以傳播城市化專(zhuān)業(yè)知識(shí)為己任
2024年11月21日
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百瑞·威爾遜：
中國(guó)國(guó)際城市化發(fā)展戰(zhàn)略研究委員會(huì)委員、英國(guó)注冊(cè)景觀建筑師
百瑞是香港園境師協(xié)會(huì)的董事、香港注冊(cè)園境師
英國(guó)景觀建筑師學(xué)會(huì)和香港園境師學(xué)會(huì)的成員
百瑞先生是香港城市設(shè)計(jì)學(xué)會(huì)副會(huì)長(zhǎng)，由他創(chuàng)立的百瑞雋思項(xiàng)目咨詢(xún)有限公司在解決中國(guó)大陸和香港的城市化問(wèn)題方面已有20余年的實(shí)踐經(jīng)驗(yàn)。www.initiatives.com.hk
Barry Wilson is Vice President of the Hong Kong Institute of Urban Design. His practice, Barry Wilson Project Initiatives, have been tackling urbanisation issues in Hong Kong and China for over 20 years. www.initiatives.com.hk
作者寄語(yǔ)
城市從未像現(xiàn)在這樣復(fù)雜，多方面的問(wèn)題會(huì)影響到城市建設(shè)中的理念、規(guī)劃、開(kāi)發(fā)、管理和老化。在時(shí)間維度下，人口聚集過(guò)程承載著社會(huì)、政治、健康、文化和經(jīng)濟(jì)背景。故此涉及到的社會(huì)領(lǐng)域包羅萬(wàn)象，包括社會(huì)歷史學(xué)、城市社會(huì)學(xué)、建筑史和考古學(xué)，還有醫(yī)療健康與教育、城市地理學(xué)與經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)理論。
在這個(gè)專(zhuān)欄中，我將游走在世界各地，與各領(lǐng)域的專(zhuān)家、遠(yuǎn)見(jiàn)者、變革者一道討論讓城市生活更美好的基本要素。并在不同關(guān)鍵維度上，分享他們對(duì)未來(lái)城市生活的獨(dú)特見(jiàn)解。
?。ò偃稹ね栠d于2018年8月深圳）
百瑞·威爾遜(右)與凱瑟琳·沃德·湯普森(左)暢談城市化問(wèn)題
上次與著名景觀建筑師、健康研究員及教育家凱瑟琳·沃德·湯普森見(jiàn)面，已經(jīng)是1989年的事了。那時(shí)我還是個(gè)少不更事的大學(xué)生，急切想趕完一篇關(guān)于愛(ài)丁堡藝術(shù)學(xué)院歷史公園修繕項(xiàng)目的畢業(yè)論文。凱瑟琳那時(shí)是我的導(dǎo)師，公園修繕也是她當(dāng)時(shí)的專(zhuān)業(yè)課題。作為我們的系主任，凱瑟琳當(dāng)時(shí)對(duì)我們學(xué)生而言確實(shí)是一個(gè)可怕的存在。凱瑟琳年紀(jì)輕輕就飛速步入職業(yè)巔峰，并在辨別景觀與身心健康提升之間的聯(lián)系上有著極強(qiáng)專(zhuān)業(yè)素養(yǎng)，尤其是兒童、青少年與老人的身心健康提升上。她是蜚聲國(guó)際的OPENspace研究中心的創(chuàng)始人與總監(jiān)，主導(dǎo)了許多重大研究資助與合作項(xiàng)目，包括為蘇格蘭政府及獲過(guò)大獎(jiǎng)的I’DGO協(xié)會(huì)所承接的極具創(chuàng)新性的“綠色健康（Greenhealth）”研究項(xiàng)目。
此次我們?cè)趶V州相見(jiàn)，正逢凱瑟琳在華南理工大學(xué)舉辦演講及專(zhuān)題研討會(huì)。多年后重逢，我還是忍不住吃驚：凱瑟琳溫柔的語(yǔ)調(diào)與自然平和的舉止在幾十年前是怎樣震懾住一群大學(xué)生的?！捌鋵?shí)我當(dāng)時(shí)也挺害怕的，”重逢之際她坦言道，“因?yàn)槟敲茨贻p，何況又擔(dān)任系主任這種自己力所難及的職責(zé)。”然而，我對(duì)昔日記憶的緊張感很快就淡去了。在那個(gè)溫暖的下午，我們談?wù)撝尭髂挲g段、各能力階層的人無(wú)論在何地皆可享有接觸高質(zhì)景觀空間的重要性及價(jià)值。
健康與環(huán)境
“財(cái)富是預(yù)測(cè)健康程度與壽命的最佳指標(biāo)?！眲P瑟琳簡(jiǎn)單闡釋道。縱觀數(shù)世紀(jì)歷史，無(wú)不如此，而且這一現(xiàn)象還在持續(xù)。即便是在先進(jìn)發(fā)達(dá)的社會(huì)里，健康程度最低的人群也總是那些財(cái)富最少的。然而，近年來(lái)越來(lái)越多的證據(jù)顯示，讓大眾有權(quán)享有優(yōu)質(zhì)的環(huán)境、尤其是自然環(huán)境，其實(shí)是減少社會(huì)不平等的最容易及最劃算的方式之一?！白畲蟮睦婵梢砸曌魇墙o予最弱勢(shì)的社會(huì)群體的”。2001年凱瑟琳設(shè)立Openspace時(shí)，關(guān)于戶(hù)外環(huán)境可及性影響健康的研究尚無(wú)人問(wèn)津。但隨著發(fā)達(dá)經(jīng)濟(jì)體越發(fā)意識(shí)到非傳染性疾?。ㄈ缧姆渭膊?、肥胖癥、糖尿?。┑钠毡樾?，也開(kāi)始急于增強(qiáng)在這一方面的了解了。該領(lǐng)域的最新研究表明，盡管吸入土壤中的微生物有利于精神健康，且能增強(qiáng)免疫力，但林地可及性才尤其重要。綠色空間為社會(huì)互動(dòng)、步行和交流提供了機(jī)會(huì)，也為人們創(chuàng)造了進(jìn)行諸如種植之類(lèi)的有益活動(dòng)的可能性。
