Making a dojo inside a snail shell allows the city's scraps to make a comeback. This European style garden in Shanghai used to be a "stone" on the road. Shanghai Pocket Park | Sparrow Little Dirty | Making a dojo inside a snail shell

Pocket Park, also known as Pocket Park or Mini Park, originated from an exhibition organized by the New York Parks Association nearly 60 years ago, proposed by landscape architect Robert Zain.

It is a small urban open space, often scattered or hidden in patches within the city, used for residents to rest and socialize. In the 1960s, over 60 pocket parks were built in New York, mostly converted from abandoned open spaces and backyards, to participate in the daily life of the public within reach.

Expanding public open ecological spaces requires not only large-scale efforts such as national parks, suburban parks, and large urban parks, but also small, numerous, and even park green spaces to bring a sense of ecological gain to the doorstep. Starting from the 13th Five Year Plan, pocket parks that conform to the construction concept of Shanghai's "park city" have been accepted and recognized, leading to a construction boom.

However, in Shanghai, where every inch of land is precious, the planning and construction of pocket parks need to break through hard constraints such as land, population, and environment. Reviewing the construction process of Shanghai Pocket Park, we can see everywhere the wisdom of refined urban management, such as the rebirth of Nirvana, the insertion of needles in every stitch, and the accumulation of small and dirty birds.

Nirvana Rebirth

There is a garden in the heart of Lanshi Street at the intersection of Shiquan Road and Lantian Road. In spring, here, crabapple, fiery southern bamboo, and red flowered Loropetalum trees bloom in full bloom; In autumn, colored leafy plants such as Luan Shu cooperate with fragrant plants such as osmanthus to achieve a perfect combination of color and fragrance.

But setting the clock back to before 2018, this used to be two dirty and disorderly traffic islands, with debris and garbage piled up on the roads from time to time, vehicles parked randomly, sewage flowing horizontally when it rains, and pedestrians crossing the road must pass through, which is very inconvenient and dangerous.

After overall renovation, this "stone" that blocks the road has been transformed into a harbor style pocket park of over 800 square meters, which is both safe and beautiful, and has also opened up the long-term "heart knot" of surrounding residents.

Lanshi Street Garden Chen Xi shake photo

In the triangle area where Longhua East Road, Xizang South Road and Miaojiang Road converge, Platform Garden has also completed a similar transformation.

The originally single functional transportation island has been revitalized, drawing on the landscaping elements of European terraces to create a terraced multi-level passage.

Terrace gardens are an important classification of European gardens. The reason why they adopt this design is mainly to allow tourists in the park to have a higher line of sight than the surrounding roads, avoiding the oppressive feeling caused by traffic and traffic, and to focus their interests on the scattered flower and grass fields, immersing themselves in this hustle and bustle of urban wilderness.

In addition to the core terrace landscape area, sports facilities and leisure areas are also set up in the terrace garden to meet the sports needs of surrounding residents, with a very high frequency of use.

Table Garden Huangpu District Greening City Appellating Bureau

Reshaping the dirty and inefficient urban "scraps" has become a breakthrough point for Pocket Parks to solve the bottleneck of land resource scarcity.

As the smallest urban area in Shanghai, almost all of the pocket parks opened in Huangpu District in recent years have the gene of rebirth.

At the intersection of Madang Road and Fuxing Middle Road, the exquisite and compact Dream Chasing Garden draws red elements, and the red brick elements of a large conference site are laid out in the green space.

Before its completion and opening up in 2021, this area was once a chaotic construction site that was idle due to the construction of rail transit. Due to complex ownership, this state lasted for more than ten years.

Huangpu District coordinated relevant departments and units to clarify ownership relationships and revitalized the land parcel. From then on, residents in the surrounding Shikumen community will no longer have to walk seven or eight hundred meters to find greenery.

Like the Dream Chasing Garden, a considerable portion of the newly added parks in Shanghai in the future are small and exquisite.

"Actively solving the bottleneck of ecological environment construction in mega cities and continuously promoting new practices of green space opening, sharing, and integration." Deng Jianping, Director of the Shanghai Greening and Urban Appearance Bureau, said that Shanghai will focus on the blind spots in park layout in the central urban area and mainly combine various methods such as waterfront greening, street green space, and unit green space opening and sharing to build a large number of pocket parks.

Photo by Chen Xi of Dream Chasing Garden

Insert a needle into a seam

The "leftover materials" in cities often have a characteristic of fragmentation and multiple breakpoints. Integrating them into a coherent ecological space that meets public expectations requires the wisdom of taking every opportunity.

In Xuhui District, a "gray space" squeezed out between the Ren'ai Hospital Physical Examination Center, Jinguyuan Community, the Caoxi Road Station of Metro Line 3, and Kaixuan South Road, resembling a long handled umbrella when viewed from a high altitude. This thousands of square meters long handled umbrella is expected to be transformed into a pocket park and opened to the public this year.

Ensure sufficient access, greenery, and recreational space within the tight space, making it difficult for the design team. After careful calculation, the original sidewalk was moved five or six meters south, and it suddenly became clear.

"If the sidewalk is preserved, a pedestrian walkway will also be built within the pocket park area, which is unnecessary and occupies the available space for green and recreational functions." Sun Yijia, the chief designer of Veya Landscape, said that by moving the sidewalk to the park, it can simultaneously play the role of a park pedestrian walkway. The original location will be transformed into a green belt, becoming a natural enclosure at the intersection of pocket park and road, while increasing the green area of the park.

