In 2021, the Development and Reform Commission of Zhejiang and the Department of Construction of Zhejiang issued the Notice on the Creation of Future Communities in 2021, marking the official launch of the comprehensive construction of future communities. Ningbo Hefeng Future Community, as the fourth phase of future communities renewal projects in Zhejiang, taking "Weaving the future with the collective efforts of the commons" as the targeted positioning to create a community of “humanistic care and innovative vitality" with deeper integration of industry, city, people, culture and landscape.

Meeting people's aspirations for a good life is the core for the construction of the future community. The original intention of future community construction is to be people-centered and to generate a humanistic community full of "folklore and down to earth flavour and human kindness ". How to continue the historical and cultural memory, to build neighbourhood cultural space, and to link better the chain of good living are all important topics for the future community to realise the transformation from building houses to creating community and good life. Minglou Street Committee collaborates with the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC), whom combines international vision and local knowledge, and UNNC Ningbo Urban Memory Lab (NUML) to carry out an in-depth research on urban memory and community aesthetics in the Ningbo Hefeng Future Community which uses the community exhibition as a cultural form to inspire good life design and the shaping of community aesthetics.

With the open community exhibition which breaks out from the conventional quiet and solemn indoor exhibition hall, what kind of reaction and response will be triggered among the residents of the community? Ningbo Urban Memory Lab (NUML), whom upholds the concept of collective creation, openness and diversity, engages with community for its first project of “at-the-door-step” type of exhibition entitled "Future Community Future City" for Hefeng focusing on recalling the local history and culture and imagining the future of community and city.

This street-shaped open exhibition liberates the art works from galleries and museums embracing the community, the residents and the everyday life. The exhibits and art installations which carries the urban memory and culture are in close reach aiming at provoking residents to think about their city, their homes and their memories, as well as creating aesthetic enjoyment of visual, interactive and the design. The community can be seen as not merely a "living container", but acts as an "aesthetic porcelain", which means the residents are the important co-creators, product and beneficiary of the community aesthetics - an important topic that the Ningbo Urban Memory Lab will continue to explore further.

The Ningbo Urban Memory Lab (NUML) is an open research platform for students and scholars at the University of Nottingham Ningbo to deliver local history and memory to the younger audiences by combining historical works with modern materials, colours and expressions through artistic creation. The Lab was initiated by Dr. Yat-Ming Loo, Associate Professor in the Department of Architecture and Built Environment, and three UNNC PhD students (Qianxi Zhang, Yanning Xiang, and Xuan Sun). As the curator of this exhibition, Dr. Yat Ming Loo received his Ph.D from the Bartlett School of Architecture at University College London, one of the world's leading universities. One of his main research areas is urban memory. Qianxi Zhang is a second-year PhD student and a young faculty member at Ningbo Institute of Technology, Zhejiang University, with a research interest in neighbourhood renewal and child-friendly communities. Another curator, Yanning Xiang, mainly focuses on the history and theory of urban development in China, with a interest in Bottom-up Urbanism.

The exhibition will run from now until 9th January, 2022, and everyone is welcome to visit.

Curator:

Dr Yat Ming Loo, Qianxi Zhang, Yanning Xiang

Co-Creator:

Hui Zhang, Yimin Su, Yiran Sun, Yuhan Xu, Yifan Chen, Yuqi Wang, Xinyu Cao, Bainian Qiu, Shui Yin, Xuan Sun, Ge Ge, Yuxin Hu, Yuke Huang, Haonan Lin, Yuxin Ma, Lu Yu, Yundi Zhang, Yingwen Zhu, Weixuan Feng, Zixuan Feng, Yifan Wang, Yue Wang

Jiawei Yao, Yihan Tang, Hanyu Bao, Mu Cao, Yimin Feng, Xu Li, Yifei Li, Xuanyi Liu, Xinyi Luo, Yuan Sun, Jia Tang, Zhengyi Wu, Xinyi Li, Xinyi Lv