2 | Situating the Living Lab in China

in the former Vegetable Company Building No. 2 in Xinmen Wenlu District, in the ancient city of Quanzhou. It is a community built on the idea of Co-Living with the modular box model, shown in Figure 4.4, and proposed by architect Shuhei Aoyama. Box Community is suitable for entrepreneurs who have just stepped into society, as well as like-minded friends in foreign cities looking to quickly make new friends and experience the warm city of Quanzhou.

4.2 FINDINGS

Based on the qualitative data analysis of the above case studies, the research findings are elaborated below and analyzed through the three aspects discussed in Chapter 3. This will provide an overall analysis of Living Labs as a design and planning method that is Place-Oriented, People-Oriented, and Organization-Oriented.

4.2.1 PLACE-ORIENTED: REACTIVATION IN THIRD PLACES BY LABS

4.2.1.1 VACANT THIRD PLACE AS THE MAIN BATTLEFIELD

In physical up-gradation, urban vacancy is the first target for change. If we map all the up-gradation into one organized diagram, it would be clear that those labs all have the common feature that they are close to the community and tend to use deteriorating third places in the community. There are mainly two forms of occupation. The first is short-term occupation, which is exemplified by the DesignUniverse project. By temporarily inserting scaffolding, as shown in Figure 4.5, and fluid furniture in historical buildings, it promoted the overall protection and repair of the building’s interior decoration (Figure 23) while eliminating existing structural safety hazards. This process also added necessary mechanical and electrical equipment in line with the needs of contemporary schooling. The second is a long-term operation organization that is similar to a community center but with an innovative purpose. The NICE2035 project used the original negative commercial street ground floor, shown in Figure .4.2 to drive its transformation towards a new way of living in the future (Lou & Ma, 2018). As Zhou (2021) articulated,

“This is a street that is often complained. I had passed by here multiple times when I was studying. There are many Greasy spoons. Every day there are unwanted smog, dazzling lights, noisy sounds, which make residents upstairs grieve a lot. “

1

2

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4 Figure 4.1 Lester School and Henry Lester Institute before rennovation Souce: Hongkou District Government Figure 4.2 The ground floor spaces in Siping Load for NICE2035 project Source: Yangpu District Government Figure 4.3 Hengda Caojiaxiang Sales Center, the site for Digua community Sourc: Digua community official wechat account Figure 4.4 Former Vegetable Company Building No. 2 in Xinmen Wenlu District, the ancient city of Quanzhou. Source: Quanzhou Daily

Table 4.3 Living Labs identified in China Source: author’s own drawing, data from interviews

4.2.1.2 TURNING SPACES INTO (INVISIBLE) LABS

What is an experiment? What is a laboratory? How do we turn an ordinary space into a laboratory? Different institutions have varying answers to these questions. Some of them directly moved traditional creative spaces into the community. Taking the DesignUniverse as an example, in the revitalization process, teaching spaces like a renovated lecture hall, Fablab, co-creation spaces like co-working workshop rooms, and outdoor scaffolding stages were included to provide room for the Living Lab activity, as shown in Figure 4.9. A more significant case is the NICE2035 Prototype Street Project, as shown in Figure 4.6, in which laboratories were moved directly from the Tongji University campus to the community. Multiple research labs include Tongji-Dadawa Sound lab, Baobao food lab, and other labs. The labs are seen as the street’s anchors. Those anchors will attract a stable flux of people to build a community by choice and incentivize the entrepreneurs in Shanghai (Jiang et al., 2020). This kind of spatial structure under the leadership of experimenters (partners) resulted from continual negotiation and compromises. It is difficult to predict the outcome at the beginning of the planning process. This model has also shared some similarities with the Digua community, as shown in Figure 4.7. For example, one anime director in the community set up his film studio within the site. On the one hand, it is rented out to the public to help create output. On the other hand, it helps the anime director complete the creation of film and television works.

Moreover, some are large-scale spatial experimental fields. The one example that fits in this field is the Box Community, as shown in Figure 4.8. The Box Community itself is a prototype of co-living, and many of its innovative activities explore its own evolutionary trends and directions. Unlike ordinary residential buildings, the Box Community defines the space with boxes. The simple and easy disassembly feature of the box makes it easy to test and iterate the design of boxes continuously. The Box Community’s operation also helps itself keep a stable source of customers to provide constant feedback on the product. This design thinking cycle helps the Box Community itself become a large testbed.