在景觀上投入尤其劃算
凱瑟琳表示，獲取到證明上述事實(shí)的證據(jù)、并借此突出投入景觀的重要性一向都很困難。醫(yī)學(xué)界對(duì)于研究成果有著嚴(yán)苛的指標(biāo)，而且要求強(qiáng)有力的證據(jù)程序?！百|(zhì)量調(diào)整壽命年”（QALY）是一項(xiàng)衡量疾病負(fù)擔(dān)的指標(biāo)，包括生命存活的質(zhì)與量，用于經(jīng)濟(jì)評(píng)估中，以評(píng)估醫(yī)學(xué)干預(yù)花銷(xiāo)的價(jià)值。
一“質(zhì)量調(diào)整壽命年”相當(dāng)于健康完好無(wú)損的一年。如果個(gè)體健康低于此最大值，那么其“質(zhì)量調(diào)整壽命年”便以每年小于1的比例累積?！百|(zhì)量調(diào)整壽命年”可用于為個(gè)體決策提供信息，可應(yīng)用于評(píng)估項(xiàng)目，并為未來(lái)項(xiàng)目設(shè)定優(yōu)先項(xiàng)。在英國(guó)，如果在一“質(zhì)量調(diào)整壽命年”中人均花費(fèi)低于2萬(wàn)-3萬(wàn)英鎊（20萬(wàn)人民幣），便說(shuō)明這是價(jià)值良好的。公共空間可以以較低成本顯著提升“質(zhì)量調(diào)整壽命年”，因?yàn)樗鳛橐环N干預(yù)手段，可以廣泛用于眾多群體，而非單單針對(duì)一人。通過(guò)上游介入公共健康，綠色空間可帶來(lái)巨大益處。
人口老齡化
眾多發(fā)達(dá)經(jīng)濟(jì)體都面臨人口老齡化的問(wèn)題。因此，創(chuàng)建一個(gè)對(duì)老人友好的城市變得至關(guān)重要。讓人們?cè)诨顒?dòng)中“變老”非常重要，而高質(zhì)景觀可及性便可讓徒步出行顯得較為容易且具樂(lè)趣。不平坦路面和臺(tái)階的存在、歇息平臺(tái)或廁所的缺乏，都對(duì)渴望出行的老人構(gòu)成了障礙。而日光、自然環(huán)境及社交環(huán)境的可及性又創(chuàng)造了可供性。從家到目的地的這段旅途中所包含的出行挑戰(zhàn)對(duì)于老人們的決定有著關(guān)鍵影響。其中一個(gè)環(huán)節(jié)出錯(cuò)或有困難，就可能使得老人們不愿出門(mén)溜達(dá)。因此，實(shí)體環(huán)境的設(shè)計(jì)至關(guān)重要。凱瑟琳暗示，座位配有扶手，可助老人起身或坐下；選擇不會(huì)出現(xiàn)明顯溫差的材料；這些細(xì)節(jié)都會(huì)帶來(lái)很不同的效果。
為更好地了解保持活躍一事，就需注意到，人在身處戶(hù)外時(shí)，比身處室內(nèi)，更容易選擇步行。出行還可以間接避免社會(huì)隔絕及隨之而來(lái)的孤獨(dú)感與精神健康問(wèn)題。身體需要陽(yáng)光來(lái)獲取維生素D。而日光可改善人體的晝夜節(jié)律，進(jìn)而影響睡眠質(zhì)量?？萍紕?chuàng)造的“虛擬人工景觀”是無(wú)法取代真正的景觀的。
有趣的是，老人對(duì)于目光所及的景觀種類(lèi)有著非常分明的態(tài)度，這主要是基于他們的兒時(shí)體驗(yàn)。年少時(shí)經(jīng)常接觸“自然”林地的老人到了老年仍舊傾向于選擇富有林地的綠色空間，而封閉的綠色空間對(duì)那些年輕時(shí)候并不怎么接觸林地的老人卻具威脅性，可能會(huì)令其覺(jué)得“不安全”或?qū)@種綠色空間帶來(lái)的隔絕感感到不適。因此城市需要營(yíng)造各色景觀類(lèi)型，以適應(yīng)不同的用戶(hù)群體。恰如凱瑟琳反復(fù)強(qiáng)調(diào)的那樣，要打造一個(gè)城市空間的生態(tài)系統(tǒng)。而用戶(hù)群體的存在反過(guò)來(lái)又可提高整體生物多樣性。
重塑城市
將街道從車(chē)輛或“金屬盒”（凱瑟琳喜歡這樣稱(chēng)呼它們）中搶回，會(huì)是提升公共健康的一個(gè)重大驅(qū)動(dòng)力，尤其在清除路面污染這一層面上。不止如此，我們還需要提升步行環(huán)境，好的步行環(huán)境應(yīng)當(dāng)是怡人、陰涼且能調(diào)動(dòng)人的感官系統(tǒng)的。聽(tīng)鳥(niǎo)鳴、聞花香、感受天氣變化與季節(jié)流轉(zhuǎn)都很重要。凱瑟琳感嘆道，然而目前“機(jī)動(dòng)車(chē)輛在城市環(huán)境稱(chēng)王稱(chēng)霸，行人淪為了二等公民”。道路對(duì)老人而言尤為礙事，因?yàn)樗麄冃枰〞r(shí)間過(guò)馬路，且不得不應(yīng)對(duì)路面高度的變化，而且還疲于評(píng)估過(guò)往的車(chē)輛速度及活動(dòng)。
