets, electrical distributing stations, and storefront churches throughout Los Angeles. He also recorded the city's ambient sounds, from the calls of a tamale vendor to the buzz of a workshop saw. Krieger considers these samples from the urban sensorium in this innovative volume, resulting in a thoughtful illumination of the interplay of people with and within the built environment. With numerous maps and photographs, as well as Krieger's unique insights, Urban Tomographies provides an unusually representative and rounded view of the city.
Urban Transformation: Understanding City Form and Design
by Peter BosselmannHow do cities transform over time? And why do some cities change for the better while others deteriorate? In articulating new ways of viewing urban areas and how they develop over time, Peter Bosselmann offers a stimulating guidebook for students and professionals engaged in urban design, planning, and architecture. By looking through Bosselmann's eyes (aided by his analysis of numerous color photos and illustrations) readers will learn to "see" cities anew. Bosselmann organizes the book around seven "activities": comparing, observing, transforming, measuring, defining, modeling, and interpreting. He introduces readers to his way of seeing by comparing satellite-produced "maps" of the world's twenty largest cities. With Bosselmann's guidance, we begin to understand the key elements of urban design. Using Copenhagen, Denmark, as an example, he teaches us to observe without prejudice or bias. He demonstrates how cities transform by introducing the idea of "urban morphology" through an examination of more than a century of transformations in downtown Oakland, California. We learn how to measure quality-of-life parameters that are often considered immeasurable, including "vitality," "livability," and "belonging." Utilizing the street grids of San Francisco as examples, Bosselmann explains how to define urban spaces. Modeling, he reveals, is not so much about creating models as it is about bringing others into public, democratic discussions. Finally, we find out how to interpret essential aspects of "life and place" by evaluating aerial images of the San Francisco Bay Area taken in 1962 and those taken forty-three years later. Bosselmann has a unique understanding of cities and how they "work." His hope is that, with the fresh vision he offers, readers will be empowered to offer inventive new solutions to familiar urban problems.
Urban Transformational Landscapes in the City-Hinterlands of Asia: Challenges and Approaches (Advances in 21st Century Human Settlements)
by Debnath Mookherjee George M. Pomeroy Le Thi Thu HuongIn the context of mounting challenges stemming from a rapid transformation of the urban-regional landscapes in many Asian countries, this book highlights a multifaceted array of issues that increasingly engage the academic and planning communities in search of viable solutions to complex problems facing us. Even though cities continue to dominate development studies, urbanization of Asia is evolving toward a hybrid urban-rural nexus beyond the cities. This volume considers these shifting dynamics of Asian urbanization, including urban spatial transformations and their ramifications in the context of sustainability and planning. Through the lens of a set of empirical studies across diverse disciplines, geographies and methodologies. yet with an overarching concern for sustainability in varied (but interconnected) areas such as climate change, land use planning, infrastructure and urban mobility, and quality of life, these studies examine a range of important topics (e.g., flooding, transportation, housing, open space/ green space, urban garden and such) in city/regional settings. Together, they add insights into varied transformational processes or patterns at work on the urban-regional landscapes in a number of Asian countries while offering innovative approaches or alternatives. The proposed volume fills a gap in urban/regional studies in context of South and Southeast Asia that will be of interest to all stakeholders (e.g., planners, administrators, academicians and the citizenry), particularly those interested in sustainability and planning paradigms. It should be a timely and valuable addition to the Asian urbanization literature.
Urban Transformations: Power, People and Urban Design
by Ian BentleyCities affect every person's life, yet across the traditional divides of class, age, gender and political affiliation, armies of people are united in their dislike of the transformations that cities have undergone in recent times. The physical form of the urban environment is not a designer add-on to 'real' social issues; it is a central aspect of the social world. Yet in many people's experience, the cumulative impacts of recent urban development have created widely un-loved urban places. To work towards better-loved urban environments, we need to understand how current problems have arisen and identify practical action to address them.Urban Transformations examines the crucial issues relating to how cities are formed, how people use these urban environments and how cities can be transformed into better places. Exploring the links between the concrete physicality of the built environment and the complex social, economic, political and cultural processes through which the physical urban form is produced and consumed, Ian Bentley proposes a framework of ideas to provoke and develop current debate and new forms of practice.
