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Modern cities have been planned and built based on the principles of severance and zoning system. The urban area is separated from the rural area, divided into different zones to accommodate different activities. The theory was to improve the efficiency and enhance the quality of life in the urban area. However, with the change of paradigm in the 21st century, such a city is no longer considered to be sustainable to support the quality and daily life in it. A city constantly changes and transforms through the process of removal, addition, recovery, and recreation. By nature, a city is altered, re-organized and regenerated through complex and multitude interaction of urban structure and diverse ingredients that constitute a city.
MaxMix, or Maximized Mixture, refers to a process of creating new order in a city through dynamic exchange of the elements of diverse backgrounds. Since the contents of a city have been increasingly diversified and the inter-reaction among them creates an entirely new value, the structure of a city must be re-organized while the elements are mix-maxed to make the city sustainable. MaxMix is a proposal to bring a new value to human life in the labyrinth of a contemporary city. Human activities in a city can no longer be confined within the functions of clear-cut zoning system, as revealed by the discrepancies between the system and real life. No such city will be livable or sustainable.
What alternative ideas, then, do we have to mix functions; values of yesterday, today, and tomorrow; and to bring in nature to harmonize man, city and nature?
Considering the real situation of the urban area where unexpected exchanges and mixtures happen, the MaxMix idea may provide a methodology for urban planning. Like a chemical experiment or alchemy, the proposition of each element and the surrounding conditions of MaxMix should be carefully determined to achieve desirable results. Finding the proper prescription of MaxMix in various cases is the objective of the third celebration of cities.