This province has also saved a post station. These days, a "Qingfeng Station" with a wooden exterior wall is undergoing its final interior decoration. In the future, hurried passersby traveling between subway stations, hospitals, and communities can sit inside and rest, basking in the sun through transparent glass.

It is reported that the name "Qingfeng" symbolizes injecting a fresh breeze into the "gray space" and awakening the vitality of the dormant neighborhood. The premise for achieving this function is to make the location of Pocket Park "live" first by taking every opportunity, thereby "awakening" the surrounding area of Caoxi Road subway station, promoting the overall improvement of spatial quality and the revitalization of public life.

Green Space Planning Map of Caoxi Road Subway Station and Effect Map of "Qingfeng Post Station"

Rihui Green Space, which is also located in Xuhui District, will transform into a pocket park with a theme of opera this year.

After evaluation by the design team, the nearly 200 existing trees in the green space have good carbon sequestration ability. Taking into account factors such as landscape effect and other ecological benefits, there is no need to make further adjustments. However, this poses a challenge: all roads and facilities must walk around trees. In the limited space that has been stirred up, can the "stage" still be built?

"We have specially established a spatial model, repeated surveying and mapping, and finally found the optimal solution." In the computer of Lin Nan, the project leader of Shanghai Dihu Landscape Design Co., Ltd., a round triangular corridor called "Zero Carbon Ring" twists and turns among the trees, and it undulates continuously. At the high end, it can provide shade and rain for residents, or be used to hang movie screens, while at the low end, it becomes a stand and stool. Surrounded by trees, the corridor seems to have become a part of the forest, and the space enclosed by the corridor becomes a forest theater.

At the entrance and exit facing the sloping road, the limited space has also been drained and squeezed. The bus station, backed by three tall trees, will be integrated into the green space renovation. The low usage public toilets deep in the green space will be moved behind the bus station, and the space between the three trees will be used as a dedicated space for public toilets, with trees becoming natural partitions.

Hand Drawing of Existing Arbor Distribution and Effect Drawing of "Zero Carbon Ring" in Rihui Green Space

Que Xiao Zan Quan

The biggest difference between pocket parks and general parks lies in their scale. If we take the main form of Pocket Park in Shanghai - Street Garden as an example, according to the Shanghai Street Garden Construction Technical Guidelines, the area is generally between 500 square meters and 5000 square meters.

Although the scale is small, the design and construction of pocket parks are not easy. In 1967, the first truly pocket park, Perry Park, was opened. At that time, someone estimated that its annual tourist reception of less than 400 square meters was as high as 128 people per square meter, more than 30 times that of Central Park in New York.

With such high popularity, Perry Park boasts the charm of "small stature and big taste". In this limited space surrounded by tall buildings, there is a tree lined square composed of soapberry trees, green walls covered with vines, and a 6-meter-high water curtain wall. The soothing flowing "white noise" of the waterfall masks the hustle and bustle of the city.

The picture of Pere Park "Making a dojo in a snail shell" provides more functions in a limited space to meet the different needs of more people as much as possible. "The sparrow is small and dirty" is also a principle of the planning and design of Shanghai Pocket Park.

In November 2019, Aunt Lu, who was picking up her granddaughter at Dongyuhang Road Kindergarten, made a new discovery. The original vacant land at the entrance of the kindergarten, which had been demolished, was transformed into a children's dream garden full of childlike charm.

"I used to stand and wait for the child, but now there's a place to sit," Aunt Lu said. There are so many interesting facilities just four or five minutes away from the door, even adults can't bear to leave. They take the child to play for a while before returning home.

This pocket park, which covers an area of over 1000 square meters, is located adjacent to residential areas, kindergartens, and commercial squares. It needs to cater to the needs of people of multiple ages, and all facilities strive to have multiple functions.

For example, spraying squares containing English letters on plastic walkways allows children to play the game of "jumping house"; The isolation fence between the shrubs and the small square is embedded with cartoon animal avatars, blackboards, and sunglasses, suitable for all ages; The metal frame is equipped with lighting fixtures, while during the day it is covered with a "sunshade umbrella" covered with climbing vines; The flower bed intentionally lowers its height and creates a flowing pattern with staggered edges, allowing adults and children to comfortably sit in pairs.

Photo by Chen Xi of Tong Mengyuan

The first pocket park in Songjiang District also has a similar charm.

Before the renovation of Guangxing Road Pocket Park at the intersection of Guangxing Road and Ronglong Road, it was abandoned land after the demolition of relocation houses. The exposed loess and accumulated construction waste affected the local environment. Nowadays, although it is less than 2000 square meters, it combines various functions such as a children's playground, themed garden, and parking lot.

"What the surrounding residents need, take the construction of Pocket Park as an opportunity to meet it as much as possible." Rong Jun, Deputy Director of the Community Development Office of Zhongshan Street, introduced that part of the land for Pocket Park on Guangxing Road was originally within the planned land scope of Dajiangyuan Community. Considering the early construction of the community, the shortage of parking spaces, and the insufficient green space supporting the surrounding parks, coupled with abundant educational resources and limited children and youth activity areas, the design solicited opinions from residents and focused on matching corresponding functions.

Guangxing Road Pocket Park is mainly divided into two parts: the children's playground, the main functional area with the theme garden and the relatively independent parking area.