PLANNING SUSTAINABLE NEIGHBORHOODS
THE RESPONSE TO THE AMUSEMENT PARK Theme parks are a fast growing entertainment attraction in China; the earliest were developed in the mid 1980s but by 1998 there were an estimated 2,000 to 2500 located throughout the country (Ap, 2003). Despite their proliferation, many parks have not been as successful as often assumed. The challenges associated with them, both in the US and China, range from their spatial relationship with the surrounding area to lackluster financial returns. Both Cedar Park in Sandusky, Ohio and Six Flags in Jackson, New Jersey are isolated from their neighboring districts. Their spatial orientation detaches them from local residents and significantly limits their contributions to local economic development. The infamous experience of the abandoned ‘Wonderland’ in Beijing is an example of a Chinese theme park project that failed due to its lack of consideration of surrounding residents.
Figure 7.4: Wonderland Theme Park, Beijing
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INDIVIDUAL TOOLS
Figure 7.6: Cedar Point, Sandusky, Ohio
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Figure 7.5: Six Flags, Jackson, NJ maps.google.com/
INTEGRATION : SYSTEMS
This District will appeal to diverse residents desiring to be full participants in the experience economy. Urban sociologists note that increasingly consumers do not want to travel vast distances to experience a magnificent diversity of consumption opportunities; rather they desire flourishing districts of concentrated and integrated urban entertainment (Lloyd et.al, 2000). Responding to these trends, ExperienCity counters the image of the detached and seasonal theme park, creating instead an attractive environment that balances residents’ quality of life demands.
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Figure 7.3: American Dreams Theme Park, Shanghai
With the explicit goal of creating a vibrant district that integrates an emphasis on experiential entertainment and consumption with a high quality living environment, ExperienCity will be a regional entertainment destination that people are equally eager to call home.
In addition to lacking connections to bordering residential neighborhoods, theme park projects, particularly in China, have experienced problems with revenue generation. Eighty to ninety-five percent of the theme parks in China have been loosing money (Ap, 2003). Visiting a theme park is a once-only affair for most of the Chinese market (Ap, 2003). Even the famed Overseas Chinese Town in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone has felt the effects of this reality; in 1992 the four parks had 7.5 million visits annually, and by 1997 this number had decreased to 4.3 million (Ap, 2003). One completely failed example is American Dream theme park in Shanghai. This amusement park that cost over fifty million dollars to build, closed because it couldn’t generate enough return visits (NYTimes, 1999). One of the key reasons for the financial challenges faced by these and other theme parks is the lack of a constantly changing dynamic atmosphere (Ap, 2003).
ANALYSIS : SYSTEMS
Psychology research has increasingly shown that investing discretionary resources into life experiences rather than buying material possessions, makes people happier. ExperienCity will attract participants and consumers from a broad spectrum of life stages and life styles, that are willingly seduced into experiences that leave them in high spirits, thereby improving their quality of life.
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Facilitated by economies of scale and the network effects of agglomeration, entertainment in ExperienCity will be highly connected and consistently & refreshingly novel. Both the producers and consumers of entertainment will be engaged in a dynamic, iterative process whereby they are jointly and constantly redefining what is modern and cutting edge.
INTRODUCTION
GOAL