From Industrial to Creative Production: a new identity for 751 D-Park district in Beijing.

Beijing is currently undergoing a phase of profound change that has recently seen its transformation from an industrial to a post-industrial city, and which generated sudden and radical changes in its spatiality and structure during last years. One of the several consequences of this transitional phase is that the industrial architecture legacy has recently been added to the city's heritage. This awareness comes together with the understanding that the use of industrial sites in relation to the rest of the city is nowadays an important challenging issue for the urban regeneration. Simultaneously, several Chinese cities have seen the creation of artistic and creative districts as strategies for the transformation of disused industrial areas located within the urban fabric of the city. The transformation of these areas into art districts presents the case of 798 Art District of Beijing as an exemplary case study. Through it, many commentators have tried to explore the recent birth and growth of creative districts in China. Thanks to its success, 798 Art District has become the symbol of the new Chinese creative sensibility, representing the current transformation model and symbol of Beijing transition from an industrial city to a creative-oriented global metropolis. Within this context, 751 D-Park district has only recently been subject of development. It has followed the success and the destiny of the nearby 798 Art District, but the approach applied to this area is different: in this case, the development strategy aimed at establishing a creative cluster and not at implementing the existing art district. The research aims at evaluating and describing the transformations that have affected 798 and 751 industrial zones, but the study will mainly focus on investigating 751 district identity, proposing a critical examination of the conversion strategy implemented so far. Analyzing how spaces of artistic creativity are responding to the current process, the research will outline the origin of art districts, as well as understand the importance of creative cluster-oriented urban renovation strategies. In the context of this topic, the research will lead to the development of a design proposal for 751 district, suggesting an approach able to emphasize the area as a fertile ground for the renewal of the city. The aim is to give a new form to the space dedicated to creativity within the area, in such a way as to easily adapt to the new needs of the current users, facilitating new social dynamics and fostering the creation of a “creative community” within the district.