The Plenary Lecture for III International Conference on Landscape and Urban Horticulture

Green and Art Raise City Quality

ZHOU Wuzhong

Institute of Tourism and Landscape Architecture, Southeast University

No.2 Si Pai Lou, Nanjing 210096 China

wzzhou@seu.edu.cn

Abstract:

Gardening, one of the oldest categories of art, is a link between green and art, material and spirit. This article, taking city gardening as its base of research, tries to make a thorough analysis on the influence of gardening on city life from different aspects. In fact, city gardening is a ‘conjunction of green and art’, which plays an extraordinary role in improving city quality.

Firstly, gardening affects city life which can be directly perceived through senses, so gardening, within the ecological system of the city, is often regarded as a key to raise city quality. Secondly, gardening, which performs an extra role in the production of green food and public health, can perfect municipal functionality. Lastly, from the ideological level, gardening can better city environment, which can be seen from leisure travel and human comfort provided by city life. This paper holds the view that, any city which gives priority to city gardening, pursues the integration of green and art, favors long-term coexistence of material and spirit, will be a livable city, an ideal tourist destination, a perfect dwelling place.

Therefore, the present author proposes that agriculturists including horticulturists, architects including landscape designers, and artists including scholars of humanities, should unit as one on the multidisciplinary level, with the view of 3A (Agriculture, Architecture, Art) from the perspective of philosophy and practice, to set up a new discipline that is City Artistic Design. We are sure that this joint effort will speed up the realization of our aim to raise our city quality, build better human settlements, and finally, create ever-green city life for humankind.

Keywords: Urban Horticulture; City Artistic Design; Green and Art; 3A Philosophy; Neo-Chinese Style; City Quality; Landscape Review