自行車(chē)作為目前一種流行的城市交通方式貌似正走向復(fù)興。凱瑟琳對(duì)此表示歡迎。但這的確需要再為行人提供獨(dú)立的專(zhuān)門(mén)空間。因?yàn)樾腥藗兓蛟S會(huì)擔(dān)心與移動(dòng)飛速的自行車(chē)尤其電動(dòng)自行車(chē)分享本已足夠狹小的空間。這對(duì)老人群體而言尤其是一個(gè)挑戰(zhàn)。對(duì)凱瑟琳來(lái)說(shuō)，她到晚年所偏愛(ài)的，或許應(yīng)是“三輪車(chē)”之類(lèi)的出行模式了，即可運(yùn)載行李，又可遮陽(yáng)避雨，而且全程筆直穩(wěn)定。當(dāng)然，隨著科技日新月異的發(fā)展，這樣的交通工具很可能會(huì)變得自動(dòng)化，而且隨著城市居民越發(fā)適應(yīng)于共享經(jīng)濟(jì)，也便不必再擔(dān)心“把控”車(chē)輛、車(chē)輛維修或停車(chē)問(wèn)題了。這應(yīng)該會(huì)減輕她的未來(lái)焦慮及精神壓力。“金屬盒”的大掃除定是她所歡迎的圖景。
了解景觀與個(gè)人健康之間的緊密聯(lián)系本是一項(xiàng)由來(lái)已久的傳統(tǒng)，但在上世紀(jì)里，隨著現(xiàn)代醫(yī)學(xué)的發(fā)展，一些為時(shí)甚久的基本常識(shí)被籠罩模糊，人們似乎將這兩者剝離開(kāi)來(lái)了。公共健康項(xiàng)目需要在社會(huì)各界、各色環(huán)境中開(kāi)展。較之于其他高強(qiáng)度的矯正型公共醫(yī)療投入，將景觀作為改善公共健康的工具進(jìn)行投資是低成本高收益的。但要全方位衡量并見(jiàn)證高質(zhì)景觀的供給及反復(fù)維修給社會(huì)帶來(lái)的整體回報(bào)，則需較長(zhǎng)時(shí)間，有時(shí)甚至可能需要數(shù)十年。又該如何令資助機(jī)構(gòu)相信投入景觀可帶來(lái)切切實(shí)實(shí)且不斷累積增長(zhǎng)的價(jià)值呢？
興許我們正處于一個(gè)關(guān)鍵節(jié)點(diǎn)吧：社會(huì)再度意識(shí)到自然環(huán)境的重要性，未來(lái)的城市將變得綠色、干凈兼具包容性。凱瑟琳在城市景觀之于健康益處上獨(dú)具開(kāi)創(chuàng)性且擲地有聲的貢獻(xiàn)將為時(shí)間所證明。由衷期待她在這一領(lǐng)域的后續(xù)耕耘！
BARRY INTERVIEWS—— CATHARINE WARD THOMPSON AN ECOLOGY OF URBAN SPACES
It was 1989 when I last met Catherine Ward Thompson, the renowned Landscape Architect, health researcher and educator. In those days I was a snivelling student desperately trying to complete a rushed and flimsy final dissertation on the restoration of historic parks at Edinburgh College of Art. Catharine was my tutor, and park restoration was her then specialist subject. But Catharine was also “Head of Department”, and as such a fearsome presence to us students. Despite such youth, Catharine had been rapidly catapulted to the top of her profession, going on to develop an expertise in identifying evidence linking access to landscape with improved mental and physical heath, particularly with kids, teenagers and the elderly. As founder and Director of internationally recognised research centre OPENspace, she has gone on to lead numerous major research grants and collaborations, including highly-innovative research on ‘GreenHealth’ for the Scottish Government and the award-winning consortium, Inclusive Design for Getting Outdoors (I’DGO).