Urban Transformations and the Architecture of Additions (Studies in International Planning History)
by Rodrigo Perez de ArceRodrigo Perez de Arce's essay Urban Transformations and Architectural Additions was published during the formative stages of Post Modernism, at the point where theory was becoming seriously established. Jencks' first essays formalising the term Post Modernism in architecture and the revised Learning from Las Vegas were published the previous year. In planning terms, modernism had become associated with comprehensive redevelopment and forms of urban organisation that ignored context, history and any sense of tradition. De Arce considered the essential nature of buildings and the richness of historic urban form and explored how robust that essence was over time. He looked at the value of essential remnants and rich complexities in maintaining a sense of continuity and relevance. Having explored the adaptation process in history, de Arce went on to see how such a process might be simulated in contemporary cities with modern buildings, using additions and layers to change them from objects in infinite windswept space to being part of a rich urban fabric which described urban place. To do this he used concrete examples; housing schemes by James Stirling, new government centres in Chandigrah and Dacca and more prosaic 60's housing blocks. The paper had a fundamental influence on the way that architects and planners thought about the nature of cities: as dynamic organisms that were tangible to human beings, completely opposite to the systems thinking of the time. It contributed to ideas about the importance of street, place and city block which influenced so much recent regeneration practice. As we enter a phase of development where the reuse and adaptation of existing buildings is becoming paramount from both an economic and sustainable point of view, Perez de Arce's paper gives important insights into how to think about the process positively.
The Urban Tree
by Duncan GoodwinThere is a growing evidence base that documents the social, environmental and economic benefits that urban trees can deliver. Trees are, however, under threat today as never before due to competition for space imposed by development, other hard infrastructures, increased pressure on the availability of financial provision from local authorities and a highly cautious approach to risk management in a modern litigious society. It is, therefore, incumbent upon all of us in construction and urban design disciplines to pursue a set of goals that not only preserve existing trees where we can, but also ensure that new plantings are appropriately specified and detailed to enable their successful establishment and growth to productive maturity. Aimed at developers, urban planners, urban designers, landscape architects and arboriculturists, this book takes a candid look at the benefits that trees provide alongside the threats that are eliminating them from our towns and cities. It takes a simple, applied approach that explores a combination of science and practical experience to help ensure a pragmatic and reasoned approach to decision-making in terms of tree selection, specification, placement and establishment. In this way, trees can successfully be incorporated within our urban landscapes, so that we can continue to reap the benefits they provide.
Urban Views: 12 Quilts Inspired by City Living
by Cherri HouseThe bestselling author of City Quilts is back with &“12 projects in her graphic, modern and colorful style, all created with solid or near-solid fabrics&” (Down Under Quilts Magazine). Cherri House invites you to continue on her quilt making journey in her latest book Urban Views. In this collection of 12 all-new projects, you&’ll learn how to quilt with triangles as well as master a variety of innovative techniques. In the &“City Challenge,&” the author explores 4 more U.S. cities with new quilt designs. All of the projects are rendered in House&’s beloved signature style and will surely inspire sewists of every skill level. Beginner and experienced sewists alike can create modern, must-have quilts with innovative techniquesFeatures modern solid fabric quilt designs with a universal appeal, making them excellent gifts for men and women alike &“House comes down solidly on the side of solids, and with her imaginative designs, the fabrics soar.&”—Publishers Weekly
Urban Watercolor Sketching
by Felix ScheinbergerA guide that shows painters, drawers, doodlers, and urban sketchers how to bring their drawings to life with colorful, bold, yet accessible painting methods.Watercolor sketching is a rapidly emerging technique that enlivens sketches done in pen or pencil with the expressive washes, glazes, and luminous hues of watercolor . This lushly illustrated resource teaches artists on the go how to sketch with watercolor, rendering subjects efficiently and without inhibitions. Readers are guided through all aspects of the medium, from fundamental techniques including wet-on-wet, glazing, and washes; materials and supplies; and little known tips and tricks for getting the most out of watercolor (for example, just sprinkling a little salt on your painting creates a texture that's impossible to achieve with a brush.) A strong focus color theory provides a solid foundation for enhancing drawings with vibrant hues.
