反思城市观察

Urban Observation Revisited

当复杂的城市条件日益成为常态,观察对于设计专业人员理解城市那些令人迷惑的过程变得前所未有的重要。在最近十多年中,一种关注于本地和过程的基于观察的城市研究方法正逐渐成形,它将帮助我们面对突现的问题和冲突的叙事。介绍"城市观察"这一新研究领域,讨论什么是城市观察、观察什么、以及怎样观察等基本问题,并通过实例来说明城市观察不仅是一门技术,而更多的是一种启发式的方法,来处理城市复杂性并为城市干预提供有效的认识。

At a time when complicated urban condition has become the norm, observation is ever more important for design professionals to make sense of the cities＇ bewildering processes. In the recent decade, there is an emerging observation-based method that examines the city locally and in-process while envisaging its emergent issues and competing narratives. This article will introduce this new field of ＂urban observation＂. I shall discuss some of its fundamental issues, such as what is urban observation, what to observe and how to observe. I shall also use a few cases to show that urban observation is not only a tool, but also a heuristic method for us to handle urban complexity and to provide an understanding of the validity of urban interventions.