We meet in Guangzhou where Catherine is giving a series of lectures and workshops at the South China University of Technology. Upon meeting after all these years, I wondered how it could have been that her soft speech and naturally gentle demeaner could have so petrified the students in her department all those years ago. “I was just terrified myself”, she confessed upon meeting again, “being so young and then suddenly out of my depth as Head of Department”. My nervousness of old quickly washed away in our interview however as we spent a warm afternoon discussing the vital importance and value to people of all ages and capabilities of having access to quality landscape spaces, wherever they are living.
HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT
“The best predictor of how healthy you are and how long you are likely to live is how wealthy you are” Catharine simply explains. This has been true for centuries and continues to be so, even in advanced and sophisticated societies, where those with the poorest health remain typically the least well off. There is however increasing evidence that access to good quality environments, particularly access to natural environments, is one of the easiest and most cost-effective ways of reducing social inequalities. “The greatest benefits can be seen to those most disadvantaged”. When she established Openspace in 2001 there was little or no research available on how access to outdoor environments affected health. But as advanced economies have become more aware of the prevalence of noncommunicable diseases such as heart and lung disease, obesity and diabetes, an
urgency for more understanding has developed. Newly completed research in these areas suggests that access to woodlands can be particularly valuable, whilst breathing microbes from soil is good for mental heath and can boost the immune system. Green spaces supply opportunities for social interaction, walking and talking as well as the potential to undertake beneficial activities such as growing food.
FUNDING LANDSCAPE IS EXTREMENTLY COST EFFECTIVE
Obtaining data to demonstrate these facts and therefore emphasise the need for funding has been difficult Catherine suggests. The medical profession has rigorous standards of research and needs strong evidentiary procedures. The term “Quality Adjusted Life Year” (QALY) is a standard by which to measure disease burden, including both the quality and the quantity of life lived. It is used in economic evaluation to assess the value for money of medical interventions.