Urban Waterfront Promenades
by Elizabeth MacdonaldSome cities have long-treasured waterfront promenades, many cities have recently built ones, and others have plans to create them as opportunities arise. Beyond connecting people with urban water bodies, waterfront promenades offer many social and ecological benefits. They are places for social gathering, for physical activity, for relief from the stresses of urban life, and where the unique transition from water to land eco-systems can be nurtured and celebrated. The best are inclusive places, welcoming and accessible to diverse users. This book explores urban waterfront promenades worldwide. It presents 38 promenade case studies—as varied as Vancouver’s extensive network that has been built over the last century, the classic promenades in Rio de Janeiro, the promenades in Stockholm’s recently built Hammarby Sjöstad eco-district, and the Ma On Shan promenade in the Hong Kong New Territories—analyzing their physical form, social use, the circumstances under which they were built, the public policies that brought them into being, and the threats from sea level rise and the responses that have been made. Based on wide research, Urban Waterfront Promenades examines the possibilities for these public spaces and offers design and planning approaches useful for professionals, community decision-makers, and scholars. Extensive plans, cross sections, and photographs permit visual comparison.
Urban Wildscapes
by Anna Jorgensen Richard KeenanUrban Wildscapes is one of the first edited collections of writings about urban ‘wilderness’ landscapes. Evolved, rather than designed or planned, these derelict, abandoned and marginal spaces are frequently overgrown with vegetation and host to a wide range of human activities. They include former industrial sites, landfill, allotments, cemeteries, woods, infrastructural corridors, vacant lots and a whole array of urban wastelands at a variety of different scales. Frequently maligned in the media, these landscapes have recently been re-evaluated and this collection assembles these fresh perspectives in one volume. Combining theory with illustrated examples and case studies, the book demonstrates that urban wildscapes have far greater significance, meaning and utility than is commonly thought, and that an appreciation of their particular qualities can inform a far more sustainable approach to the planning, design and management of the wider urban landscape. The wildscapes under investigation in this book are found in diverse locations throughout the UK, Europe, China and the US. They vary in scale from small sites to entire cities or regions, and from discrete locations to the imaginary wildscapes of children’s literature. Many different themes are addressed including the natural history of wildscapes, their significance as a location for all kinds of playful activity, the wildscape as ‘commons’ and the implications for landscape architectural practice, ranging from planting interventions in wildscapes to the design of the urban public realm on wildscape principles.
The Urban Wisdom of Jane Jacobs (Planning, History and Environment Series)
by Sonia Hirt Diane ZahmHere for the first time is a thoroughly interdisciplinary and international examination of Jane Jacobs’s legacy. Divided into four parts: I. Jacobs, Urban Philosopher; II. Jacobs, Urban Economist; II. Jacobs, Urban Sociologist; and IV. Jacobs, Urban Designer, the book evaluates the impact of Jacobs’s writings and activism on the city, the professions dedicated to city-building and, more generally, on human thought. Together, the editors and contributors highlight the notion that Jacobs’s influence goes beyond planning to philosophy, economics, sociology and design. They set out to answer such questions as: What explains Jacobs’s lasting appeal and is it justified? Where was she right and where was she wrong? What were the most important themes she addressed? And, although Jacobs was best known for her work on cities, is it correct to say that she was a much broader thinker, a philosopher, and that the key to her lasting legacy is precisely her exceptional breadth of thought?
The Urban Woodsman
by Max BainbridgeHand carving is easy, satisfying and therapeutic when guided by Max Bainbridge. Create your own unique pieces and carve with confidence thanks to detailed information on tools, cutting techniques and clear step-by-step photography accompanying each project. Start with basic spoons, cooking spoons and spatulas, before moving onto butter knives, chopping boards and small bowls, with only a few simple tools required. Max also advises on the perfect finish for your projects - how to sand, ebonise, scorch and texture surfaces as well as waxing and oiling your new creations. Whether you are a novice or an experienced carver, this book will inspire you to make something that you will be proud of.
