The Elemental Metropolis - The Past and Future of the Extended Urbanity in the Yangtze River Delta, China

This book provides a multi-scale reading of the spatial 'elements' in which the extensive urbanity in Yangtze River Delta is constructed, and from there an imagination of a new paradigm of urbanization.


The urbanization in Yangtze River Delta today is in need of a new interpretation and paradigm. The delta is a territory with city cores but it also has vast dispersed urbanization where the agricultural and non-agricultural activities and spaces are mixed and interlinked, a desakota (McGee, 1991). This book attempts to answer a basic question: what is the desakota in the Yangtze River Delta made of?


The research Horizontal Metropolis led by Prof. Paola Viganò at EPFL, Switzerland focuses on the form of the contemporary city - the fragmentary spatial condition and dispersed urbanity all over the world. The study on Yangtze River delta is part of its research frame.

Qinyi Zhang (1985, Hangzhou, China) is an architect and urbanist in Studio Paola Viganò (before 2015 as Studio Secchi-Viganò) since 2009. He is the leading designer and project manager responsible for important urban and landscape projects and exhibitions.

From 2018 to 2020, he was a post-doc researcher at the Lab-U and Habitat Research Center in EPFL, Lausanne, working on research projects including the Greater Geneva Consultation, and in charge of the preparation and management of the EPFL part of 'TOD-IS-RUR Transit Oriented Development for Inclusive and Sustainable Rural-Urban Regions'-a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)-Innovative Training Network (ITN) project. Meanwhile, he was teaching at the design studio of the Master Semester 1/2 led by Prof. Paola Viganò.

He received his Ph.D. in Urbanism at IUAV Venezia in 2018, and his thesis 'Elements in Desakota, Yangtze River Delta, China' has been awarded the grade 'Excellent' in May 2018. Part of his work was exhibited in the collateral event 'Horizontal Metropolis' at the Venice Biennale 2016. He undertook a European Postgraduate Master in Urbanism (EMU) in TU Delft and IUAV Venezia and obtained a bachelor's degree in architecture in Zhejiang University, China.

He was a jury member and external critic in master's programs and workshops in ULB, IUAV Venezia KU Leuven, and GSD at Harvard University. He lectured in TU Delft (NL),CityU (Hong Kong CN), Sint-Lucas Ghent (BE), KU Leuven (BE), and Zhejiang University (CN) among other universities.