Urban Planning, Competitions and Exhibitions

Abstract

Public and private institutions or stakeholders use exhibitions and competitions as means of urban planning to stimulate the production and exchange of ideas and as tools to reshape urban form as well as governance. Competitions aim to elicit ideas from various people -mostly professionals, but occasionally also the general public -on a defined topic, including urban plans. Exhibitions, both educational and exemplary, provide spaces respectively for the comparison of architectural and urban representations or actual construction. Both methods have long histories of changing the goals and themes that have evolved with the shifting definition of the profession.

Examining the effectiveness of urban planning exhibitions in planning communication: A contextual model of learning

“…There are only a few studies that have been conducted around urban planning exhibitions worldwide, concerning their historical development (Freestone, 2015;Freestone & Amati, 2011;Hein, 2015;Nakajima, 2021;Tewdwr-Jones et al, 2020), exhibition design (Tan & Cho, 2022;Lu et al, 2020;Qian & Wu, 2012), and its connected political metaphors (de Jong et al, 2018). So far, there is a gap in research on the effects of urban planning exhibitions on the communication of planning contents.…”

“…So far, there is a gap in research on the effects of urban planning exhibitions on the communication of planning contents. Hein (2015) looked into the history of urban planning competitions and exhibitions and argued that they provide a way to highlight breakthroughs and systemic challenges in urban planning. Some studies have explored their role in user satisfaction (Bern & Røe, 2022;Fan, 2014;Tewdwr-Jones et al, 2020, Tan andCho 2022).…”

“…Urban planning is a complex and multifaceted endeavour that aims at adapting the form and function of cities to the diverse needs of stakeholders, and a means of bringing about political, social and physical change (Hein, 2015). The current pace of urbanisation has brought a growing awareness for pressing urban challenges.…”

“…Urban Planning exhibitions differ in size and characteristics depending on budget and planning context (Freestone & Amati, 2016;Hein, 2015). In particular in China with its enormous growth and spreading of urban areas there has been a rapid increase in the number of Urban Planning Exhibition Halls (UPEHs) recently (Fan, 2014;Wu, 2000), totalling 880 UPEHs according to nationwide market survey (Chen & Chen, 2017).…”

“…They make use of maps, plans, photographs, perspectives, models, AR, VR and other advanced digital tools for planning communication and public engagement (Fan, 2014;von Petz, 2010). In urban planning exhibitions the past, present, and future of a specific area or proposed development is presented (Carrière & Demazière, 2002;Hein, 2015;Lu et al, 2020). Chinese UPEHs are distinguished from Western examples in terms of facilitation and resourcing.…”