The Urban Woodsman
by Max BainbridgeHand carving is easy, satisfying and therapeutic when guided by Max Bainbridge. Create your own unique pieces and carve with confidence thanks to detailed information on tools, cutting techniques and clear step-by-step photography accompanying each project. Start with basic spoons, cooking spoons and spatulas, before moving onto butter knives, chopping boards and small bowls, with only a few simple tools required. Max also advises on the perfect finish for your projects - how to sand, ebonise, scorch and texture surfaces as well as waxing and oiling your new creations. Whether you are a novice or an experienced carver, this book will inspire you to make something that you will be proud of.
Urban World/Global City
by David ClarkThis book identifies and accounts for the characteristics of the contemporary city and of urban society. It analyzes the distribution and growth of settlements and explores the social and behavioral characteristics of urban living. The latest theoretical and empirical developments and insights are synthesized and presented in an accessible and engaging way.This second edition has been extensively updated and referenced. Each chapter includes sets of learning objectives, annotated readings and topics for discussion. Well-illustrated throughout, it will be essential reading for students of geography, sociology and development studies and all who seek an understanding of how the urban world has evolved and how it will change in the twenty-first century.
Urbane Zukünfte im Science-Fiction-Film: Was wir vom Kino für die Stadt von morgen lernen können
by Ferdinando TerelleDieses Buch bietet eine außergewöhnliche Perspektive auf die nachhaltige, lebenswerte und humane Gestaltung urbaner Zukünfte, indem es sich dieser Herausforderung mit Blick auf das Science-Fiction-Kino sowie mit Bezügen zu Literatur, Architektur und Design nähert.Schon im Jahr 2050 sollen mehr als zwei Drittel aller Menschen in Ballungsräumen leben. Doch Großstädte laufen bereits heute Gefahr, an ihre Leistungsgrenzen zu stoßen: In den Megacities drohen Überbevölkerung, Verkehrschaos, Luftverschmutzung und Vereinsamung. Auf welche Weise werden solche zukünftig immer drängenderen Probleme in den fiktionalen Welten von Genreklassikern und aktuellen Blockbustern gelöst? Was lässt sich aus den fantastischen Zukunftsentwürfen zur Bewältigung urbaner Herausforderungen lernen?mediale und nachhaltige Großstadt-Architekturen New-Work-Designs und -KonzepteStrategien gegen gesellschaftliche SpaltungZu diesen und anderen Themen zeigen die Autoren eine Vielzahl von Ideen für die Stadtplanung der Zukunft auf und plädieren für das Nutzbarmachen kreativer Potenziale bei der Gestaltung lebenswerter Umgebungen.
Urbanisation at Risk in the Pacific and Asia: Disasters, Climate Change and Resilience in the Built Environment
by David Sanderson Laura BruceThis book presents practical approaches for tackling the threats from climate change and disasters to urban growth in Pacific island countries and Asian nations. With chapters written by leading scholars and practitioners, Urbanisation at Risk presents research and case studies from island countries across the Pacific, Cambodia, Nepal and the Philippines. The book explores and presents the theory, policy and practice of how governments, civil society, aid organisations and people themselves prepare for, withstand and recover better from urban disasters including windstorms, floods, earthquakes and fires, and the effects of climate change. This book is written for urban policy makers, researchers, humanitarian aid and development workers, and anyone interested in urbanisation, participatory approaches, disasters, resilience and climate change adaptation.
Urbanism
by Sarah Jarvis Rob Thompson David RudlinThe Academy of Urbanism was founded in 2006 with a mission to recognise, encourage and celebrate great places across the UK, Europe and beyond, and the people and organisations that create and sustain them. This book is a compendium of seventy five places that have been shortlisted as part of the Academy's annual awards scheme which covers great Places, Streets, Neighbourhoods, Towns and Cities. Included are 75 places shortlisted between 2009 and 2013. Each has been visited by a team of Academicians who have spent time in the place, talked to officials and local people and sought to understand what it is that makes them special and how they have achieved what they have achieved. The Academy also commissions a poem, a drawing and a figure ground plan to understand and interpret the place. David Rudlin, Rob Thompson and Sarah Jarvis have drawn on this treasure trove of material to tell the story of these 75 places. In doing so they have created the most comprehensive compendium of great urban places to have been published for many years.