It can be seen that innovation is a phenomenon that can occur in different fields and cannot be understood as a single specific activity alone. According to different innovation results, there are various programs involved. As a whole, the maker spaces and laboratories of new media, lecture spaces, short-term and diversified activities have become the primary carriers. Another important finding when spaces are turned into labs is that innovative activities are highly flexible and uncertain. It is difficult for single dominant spatial functions to meet space needs. Therefore, we can often find liquidity and uncertain spatial forms in those cases.

5 6 7 8 Figure 4.5 DesignUniverse activity Souce: author’s own photography Figure 4.6 NICE 2035 after rennovation Source: DesignHarvest Official account Figure 4.7 Digua Community after rennovation Sourc: author’s own photography Figure 4.8 Box Community after renovation Source: Xiaofeng Du’s photography 47

4.2.2 PEOPLE-ORIENTED: COMMUNITY AS INNOVATION PROTAGONISTS

4.2.2.1 FACILITATORS IN NEED

Manzini (2015) once said that grassroots opinion leaders play a very important role in establishing and operating social innovation organizations. This dissertation argues that this is also applicable to other cases in China. University professors often play an essential role in these design activities. For instance, the founder of the Digua Community is Professor Zhou Zishu at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. Dr. Zishu effectively integrated government resources and reactivated some underground spaces in Beijing. The same is true for Professor Lou of Tongji University, the initiator of the NICE2035 project, and Mr. Du of Box Community. In fact, Mr. Du has such a strong interest in the new living mode of Box Community that he negotiated with the government and designers to make the Box Community exist.

Furthermore, the Living Lab host is crucial for its operation. Most of the interviewees in this research are space hosts. Li and Zhou stated that the Lab host’s work is very different from other occupations. The time and content of the work are highly uncertain, and the interests of all parties need to be well-handled. One of their primary tasks is to maintain the relationship between stakeholders. In other words, the host is a crucial part of the Living Lab’s success, and they will decide the direction of the development and the content to be produced in the future. They usually have an ideological drive, which helps ensure the long-term vitality of the organization.

4.2.2.2 COMMUNITY BUILDING AND PLACEMAKING

Although a Living Lab’s purpose is to innovate, it has played an essential role in community building and placemaking in the process of achieving innovation goals. First of all, the activities it organizes often require the participation of residents from within and outside of the community, as shown in Figure 4.10. Activities for residents can help facilitate communication. One such project is NICE2035’s small garden. It has strengthened community residents’ discussions on gardening. On the one hand, the elderly cannot stand the young people who are not skilled in planting flowers, so they usually help with the administration of the small garden. On the other, the old residents will put the plants from their home in the garden, and they may also feel unhappy when the little garden is stolen.

Meanwhile, activities open to the public can indirectly affect the lives of residents. For instance, they can facilitate interactions between residents and outsiders, which gives residents a new understanding of their community’s value. Taking the Digua Community as an example, the swing dance class attracts residents and allows external “tourists“ to enter the community, where they can dance together. In the process, locals will consider themselves as the host. The outcome of placemaking can be observed when these organizations have become local benchmark organizations. The NICE2035 commune has

9 10 11 12 Figure 4.9 DesignUniverse activity Souce: author participated, Zhen Zhang’s photography Figure 4.10 Urban Bird Watcher Studio in NICE2035 Source: author participated, DesignHarvest Official account Figure 4.11 Digua Community after rennovation Sourc: Digua Community’ official account Figure 4.12 Box Community after renovation Source: Xiaofeng Du’s photography 49

TEACHING ACTIVITY

WORKING ACTIVITY

INNOVATIVE ACTIVITY

FINANCIAL ACTIVITY

Figure 4.13 Industry-University-Research Collaboration in Living Lab operation Source: author’s own drawing (Pilot Thesis) more and more people visiting under the impact of mass media. This publicity strengthened a local sense of identity. During fieldwork, a sense of pride could be observed amongst residents for having their communities shown on TV. However, the expansion of media propaganda has also brought gentrification. One obvious sign of this is that many people show intentions of buying a house nearby.

4.2.3 ORGANIZATION-ORIENTED: LOCALITY, PRODUCT, AND SERVICE THROUGH CO-CREATING IN CHINA

4.2.3.1 IDEAS TO ENTREPRENEURSHIP

A notable feature of Urban Labs is innovation and creativity. It is obvious that the cases selected show some innovative and entrepreneurial characteristics. One of them is the so-called ‘prosumer’ mechanism, as shown in Figure 4.14. If literally translated, it means every resident is simultaneously a consumer and a producer. The Digua Community invented this mechanism, and it helps residents use their knowledge and skills to provide services for their neighborhoods. For example, they incubated a female brand named Mamaland, which organized activities including yoga, Pilates, psychological counseling, and mutual aid clubs to help them deal with psychological challenges. Moreover, Mamaland, as shown in Figure 4.11, encourages and empowers mothers to become entrepreneurs. They also provide skills training, site internships, and recommend work for mothers.

