From the "transformation" of Nanjing West Road in his childhood imagination, to the planning of China's first world city expo park - Shanghai World Expo Park at the beginning of the 21st century, to the "urban metaverse" he proposed in several cities, Wu Zhiqiang has participated in and witnessed the renewal of many urban spaces.
Reporter Kim Hee
For Wu Zhiqiang, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Academician of the German National Academy of Engineering Sciences, Academician of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences, Honorary Dean of the School of Architecture and Urban Planning of Tongji University, and Executive Vice President of the Shanghai European and American Scholars Association, "city" is the place where his dream originated.
From the "transformation" of Nanjing West Road in his childhood imagination, to the planning of China's first world city expo park - Shanghai World Expo Park at the beginning of the 21st century, to the "urban metaverse" he proposed in several cities, Wu Zhiqiang has participated in and witnessed the renewal of many urban spaces. As he said, cities carry the beautiful dreams of human beings, and urban planning is the implementation of such beautiful dreams. Obsessed with "urban planning".Wu Zhiqiang was born in Shanghai in August 1960. At the age of 14, his father left Nanlou Village, Lanjiang Street, Lanxi, Jinhua, Zhejiang Province (now Qiyi Village), and went to Shanghai to work hard, owned his own industry, and donated all of it to the country after liberation, and was a patriotic red capitalist. Wu Zhiqiang lived in the area of Nanjing West Road in his childhood, and when he was in elementary school, he looked at the nearby vehicles, roads, and houses, and imagined in his heart how to better place and run them, so that he could better serve everyone. "It always feels like it could have been better. This also laid the groundwork for him to choose to apply for the urban planning major of Tongji University in the future. When the news of China's resumption of the college entrance examination in 1977 reached Wu Zhiqiang's ears from the loudspeaker of the radio station, he was working as a cook in the kitchen in Songjiang, Shanghai. After the resumption of the college entrance examination, many universities went to secondary schools to advertise for admissions. At that time, Wu Zhiqiang was still studying at Peiying Middle School (now East China Model Middle School) on Fumin Road. He recalls Xinmin Weekly: "There were many advertisements for admissions from various universities in the corridors of the middle school, and some of them were pasted on glass windows. I looked everywhere and saw the major of urban planning, and I found it to be very interesting, because when I was a child, I was thinking, 'What should be done here, what should be done there?' When he really began to study this major, Wu Zhiqiang realized that urban planning was not so simple, "Urban planning carries the dream of human beings for the living form of the next generation." "There's so much to learn. Economics, Sociology, Management, Architecture, Road Engineering, Botany, Aesthetics, ......Even so, Wu Zhiqiang, who was eager to learn, completed his undergraduate and graduate studies at Tongji and stayed on to teach until he was sent to the Technical University of Berlin in Germany. At the beginning of 1988, 70 young Chinese scientists, including Wu Zhiqiang, were assigned to the third year of German universities. He remembers that there was a course on the renovation of old towns, designing comparative plans for the redevelopment of slums in cities such as Paris and Berlin. When handing in the homework, more than 20 students in the class took out a total of more than 40 drawings, and he took out 48 detailed and complete drawings at once, the professor directly called the dean to see the scene, and introduced Wu Zhiqiang's complete set of planning and design to the dean. Because urban planning education in Germany needs to learn a lot of urban sociology, land management, geography databases, and energy-saving city knowledge, Wu Zhiqiang studied late at night every day, the earliest to come, the last to leave, and the same on holidays, and became the most familiar person with the doorman of the office building. Overcoming many language barriers and other barriers, Wu Zhiqiang spent 6 years to get a doctorate in Germany. "When I was studying in Germany, I went through the phase of the merger of East Berlin and West Berlin. At that time, he was mainly involved in the renovation project of East Berlin, which was not a simple restoration, but had to meet the needs of tomorrow. Wu Zhiqiang said that it was this learning experience that gave him a lot of gains in urban planning, not only learning about sustainable urban planning and its management system in Germany, but also participating in the practical operation of old city renovation. Based on this "dual immersion of theory and practice", Wu Zhiqiang made it clear that urban planning is to use the least amount of resources to create a city where man and nature can live in harmony and maintain its characteristics in the face of globalization. From the Shanghai Expo Park toWenchuan post-disaster resettlement planningIn 1996, after a long talk with a domestic master's supervisor, Wu Zhiqiang decided to return to Tongji University. This also gave him a stage to show his skills in the ever-changing Shanghai. As early as 1984, when there were very few people in China who knew about the World Expo, Wu Zhiqiang, who was close to graduating with a master's degree, won the only highest award in the youth competition, and Wang Daohan, then mayor of