Urbanism and Town Planning: Understanding and Anticipating Urban Renewal
by Jean-Philippe AntoniSustainable urban planning and urban renewal are major challenges of the 21st century. In this context, Urbanism and Town Planning proposes a geohistorical approach to urban construction. The city and its neighborhoods are studied through their materials and general layout, which sometimes reveal a logic of economic profitability, prestige and social equity, and sometimes a more innovative approach from an environmental perspective. Across these elements, unbuilt spaces (distinctive streets and squares) and built spaces (commercial and residential areas, both individual and collective) form a three-dimensional grid of “voids” and “solids”, characteristic of urban landscapes and lifestyles. Supported by numerous original examples, this book is a comprehensive summary of the most tangible elements of urban planning and development; elements that must be put into context in order to think concretely about the development of the cities of the future.
Urbanism and Transport: Building Blocks for Architects and City and Transport Planners
by Helmut HolzapfelHelmut Holzapfel’s Urbanism and Transport, a bestseller in its own country, now available in English, examines the history and the future of urban design for transport in major European cities. Urbanism and Transport shows how the automobile has come to dominate the urban landscape of cities throughout the world, providing thought-provoking analysis of the societal and ideological precursors that have given rise to these developments. It describes the transformation that occurred in urban life through the ongoing separation of social functions that began in the 1920s and has continued to produce today's phenomenon of fractured urban experience – a sort of island urbanism. Professor Holzapfel examines the vital relation between the house and the street in the urban environment and explains the importance of small-scale, mixed-use urban development for humane city living, contrasting such developments with the overpowering role that the automobile typically plays in today's cities. Taking the insights gained from its historical analysis with a special focus on Germany and the rise of fascism, the book provides recommendations for architects and engineers on how urban spaces, streets, structures and transport networks can be more successfully integrated in the present day. Urbanism and Transport is a key resource for architects, transport engineers, urban and spatial planners, and students providing essential basic knowledge about the urban situation and the challenges of reclaiming cities to serve the basic needs of people rather than the imperatives of automobile transport.
Urbanism for a Difficult Future: Practical Responses to the Climate Crisis
by Korkut OnaranUrbanism for a Difficult Future: Practical Responses to the Climate Crisis is a much-needed guide to launching the next generation of land use planning and urbanism that will enable us to adapt to and survive the consequences of climate change. The book offers strong, straightforward measures for creating a landscape of resilience via pockets of self-sufficiencies. It demonstrates how to secure systems that sustain life (energy, water, food, waste, and production of essential goods) as well as political and social protocols enabling agile decision-making in managing these systems effectively at local levels. It also provides the design principles for creating a built environment that will enable the kind of localization we need for adaptation. The book explores how it is possible to create a life that does not depend on large-scale regional sustenance systems which are likely to be disrupted or fail. This book uncovers how to enable people to be creative, productive, and supportive at local levels, so that we can achieve strong and diverse local economies that can sustain life. It will appeal to students, planners, and policy makers working in environmental studies, environmental engineering, urban and regional planning, architecture, landscape architecture, and urbanism.
The Urbanism of Metabolism: Visions, Scenarios and Models for the Mutant City of Tomorrow
by Raffaele PerniceThis edited book explores and promotes reflection on how the lessons of Metabolism experience can inform current debate on city making and future practice in architectural design and urban planning. More than sixty years after the Metabolist manifesto was published, the author’s original contributions highlight the persistent links between present and past that can help to re-imagine new urban futures as well as the design of innovative intra-urban relationships and spaces. The essays are written by experienced scholars and renowned academics from Japan, Australia, Europe, South Korea and the United States and expose Metabolism’s special merits in promoting new urban models and evaluate the current legacy of its architectural projects and urban design lessons. They offer a critical, intellectual, and up-to-date account of the Metabolism projects and ideas with regard to the current evolution of architectural and urbanism discourse in a global context. The collection of cross-disciplinary contributions in this volume will be of great interest to architects, architectural and urban historians, as well as academics, scholars and students in built environment disciplines and Japanese cultural studies.