Some Living Labs will cooperate with the school or connect with external resources to produce innovative policies, new products, and services to help the nearby area by putting them into practice with key stakeholders. The most typical instance is the commercial roadshow on the last day of the DesignUniverse event, as the schedule shown in Figure 4.15. It shows how a Living Lab can promote creative entrepreneurship in a city.

The other kind of organization is an experimental field for testing and evolving its own products. This can be reflected in the Box Community, as shown in Figure 4.12, and the box community co-creation workshop.

4.2.3.2 COOPERATION WITH MULTI-STAKEHOLDERS

Being economically sustainable is one of the prerequisites for success in the Chinese regeneration process. Because there has yet to be any government funding for Living Labs, Living Labs in China also needs to attract private capital to participate in innovation and entrepreneurship. Thus, the original urban regeneration model that is unsustainable itself cannot work. A new cooperation mechanism is established to help Living Labs become self-sustaining, as shown in Figure 4.13. Aside from the short-term projects, the selected organizations for this dissertation have all proven to be self-sustaining. During the interviews, it was found that rent is still the main source of profit. Whether it is Box Community’s co-living, NICE2035’s commercial rental venues, or Digua Community’s cafes and bars, the rent is their main source of income. When it comes to activities that they hold, the profitability

varies. It is worth mentioning that although co-creation plays an important role in the Living Labs operation, it is the least profitable activity. Therefore, the Living Lab operation in China cannot only consider co-creation. At the same time, they must consider building a related industrial ecology to balance the finance. Such a business model can be represented through a timetable that vividly explains the construction and operation process of projects such as NICE2035.

One point worth mentioning is that even if the Chinese government does not provide money to such organizations, they still can help allocate related resources to help Living Lab organizations. The Digua Community and NICE2035 project all indicated that they get the government’s design jobs, including urban design, regeneration, and graphic design works for municipal projects. Therefore, Living Lab organizations can balance the activity expenditures needed for organizing activities by earning money from relevant government bodies.

4.2.3.3 DESIGN-DRIVEN COLLABORATIVE COMMUNITY

It is undeniable that such institutions are desirable to a younger demographic. This attractiveness can even attract young people to move away from a relatively better living environment to work and live instead in the old city. Taking NICE2035 as an example, Shanghai middle-class people who love the sustainable lifestyle and innovation practices have been attracted to NICE2035 and the sense of community it fosters, as shown in Figure 4.16. This result is inseparable from Mr. Lou’s personal charm. Many partners have joined this renewal project because of their long-term cooperation or unforgettable experience working with him. Mr. Lou and the first group of partners around him form a cluster, as shown in Figure 4.17. This cluster planned and discussed the Living Lab project and held an opening event together. After that, many joined the community, and the cluster proliferated quickly. Wawa, a plant-balanced diet expert, and Yifu, the founder of Dasheng City Lab, whom I met during my fieldwork, moved to live nearby. When asked about the reason for their movement, they say that: “Because I feel very young here, and I feel that I can come into contact with different interesting things every day.” and “Meeting same-minded people here makes me happy.” It is evident that the attractiveness of the community transcends its physical environment. Such a Living Lab can further enhance the attractiveness of the community and the tourist destination itself to the outside world. Such manifestations are also found in the Digua Community, the Box Community, as well as the DesignUniverse.

Figure 4.14 Digua Community’s bookelet Source: author’s own photograph Figure 4.15 Design Universe’s booklet Source: author’s own photograph 14 15

Figure 4.16 Design Community formed in NICE2035 Source: DesignHarvest’s offcial wechat account

4.3 REFLECTION

Overall, these results indicate that the planning of a Living Lab in China is currently a tentative new approach to urban regeneration that focuses on innovation. This is emphasized by the fact that the case studies discussed in this dissertation demonstrate their plausibility in all three aspects of being People-oriented, Place-oriented, and Organizational-oriented. The development model shown in Table 4.4 that is proposed in this dissertation can be replicated widely across the region in places of similar urban regeneration typologies. It will enable a transformation from a single residential landscape to a landscape of symbiosis between innovation and urban regeneration. The model also embodies a participatory process in which residents gain agency. Such a process will sustain a tourist destination’s development in the long run.