One QALY equates to one year in perfect health. If an individual's health is below this maximum, QALYs are accrued at a rate of less than 1 per year. QALYs can be used to inform personal decisions, to evaluate programs, and to set priorities for future programs. In the UK a QALY is considered good value if it costs less than 2030 thousand pounds (200,000 RMB) per person. Public space makes significant improvement to QALYs at low cost since as an intervention it can be applied to a very wide group rather than person specific. As an upstream intervention to public health it can have huge benefits.
AGING POPULATIONS
As many developed countries move towards the problems of ageing populations, making our cities more age enabled to all sectors of society becomes essential. Being active through ageing is important and accessibility to quality landscape makes it easy and enjoyable to get out on foot. Uneven paving, steps, a lack of rest opportunities or toilets can all act as barriers to elderly wanting to take a walk whereas access to daylight, the natural environment and sociable places act as affordances. It’s the challenge of the journey from the home to the destination that has a key impact on decision making. Just one thing wrong or difficult can stop elderly getting out and about, so the design of the physical environment is critically important. Details such as having arms on seats to help get up or down and choosing materials that don’t get too hot or cold can make a huge difference Catharine suggests
In better understanding the issues of keeping active it is noteworthy that people are simply more likely to walk if they are outside rather than being indoors. Getting outside can also help to avoid social isolation and the resultant problems of loneliness and mental health. The body also needs vitamin ‘D’ through sunlight and daylight can affect our circadian rhythms and impact sleep quality. Technology providing a ‘virtual and artificial landscape’ can never replace the real thing.
Interestingly the elderly appear to have differing attitudes to the type of landscape they encounter based significantly on childhood experiences. Those who were used to ‘natural’ woodlands and landscapes in their youth still seek them out in their older age, whereas enclosed, vegetated spaces can be threatening to those who were less accustomed to them when young. They may find they “don’t feel safe” or are uncomfortable with isolation. So cities need a variety of landscape types, suitable to different users, an ECOLOGY OF URBAN SPACES as Catharine repeatedly emphasises, where they could act to greatly enhance overall biodiversity.
RESHAPING OUR CITIES
Reclaiming streets from cars, or “boxes of metal” as Catherine likes to call them, can be a major driver towards improved public health, particularly in removing roadside pollution. However more than that we need better pedestrian environments, which are pleasant, shaded and can activate the senses. Hearing birdsong, smelling flowers, and enjoying the change of weather and season are important. Currently “cars are king in the urban environment and pedestrians are second class citizens”, states Catharine, becoming a touch animated. Roads are particularly barriers to the elderly who worry about having time to cross, have to deal with level changes and can have trouble assessing speeds and movements of vehicles.
A seeming renaissance of cycling as a popular form of urban transport is welcomed by Catharine, but it does need a separate and dedicated space for pedestrians, , who worry about sharing small spaces with fast moving bikes and particularly e-bikes, a challenge in particular for the elderly. Her preferred mode of transport in her own twilight years would perhaps be some form of “trike” which could perhaps carry luggage, have a canopy against sun and rain and would be upright and stable. Of course, with technology changing so fast there is a good chance that such a vehicle will be autonomous, so she won’t need to worry about “handling” it or even maintenance or parking as urban dwellers continue to adapt to a sharing economy, which should relieve her future worry and mental stress. Getting rid of all those ‘metal boxes’ is certainly something she welcomes.
There has been a long tradition of understanding the strong links between the landscape and personal heath, however the last century seems to have alienated the two, with the growth of modern medicine obscuring some long standing basic understandings. Public health is something that needs to work across all sectors and all environments and investment in landscape as a public health tool is extremely low in cost and high in benefit compared to intensive corrective public medical costs. It takes a long time however to fully measure and witness the return on investment to society at large of quality landscape provision and of its recurrent maintenance cost, perhaps even decades. How to convince funding bodies of the real and valuable benefits that can be accrued?
Perhaps we are at a point when society is again realising the importance of the natural environment, and our future cities will be clean, green and inclusive. Catharine’s pioneering work and evidentiary contribution to the health benefits of urban landscape will have proved invaluable by that time. We welcome her continued endeavours.
