Source: Sixth Tone (2/1/18)
Supreme Court Sides With Victims of Illegal Demolitions
Governments who repossess land without first coming to an agreement with previous owners now liable for damages.
By Fan Liya

A demolition site in Jinhua, Zhejiang province, July 9, 2017. Yuan Shan/VCG.

China’s supreme court has ruled that local governments who seize people’s land and demolish their houses before coming to an agreement are liable for the damages.

Compulsory land acquisition is one of China’s most contentious issues, and the verdict suggests a shift in how such cases are handled.

On Jan. 25, the third circuit court of the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) ruled that a district government in eastern China’s Zhejiang province owed damages to a resident for demolishing his properties without prior agreement on compensation. The verdict, made public on Tuesday, overturned previous rulings saying the resident was only entitled to his due compensation for land acquisition, even though the demolition had been deemed illegal. Continue reading Court sides with victims of illegal demolitions →

Source: NYT (10/11/17)
Asia Dreams in Skyscrapers
By JASON M. BARR

The skyline of Shenzhen, China, in 2017. Credit Justin Chin/Bloomberg, via Getty Images

The skyscraper was born in the United States, but in recent years, it has grown and flourished in Asia. Countries there recognize that to be seen as a player on the global stage, it helps to have tall buildings.

Over a century ago, New York and Chicago demonstrated that the skyscraper is, fundamentally, a solution to an economic problem: how to allow for hundreds, if not thousands, of people and businesses to be at the same place at the same time. Urban clustering, especially in a high-tech world, is more important than ever. By promoting density, skyscrapers confer a competitive advantage and allow a city to become a beacon of commerce. Continue reading Asia dreams in skyscrapers →

Source: Sixth Tone (10/2/17)
China’s Cities: Exotic, Modern, Dynamic — But Never ‘Livable’?
Western-centric metrics focusing on the lifestyles of a wealthy global elite ignore the real reasons why people love living in cities like Shanghai.
By Harry den Hartog (Harry den Hartog is an independent urban designer and author of ‘Shanghai New Towns: Searching for Community and Identity in a Sprawling Metropolis.’)

A jogger takes some morning exercise on the Bund in Shanghai, Dec. 8, 2016. Hai Sen/VCG.

Shanghai is, without a doubt, one of the world’s most avant-garde cities, filled with contrasts and extremes, continuously renewing itself and expanding rapidly. It attracts hundreds of thousands of immigrants yearly, including many foreigners, and most of them come for economic reasons. Since 2010, a steadily growing “creative class” drawn from industries like science, academia, engineering, writing, design, and architecture has made China’s biggest city its home. Continue reading Chinese cities never livable →

Source: Sixth Tone (9/24/17)
How an Architect’s Legacy Inspired a New Face for Datong
More than eight decades after Liang Sicheng’s visit, the heavily industrialized city is finally embracing its imperial past.
By Gu Cun

This article is the fourth in a series about Liang Sicheng, one of China’s best loved architects. Parts one, two, and three can be found here.

Traditional and modern buildings stand side by side in Datong, Shanxi province, Nov. 9, 2014. Li Kun for Sixth Tone

On Nov. 18 last year, the western city wall of Datong, an industrial sprawl home to more than 3 million in northern China’s Shanxi province, was buzzing with activity as a throng of people gathered to celebrate its completion. The wall’s restoration spanned eight years and was the result of colossal investment from the municipal government.

Local media have tended to view the wall as a milestone in Datong’s ongoing transition from its traditional role as an industrial city to a tourist destination. A popular tourist route now winds its way through the city and its surroundings, beginning with the Buddhist grottoes of Yungang to the northwest, skirting the Huayan and Shanhua temples in the city center, on toward the Sakyamuni Pagoda of Fogong Temple in Ying County, around 100 kilometres to the south, and finally to the Hanging Temple in the city’s southeast. Continue reading A new face for Datong →

Source: Sixth Tone (7/3/17)
The Ivy League Architects Who Revitalized Design in China
During their studies at Penn and Harvard, Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin acquired the knowledge that paved the way for China’s first Pritzker Architecture Prize.
By Gu Cun (Gu Cun is a registered architect and a volunteer advocate for the promotion and protection of traditional Chinese architecture.)

This article is the second in a series about Liang Sicheng, one of China’s best-known architects. The first article can be found here.

A bronze statue of Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin stands on the campus of Tsinghua University, Beijing, April 10, 2011. Gong Wenbao/VCG

In order to retrace the investigative path that Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin walked through China, one must begin at an American college.

The University of Pennsylvania (Penn) first began offering architecture courses in 1868, and the addition of French architect Paul Philippe Cret to the school’s faculty in 1903 turned the university’s architecture department into one of the United States’ most prominent destinations for architectural students. The department attracted a great deal of Chinese students during the first half of the 20th century. Among these students were the young Liang Sicheng and his wife-to-be, Lin Huiyin. Continue reading Liang Sicheng, Lin Huiyin, part 2 →