Shanghai, presented the award to Wu Zhiqiang: "You are a student of planning, you can pay attention to some of the World Expo, collect information, and make some preparations for the future Shanghai World Expo." Since then, the words "World Expo" have been planted deep in his heart like a seed. In 2004, when the Shanghai World Expo was put up for bidding from all over the world, Wu Zhiqiang, then dean of the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at Tongji University, finally ushered in an opportunity. Under the organization and coordination of Tongji University, he united the superior forces of all disciplines of the university, such as civil engineering, transportation, machinery, and environmental ......Under his leadership, top professors and young students from all disciplines carried forward the Tongji spirit of "helping each other in the same boat", and after 100 days of fierce battles, on behalf of Shanghai and China, they handed over an "Oriental Harmonious City Civilization Answer Sheet". This plan with advanced concepts, complete supporting facilities and strong implementability has made the Tongji Expo planning plan win in many rounds of competition and become the only "national brand" among the top three in the world that finally won the bid. During that time, Wu Zhiqiang was often busy until the early hours of the morning, because he did not leave the creation camp of the School of Architecture and Urban Planning until 3 o'clock to go home to rest, and Wu Zhiqiang also got the "nickname" of "Wu Sandian". As the chief planner of the 2010 Shanghai World Expo Park, Wu Zhiqiang designed the five major areas of the World Expo to be distributed on both sides of the Pujiang River, so that global culture and architectural art, green concepts, historical sites, Shanghai characteristics, and urban dreams can be integrated, and Pudong Puxi, Shanghai and the world can be "seamlessly" connected. In 2007, Wu Zhiqiang faced a major challenge in his work: the 256 venues in the Shanghai World Expo Park needed to be built and planned by each country. As the chief planner, I cannot tolerate the impassability of roads, pipelines, and steps in the entire park, and there can be no "disconnection". Therefore, he proposed that the entire Expo site should be used as an experimental base for the city to make life better, and for the first time proposed the concept of CIM.
Wu Zhiqiang was appointed as the chief planner of the Shanghai World Expo Park
CIM (City Information Modeling) is an organic complex of three-dimensional urban spatial model and urban information based on urban information data. At that time, Wu Zhiqiang completed the world's first CIM platform through the practice of this concept, and architects from all over the world can complete the design and construction of the venue according to a unified standard. On the CIM platform, it is also possible to quickly determine whether the pipes are unblocked, whether people with disabilities can pass, and even whether a tree can get irrigation. On May 12, 2008, six days after the big ** in Wenchuan, Sichuan, Wu Zhiqiang arrived in Chengdu. After that, he spent days without sleeping or eating, and was busy surveying the disaster area, planning and designing, focusing on how to avoid geological risk zones in reconstruction projects, and enabling industrial development and cultural heritage protection. At that time, Wu Zhiqiang and his Tongji team visited many towns in Dujiangyan, Pengzhou, Chongzhou and Dayi. Wu Zhiqiang believes: "The urban layout of Dujiangyan should be combined with the four major elements of landscape and world, and it should be able to reflect the characteristics of Dujiangyan's landscape. In urban development, it is necessary to do a good job in integrating urban and rural areas, and pay attention to the integration of urban and rural areas. At the same time, there must be industries that are in line with the future development of the city, and there must be economic momentum. He also pointed out: "In addition to urban development, the history and culture of Dujiangyan should be well protected and restored." In addition, its geographical conditions dictate that special attention should be paid to creating a good ecosystem, preferably with low pollution, energy conservation and environmental protection. Finally, the Dujiangyan reconstruction plan was praised as "reflecting the highest level in China". Wu Zhiqiang's top attainments in theory, technology and practice have brought him a high reputation. In November 2017, Wu Zhiqiang was elected as an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. The president of the German Academy of Engineering described him as one of the most influential figures in China's urban planning circles, and the King of Sweden praised him as "committed to sustainable urban planning" when he presented him with a certificate of Fellowship of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering. Create an urban metaverse with RAR technologyAt the opening ceremony of the Digital Intelligence Shanghai 2023 Summit and Shanghai Urban Digital Transformation Experience Week, Wu Zhiqiang, who has passed his sixtieth year, delivered a keynote speech on "Virtual and Reality Grow Together, RAR Innovates Urban and Rural Vitality", which has been 16 years since he pioneered the CIM platform, and he has new technologies and concepts for urban planning. 
At the opening ceremony of the Digital Intelligence Shanghai 2023 Summit and Shanghai Urban Digital Transformation Experience Week, Wu Zhiqiang, who has passed the age of sixtieth, delivered a keynote speech on "Virtual and Real Growth, RAR Innovation and Urban and Rural Vitality".