Figure 4.17 NICE 2035’s operational scheme Source: author’s own drawing

Policy Category Key Findings Detailed Findings

Place-oriented Vacant third place as the main battlefieldW All have the common feature of being close to the community and tend to use deteriorating third places. There are mainly two forms: (1) Short-term occupation, and (2) Long-term inhabiting labs in the community with studios and maker spaces.

Turning spaces into (Invisible) Labs

Observed types: (1) Some of them directly moved traditional creative spaces into the community. (2) Some are large-scale spatial experimental fields. Innovation is a phenomenon that can occur in different fields and cannot be understood as a single specific activity alone. They are also highly flexible and uncertain. People-oriented A Facilitator in need Grassroots opinion leaders play a very important role in establishing and operating social innovation organizations. What’s more, the Living Lab host is crucial for its operation.

Community Building and Placemaking

The activities it organizes often require the participation of residents from the community and outside. The outcome of placemaking can be observed when these organizations have become local benchmark organizations. Organization-oriented Ideas to Entrepreneurship A notable feature of Urban Labs is innovation and creativity. It is obvious that the cases selected show some innovative and entrepreneurial characteristics. (1) the ‘prosumer’ mechanism. (2) Cooperate with the school or connect with external resources to produce and put idea into practice with key stakeholders. (3) Organization per se is an experimental field for testing and evolving its own products.

Cooperation with Multi-stakeholders Being economically sustainable is one of the prerequisites for success in the Chinese regeneration process. Because there has not been any government fund for Living Lab yet and the high degree of cooperation with the government and related institutions, Living Labs in China also need to attract individual capital to join in innovation and entrepreneurship. One point worth mentioning is that even if the Chinese government will not provide money to such organizations, still, they can help allocate related resources to help Living Lab organizations.

Design-driven Collaborative Community It is undeniable that such institutions are desirable to young communities. This attractiveness even can let young people be willing to move away from a relatively better living environment to work and live in the old city.

TOURISM-LED URBAN REGENERATION: LAOCHENGNAN AS AN EXAMPLE

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5.1 TOURISM DESTINATION DEVELOPMENT IN NANJING

Laochengnan sits in Nanjing, as shown in Figure 5.1, and it is one of the most developed cities that served as the national capital of China across ten different dynasties between 229CE and 1949. It has witnessed the battle between an entrepreneurial and a conservational approach in urban regeneration for many years.

Nanjing is known for its famous historical sites. But like many other cities, during the 1990s, 90% of the Ming and Qing style buildings in Nanjing were destroyed by the government and its subordinate company in order to shake off “backwardness” (Zhang, 2006) and develop the district economy. During that period, the famous Fuzimiao, shown in Figure 5.3, was demolished and rebuilt into a “fake antique” commercial street, as shown in Figure 5.7.

In 2002 and 2003, with the publication of the Conservation Plan of Nanjing (Nanjing Lishi Mingcheng Baohu Guihua) and the Nanjing Old City Preservation and Renewal Plan, almost all remaining traditional neighborhoods in Laochengnan were designated as historical cultural conservation areas, which should be strictly protected. But it is not only a spatial framework of what land is preserved, but also a map of what land can be obtained and controlled by the government. That is, the passing of two critical national laws in 2001 and 2007 stipulated that the state could legally expropriate residents’ private property if it is in the ‘public interest’. It can be seen in later practices that the term ‘public interest’ is vague and usually abused. Therefore, it did not successfully stop the growth-oriented model of development. In fact, it accelerated the process. Since 2006, the government has acted as the leading force to implement a top-down “massive demolition and construction“ plan in Nanbuting, shown in Figure 5.4, where locals were forced to separate from their original culture and land in exchange for compensation fees, as shown in Figure 5.8.

In 2008, in order to develop the Mendong area, shown in Figure 5.5, the government creatively proposed a ‘Teeth Replacement Model.‘ To elaborate, except for key historic buildings, the ‘good teeth,’ most buildings in the original streetscape were seen as ‘bad teeth’ needing to be pulled. The bad ones were destroyed and rebuilt to fit the commercial street planning. As a result, tourists had no chance to see the everydayness of Laochengnan, as shown in Figure 5.9. Moreover, there is a significant disconnect between the locals and the benefits of tourism and the local culture. Such entrepreneurial plans triggered widespread and intense tensions and conflicts among residents, the government, the planning team, and academics (Chen, 2021).

Local cultural activists, national cultural elites, the central government, and residents raised many doubts about this approach. Two competing battles to defend Laochengnan were launched in 2006 and 2009 against