Planting Land: Trees as a Sustainable Design Element in German Qingdao

• In Event: Imperial Imaginings: Land, and Resource Use in Practice in the Pacific and the East China Sea

Abstract

For the occupation of the German colony of Qingdao at the East China Sea coast, forestry played a major role. First and foremost it was thought to alleviate the environmental quality of the place. It was also perceived as a means to turn the alien environment into a civilized place that would find Chinese admiration, but also evoke a sense of “Heimat” among the European inhabitants. And it served further as a “homely” strategy to cultivate a sustainable resource base that would free the settlement from economic dependencies and opened new markets within China. Therefore, the colonial administration implemented a sophisticated plan of reforestation for a seemingly bare-cut landscape, and designed a forest park (after the British concept of the botanical garden) in which suitable tree species were acclimatized and cultivated for both use and export.

This paper wants to explore the nexus between landscape use and landscape design, focusing on trees and forest in a dual function as a resource and design element. Hinting at the long-term ecological consequences of vast invasive vegetation forced into a naturally dry environment, the paper is interested in the role of imperial imagination and colonial phantasies for the transformation of landscapes. It is further curious about how such modification influenced the use of specific areas of the colonial (leased) land. It asks to what extent the efforts of careful land management affected the attitude of the German imperialists towards their imperialized environment, and if these practices were in turn modified by the challenges that arose from transplanting landscape images from the engineer’s desk into living nature.

Author

• Agnes Kneitz, Renmin University of China