The so-called RAR (Reality + Augmented Reality, Reality + Augmented Reality), that is, the deep integration of virtual reality. Wu Zhiqiang said that due to the impact of the epidemic, cities around the world have been severely hit, and the vitality of cities has been greatly affected. "Using virtual technology to activate real cities is our most important goal at the moment. When the concept of the metaverse was booming, Wu Zhiqiang put forward the concept of "urban metaverse", which has achieved results in Fuzhou, Fujian, Huangyan, Taizhou, Zhejiang, and Qingdao, Shandong. Take Huangyan, Taizhou, Zhejiang Province as an example. In August 2018, the Taizhou Urban and Rural Planning Expert Advisory Committee was established, and Academician Wu Zhiqiang was hired as the chairman of the Expert Advisory Committee. Over the years, Academician Wu Zhiqiang has led a team to Taizhou many times, and presided over the planning and preparation of a large number of landmark areas such as the ** Innovation Zone, Huangyan Yongning Science and Technology Innovation Belt, and Sanjiangkou Block, and provided suggestions and suggestions for Taizhou to promote urban planning and construction. In 2022, Huangyan District and Academician Wu Zhiqiang's team signed a cooperation agreement on the "Pengcheng National Laboratory Smart City Academician Workstation Huangyan Research and Innovation Center" and the Guanhe Ancient Road Metaverse Block Project to actively explore the "Huangyan Path" of the Metaverse. Since then, Academician Wu Zhiqiang has led the team to create the country's first outdoor digital economy metaverse block for Guanhe Water Street. Visitors only need to scan *** with their mobile phones to enter the bizarre "fairy metaverse" and feel the unique charm of the combination of Huangyan's history and culture and future cyberpunk. Moreover, the Guanhe Water Street Xian Metaverse project also won the gold medal of the "2023 Digital China Innovation Competition - Digital Urban Design Track". 
Wu Zhiqiang's team created the Guanhe Water Street Xianyuan Universe. ** Released by Taizhou
In Fuzhou, Fujian, the team led by Academician Wu Zhiqiang and the Fuzhou Survey Institute jointly created the "Fu Yuan Yuan" RAR show, which was staged on the eve of the 5th Digital China Construction Summit in July 2023. This "Fu Yuan Yuan" RAR show combines the world's longest span of 5,659 meters, the most records involving 328 buildings, and the first and most difficult cross-river RAR three "most" in one, showing the innovative interpretation mode of live scene + virtual image. "In fact, this RAR show technology is the first of its kind, and the implementation of this technology to large scenes and large groups of people is also a kind of history creation in itself. Academician Wu Zhiqiang said that he hopes that new innovations and new works will continue to emerge in the future, and he also hopes that digital will promote the construction of smart cities. "The ultimate purpose of a smart city is to provide a better life for human beings, which is true wisdom. Academician Wu Zhiqiang encourages and supports more people to participate in the interaction, and integrates the overall interpretation into the public level. In Qingdao, Wu Zhiqiang and his team created the digital city cultural project "Sea Metaverse". It is reported that relying on the natural and urban resources of Tangdao Bay, the "Sea Metaverse" strives to create a "collection of Qingdao style and youth style", and through the use of "R (real seascape and urban architecture) + AR (augmented reality)" innovative technology, the real scene of Tangdao Bay and the virtual scene constructed by digital content are integrated and interacted, and digital technology is used to drive traffic convergence, enrich the life scenes of citizens and tourists, and bring immersive tourism experience to citizens and tourists, so as to enhance the urban taste of the new area. Help the West Coast New Area to build an open, modern, dynamic and fashionable international new area. It is worth mentioning that the digital interpretation of the "Sea Metaverse" has achieved three world firsts: the first sea RAR phantom show, which is more than 50,000 square meters of real sea scene interpretation and shaping; The first user to co-create a digital city landmark, and restore the future physical landmark building 1:1 through "RAR" technology; The first metaverse mega-publicity medium, superimposing virtual elements and digital logos on real building complexes, opening up commercial promotion channels and helping enterprises and brands in digital transformation. Through digital technology, history, culture, and commerce will be deeply integrated to create a new world of urban digital space that can be viewed, visited, interacted with, and co-created. For Shanghai, Wu Zhiqiang and his team are also considering how to empower urban planning with cutting-edge metaverse technology. "Today, more than 730,000 buildings in Shanghai start from design drawings, before the physical building, architects have imagined its space, and the metaverse technology can give the power of imagination to all people, when people are constantly looking for a better place to pursue a better life, through the 'metaverse city' to participate in and enjoy the construction of the 'future dream city', and make it the driving force of their hard work. Wu Zhiqiang hopes that digital technology can further activate this global city and continue to turn the popularity of the metaverse into the popularity of Shanghai consumers.