Curatorial Statement for 100 New Ideas for the City

Why do birds collide with the glass facades of skyscrapers?

Is it difficult to make traffic signals adapt in real time to the needs of pedestrians?

Does sunlight sufficiently reach outdoor fitness zones?

Do schools really need walls?

How can ageless retirement homes become a reality?

Why do tree roots always trip us as we walk?

How can streets be made safe at night so women can walk without fear?

Where in the city can we still see the stars?

…

Have you ever noticed these seemingly “small problems” in cities? Do they disrupt your daily life? Have you thought of ways to resolve them?

If you pay close attention to your surroundings, you’ll realize these “small problems” are endless. Behind them lie large systemic issues embedded within our cities.

After more than 30 years of rapid urbanization, we are surrounded by advanced infrastructure and polished modern urban environments. Yet certain things have been consciously or unconsciously overlooked: time erased by spatial transformation, locality buried by globalization, relationships fractured by physical barriers, and everyday needs hidden within macro-scale urban systems. In this era of accelerated urban transformation, these issues demand urgent attention. We must shift from passive urban users to active urban participants.

In 2024, the City for Humanity Season embraces the theme Create Your Life to launch its second edition. This season calls for a spirit of youth—one of courage, curiosity, and creativity—to discover, create, and reinvent the way we live. Beginning with personal and tangible urban challenges, we aim to identify practical strategies and uncover pathways for systemic change. We have gathered 50 co-creators—thinkers and doers who reflect critically and act decisively on city and humanity—to uncover 100 specific, perceptible urban cases. These cases are represented in both the thematic exhibition 100 New Ideas for the City and a publication of the same title highlighted in this year’s City for Humanity Season’s Project Spectrum.

The exhibition, 100 New Ideas for the City, takes visitors on an immersive journey into the city of humanity. In addition to showcasing the 100 cases by the 50 co-creators, we have invited six artists to engage in creative dialogues with the city through their works. The exhibition’s spatial narrative draws from four urban elements—the square, the street, the community, and the park—translating them into the gallery space to create a city-like experience within the museum.

Upon entering the exhibition, you will encounter the “Question Square.” Here, rather than confronting unanswerable riddles, you will encounter questions that are tangible and traceable. Rising from a “fountain” at the center of the square, these questions mark the gateway to a human-centered city.

When we ask questions, answers begin to emerge. The co-creators and artists featured in the exhibition initiate this inquiry into the city, sharing their observations, research, and practices. Their contributions offer creative, constructive, and public expressions of urban humanity. From this starting point, we invite every visitor to leave behind their own questions, frustrations, discoveries, or solutions in the “Question Square.”

Alongside to the exhibition, the 2nd City for Humanity Season collects and presents these insightful ideas and cases—offering a concrete and nuanced response to the question of how cities can be reimagined on a human scale. This effort brings forth the handbook Spectrum Dictionary: 100 New Ideas for the City. It unfolds as a dual reading experience, available in the exhibition and in print.

In this “human-centered curated cityscape,” lightweight fabrics replace rigid walls, serving as the syntax of spatial organization. Within each spatial unit, the designers have visualized and contextualized the ideas of co-creators while seamlessly embedding artworks from the participating artists. Wandering through the exhibition mirrors a walk through the city. We hope to prompt visitors: Notice the breakfast stalls you pass, the crosswalks you tread, the street signs and flower beds you encounter, the balconies overhead, and the street lamps beside you… Many details await your discovery, exploration, and reinvention.

Jia Dongting | Commissioner

Wang Yiquan | Curator