Identity & development in the Chinese city. Beilin district urban design in Xi’an city, Shaanxi (PRC)

The northwestern part of the People's Republic of China has become, with the 2012-2020 urban development planning, the main area of future infrastructural development of the country. Historically lagged behind the development of coastal areas, this part of the country is growing at a rapid pace, with the support of the objectives of national planning. A great city plan is drawing up for Xi'an city that aims to transform it in the most important hub of northwest China, unifying the city of Xi'an with neighboring Xianyang, thus creating one large metropolitan area. The city enlarges like wildfire and the desire to maximize the economic performance within the central areas of the city led to a replacement of the urban fabric, often through processes of demolition of ancient buildings, evacuation of slums and relocation of people from central areas to peripheral areas. The ancient capital of China, which is running to become the most important city in inner China, is a good case study on which discuss concerning the complex dynamics of the city and its surroundings. In his urban framework, in fact, it is still possible to find the meaning of the ancient walled cities in China and that of the new development. The city is a non-stop construction site that from one hand tends to preserve and often reconstruct its past, from the other, pursues expansion with a frenzy out of control. The skyscrapers and major highways carry within them the image of the prodigious economic boom, but progress cannot be achieved through the destruction of historical memory. If a city does not protect its own history and its own culture, its architecture and its monuments, what makes it different from all others? The traditional historical buildings as well as the urban layout of the ancient city are factors of a unique identity, unlike the high-rise buildings under construction that are now commonplace in China as in the USA or in the United Arab Emirates. What is certain is that in Chinese cities, reconcile the objectives of protection of heritage with social ones, is more difficult than in other cities of the world. In fact, when we operate in similar contexts, we quickly realize how difficult it is to start development programs that aim to improve the living conditions of the inhabitants, preserving both the local communities that the historic urban fabric: attempt, this, pursued in the Beilin District Urban Design in Xi'an city