I would like to send you my warmest greetings, and wish you well in this important conference. Space syntax is being applied and developed all over the world, but China is the critical location, because the situation here is so rich in experimentation, that if we learn from it in the way we can and should then it will shape what happens in other parts of the world.

在此重要的会议上，我向大家表示热烈的祝贺，并祝福安康。空间句法在全世界得以应用和发展，而中国有如此丰厚的城市与建筑试验，因此这儿是个重要地方。如果我们应当能够从中国吸取经验，那么这将影响世界其他地方的发展。

The situation in China today reminds me of the UK in the nineteen sixties and seventies when space syntax was first conceived. At that time new urban area developments and large scale housing schemes were proliferating, and there was an atmosphere of high architectural excitement as unprecedented forms could be seen everywhere rising above the old city.

当今中国的情形让我回想到1960-1970年代的英国，孕育了空间句法的萌芽。当时，新的城市开发项目和大规模住宅建设遍地开花，新奇的建筑物遍及老城区各个角落，营造了为建筑而欢悦的气氛。

But the sheer scale of experimentation, with some schemes clearly succeeding more than others, made us realise that we needed to know much more about the effects of different types of spatial design on urban living patterns and, in particular, how to engage directly in the design process to make new schemes work as real parts of the city and continue the animated patterns of city space around them.

尽管当年英国大规模的城市与建筑试验中也涌现出某些成功的案例，然而这使得我们意识到，我们更需要了解不同类型的空间设计如何影响城市生活模式，特别是如何直接介入设计过程，从而使得新的开发真正地成为城市的有机部分，并在其周边延续城市空间的活力模式。

We needed both a method to analyse cities and a theory to explain how they worked socially and economically, to bring to light both the cultural differences between cities in different parts of the world, and the common features that make a city a city in the first place.

当年我们既需要分析城市的方法，也需要解释城市社会和经济运作的理论，从而揭示世界不同城市之间的文化差异、以及城市之所以成为城市的最本质的普遍特征。

Finally we needed an organisation that could work directly with architects, urban planners and their clients and which could provide practical training to disseminate the approach.

最后，当年我们还需要某种机构，有能力直接去协同建筑师、城市规划师、及其业主们，一起工作。该机构还可提供实践培训，去传播这种工作模式。

Space syntax was the response to this need – to create not just an analysis, but one which allowed us to build a body of knowledge about cities which in turn would lead to theoretical understanding of why they are the way they are, and how they work. And a willingness to apply this knowledge in design projects.

基于上述的需求，空间句法应运而生。空间句法不仅创立了分析方法，而且帮助我们建构城市的系统知识。从而，在理论的高度上，空间句法帮助我们去理解城市为什么是那样的、以及它们是如何运作的。进而，人们还愿意在设计实践中运用这些知识。

 This is what space syntax is today: not just a technique that produces pretty pictures, but a spatial theory of the city, a body of knowledge about how they work, and a method of analysis which in itself reflects our growing theoretical understanding of how space responds to and shapes economic and sociocultural processes.

当今的空间句法不只是绘制绚丽图片的技术，而是城市的空间理论、空间运行机制的系统知识、以及空间分析方法。本质上，空间句法揭示了空间如何回应、并影响经济和社会的发展进程，从而丰富了我们这方面的理论知识。

Only with this combination of theory, knowledge and analysis can we begin to answer the key architectural and planning questions about spatial design and planning: what will happen if we do it this way? Is there a better way to do it?

只有整合理论、知识和分析，我们才能开始回答建筑和规划中关于空间的核心问题：如果我们这样做，那么将会导致怎样的情形？是否有更好的方案？

These questions are the foundations of space syntax, and this is why our work in the university in developing theory-based methods of analysis has always been accompanied by involvement in real projects and the questions they pose. This is the only way we can develop the kind of theoretical knowledge we need. And this is why Space Syntax Limited, under Tim Stonor’s leadership, is a fundamental part of the space syntax approach. By working directly with architects and planners we have learned an important lesson: practice raises challenges that drive research, leading to methodological innovations and the advancement to theory.

这些问题是空间句法的基础。这也是为什么我们在高校进行理论研究的同时、还需要投入实践项目并考虑相关问题的原因。这是我们建构我们所需要的理论知识的必由之路。这就是为什么提姆•斯通纳所领导的空间句法公司成为了空间句法研究的基本部分。通过直接与建筑师和规划师合作，我们学习到重要的经验：实践中提出的挑战推动研究，进而带动了方法学的创新和理论的升华。

So always remember that in developing space syntax in China, what you are doing is not just the application of a technique, but you are also engaging in a research project to bring to light what can be the spatial excellence, as well as the characteristic problems, of Chinese cities, so we can use both in creating the cities of the future.

因此，需要一直记住，在中国发展空间句法，你所做的不只是应用一门技术，而是参与到研究工作，去揭示中国城市中的美妙空间和特殊问题，这样我们才能将经验和教训运用到未来城市的创作之中。

I hope this will include new design interpretations of what I have suggested is the distinctive ‘Chinese boulevard’ with its generous scale, its multiple forms of movement, its protective trees and its animation by human activity!

我希望：这将包括我所提议的新设计诠释，即独特的“中国街道”，由于其巨大的尺度、同一空间的多重交通模式、生态保护林荫树以及人气活力！

Good luck !

好运

Bill Hillier

比尔•希利尔教授