Urbanism Without Effort
by Charles R. WolfeThis beautifully illustrated short e-book explores the idea that to create vibrant, sustainable urban areas for the long term, we must first understand what happens naturally when people congregate in cities--innate, unprompted interactions of urban dwellers with each other and their surrounding urban and physical environment. Wolfe elaborates on the perspective that the underlying rationales for urban policy, planning and regulation are best understood from a historical perspective and in a better understanding of the everyday uses of urban space. To make his case, Wolfe draws on his years of writing about urbanism as well as his professional experiences as a land use and environmental lawyer and offers compelling case study vignettes from everyday urban life. Successful community, Wolfe argues, is among the first principles of what makes humans feel happy, and therefore city dwellers invariably celebrate environments where and when they can coexist safely, in a mutually supportive way. Wolfe believes such celebration is most interesting when it occurs spontaneously--seemingly without effort. He contends it is critical to first isolate these spontaneous and latent examples of successful urban land use, before applying any prescriptive government policies or initiatives. Wolfe provides something rare in contemporary urbanist writing--rich illustrations and examples from real life--both historical and current. His writing about the past and the future of urban form offers readers inspiration, historical context, and a better understanding of how a sustainable, inviting urban environment is created.
Urbanism Without Effort: Reconnecting with First Principles of the City (Island Press E-ssentials Ser.)
by Charles R. WolfeHow do you create inviting and authentic urban environments where people feel at home? Countless community engagement workshops, studies by consulting firms, and downtown revitalization campaigns have attempted to answer this age-old question. In Urbanism Without Effort, Chuck Wolfe argues that "unplanned” places can often teach us more about great placemaking than planned ones. From impromptu movie nights in a Seattle alley to the adapted reuse of Diocletian's Palace in Split, Croatia, Wolfe searches for the "first principles” of what makes humans feel happy and safe amid the hustle and bustle of urban life. He highlights the common elements of cities around the world that spontaneously bring people together: being inherently walkable, factors that contribute to safety at night, the importance of intersections and corners, and more. In this age of skyrocketing metropolitan growth, he argues, looking to the past might be our best approach to creating the urban future we dream about. A whirlwind global tour, Urbanism Without Effort offers readers inspiration, historical context, and a better understanding of how an inviting urban environment is created.
Urbanismus und Verkehr: Beitrag zu einem Paradigmenwechsel in der Mobilitätsorganisation
by Helmut HolzapfelDas Sachbuch, jetzt in der dritten erneut überarbeiteten Auflage beinahe schon ein Klassiker der interdisziplinär begriffenen Verkehrs- und Stadtforschung, ist aktueller denn je. Es vermittelt auf kluge Weise Kenntnisse, der historischen und sozio-kulturellen Wurzeln einer einseitig vom Automobil dominierten Perspektive der Verkehrsplanung. Es zeigt die Entwicklung einer von fossiler Energie getriebenen Planung, die seit Jahrzehnten die sozialen und ökologischen Systeme überfordert, und vermittelt darüber hinaus Lösungsansätze, für eine menschengerechtere Stadt- und Verkehrsorganisation, die nicht ihr Heil in der Distanzüberwindung findet, sondern Qualität in der Nähe. Das völlig neu konzipierte Schlusskapitel zeigt eindringlich, dass der Wandel in Transport und Verkehr, oft als Verkehrswende bezeichnet, ohne einen radikalen Paradigmenwechsel in Verhalten, Städtebau und Mobilitätsorganisation nicht gelingen kann. Die 3. Auflage wird mit einem Vorwort von Jens Hilgenberg, Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland e.V. (BUND), eingeleitet.
Urbanization and Contemporary Chinese Art (Routledge Advances in Art and Visual Studies)
by Meiqin WangThis book explores the relationship between the ongoing urbanization in China and the production of contemporary Chinese art since the beginning of the twenty-first century. Wang provides a detailed analysis of artworks and methodologies of art-making from eight contemporary artists who employ a wide range of mediums, including painting, sculpture, photography, installation, video, and performance. She also sheds light on the relationship between these artists and their sociocultural origins, investigating their provocative responses to various processes and problems brought about by Chinese urbanization. With this urbanization comes a fundamental shift of the philosophical and aesthetic foundations in the practice of Chinese art: from a strong affiliation with nature and countryside to one that is complexly associated with the city and the urban world.