Recently, two colleges and universities in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province have been in a tense situation because of the name of a subway station. Many netizens felt that their "glasses were shattered on the ground." CCTV even commented This matter is "insulting to politeness"...
This matter can be summed up in one sentence -
Because a station on Xi'an Metro Line 14 is planned to be named "Xi'an University of Technology Station", Shaanxi University of Science and Technology was strongly dissatisfied and resorted to a "strange move" to order its kindergarten to dismiss 40 children of Xi'an University of Technology faculty and staff.
Screenshot of Weiyang District Education Bureau’s response.
At present, Xi'an Weiyang District Education Bureau has intervened, issued a "Notice of Order to Rectify" to the kindergarten involved, and contacted three surrounding kindergartens to ensure that the relevant children can enter the kindergarten smoothly.
"When gods fight, it affects the dolls"
Xi'an University of Technology and Shaanxi University of Science and Technology are located in the university town in the northern suburbs of Xi'an, and their campuses are only separated by a road. The children of faculty and staff of Xi'an University of Technology could have attended the kindergarten under Shaanxi University of Science and Technology, which shows the good-neighborly friendship between the two schools.
The dispute between the two universities was caused by a station on Line 14 of the Xi'an Metro. Its subway entrance is about 200 meters away from the main entrance of Xi'an University of Technology and the south gate of Shaanxi University of Science and Technology. Line 14 will be opened in June this year. Not long ago, the preliminary station name plan released by the official website of Xi'an Metro showed that the station will be named "Xi'an University of Technology Station".
As soon as the news came out, the teachers and students of Shaanxi University of Science and Technology were very dissatisfied. They believe that the subway station is also very close to their school and it is inappropriate to name it "Xi'an University of Technology Station".
When the two schools failed to negotiate on this matter, it turned into a bizarre situation of "fairies fighting, affecting children".
Netizen discussion.
There is indeed a lot of controversy about the station name of Xi'an Metro Line 14. On the leadership message board of People's Daily Online, there have been many messages recently "Proposing to change the name of Line 14's Xi'an University of Technology Station".
Netizen "a***" said on the leadership message board of People's Daily Online: "It is strongly recommended that the 'Xi'an University of Science and Technology' station be renamed 'Weiyang University Town Station' or 'Xuefu Road' station. This station covers The area is very large and the population is very large. Naming a university is not broad enough and can easily cause conflicts between neighboring schools."
Xi'an Rail Transit Group responded that the naming of subway stations needs to be preliminary. The final decision can be made through multiple steps including program research, public opinion collection, expert research and demonstration, and proposed program review. He also stated that the suggestions put forward by netizens have been submitted as public opinions to the naming expert meeting and related meetings for study, and will be pending for the final program to be approved. It will be announced on the official website of the Municipal Railway Group.
This statement is quite comforting. It seems that the final result will have to wait for some time.
The name of a subway station may not seem like a big deal, but it means a lot to the people who have lived there for a long time. generally.
First of all, subway station names have a clear guiding role in place names. Taking this incident as an example, teachers and students of Shaanxi University of Science and Technology believe that naming it "Xi'an University of Technology Station" can easily mislead passengers, and it is indeed reasonable.
Some people even think further: When Shaanxi University of Science and Technology issues admission notices to freshmen in the future, shouldn't the registration address have to be "Xi'an University of Technology Station"? Wouldn't that be embarrassing?
Schematic diagram of the location of the disputed site.
It is understood that there is another external factor in this matter: Xi'an is about to host the 14th National Games. The venue of the National Games is the Olympic Sports Center in Xi'an Port District, Metro Line 14. One stop is right here.
It is conceivable that after this subway is opened to traffic, a large number of passengers will use the subway to reach the National Games venues during the National Games. Once the name of the subway station is called, the popularity of various stations along the way will also be increased because of the National Games. . From this point of view, this station is named "Xi'an University of Technology Station", and Shaanxi University of Science and Technology, which is also close to the subway station, is naturally at a disadvantage.
Not only Xi'an, many domestic cities with subways have also had naming disputes, such as Jinan Metro Line 2, which opened not long ago this year. Many citizens reported that after exiting Fantawild Station, there are still several kilometers away from Fantawild Theme Park, and the name of the station is really "deceptive".
"Each one has its own naming rules"
Many people want to ask, how should subway stations be named? Zhang Ruhua, director of the Transportation Planning and Design Research Center of Shandong University, believes that the naming of subway stations should follow three principles:
· Traffic guidance principle is to be able to indicate clear directions;
· Landmark guidance Principle, there must be landmark buildings;
· Value-oriented principle, consider society, economy, history and culture, etc., at least taking into account one aspect.
In fact, there is currently no unified subway naming method across the country. Each city usually has its own rules, most of which are issued by rail transit companies themselves. For example, in 2015, the Shanghai Municipal Place Name Management Office issued the "Shanghai Municipal Transportation Facilities Naming Rules", which covers rail transit.
Shenzhen and Guangzhou have separate texts for naming subway stations. In January 2019, the Shenzhen Municipal Planning and Land Commission issued the "Shenzhen Rail Transit Lines and Station Naming Rules", which clearly stipulates:
Article 7 The proper names of rail transit stations should follow the following principles:
(1) The proper names of rail transit stations should match the functional positioning and hierarchy of the stations, and have the characteristics of standardization, stability and identification;
(2) The proper names of rail transit stations should The location should be clear, easy to remember and find;
(3) The urban rail transit network should be taken as a whole, and the lines and station names at each level should be coordinated with the whole; the station names of recent lines should be consistent with the long-term plan Coordination of line station names;
In addition, Article 9 specifically states that "the number of rail transit station names should be controlled to 2-5 characters." Regarding this feature, Zhihu respondent Costan Lin analyzed that all subways in the Pearl River Delta region have the imprint of Hong Kong, and the most obvious imprint of this imprint in the naming is the pursuit of simple station names and priority to place names.
However, even Shenzhen, which has introduced naming rules specifically for rail transit stations, has not been able to avoid related controversies.
In August 2020, Shenzhen Metro Line 10 was opened, and one of the stations was named "Huawei". Many netizens have questioned that the "Shenzhen Rail Transit Lines and Station Naming Rules" mentioned that when using proper names for rail transit stations, the names of commercial facilities, enterprises, and commercial residential areas should not be used. "Huawei" is used as the name of a subway station. Is it appropriate?
In response, the Shenzhen Planning and Natural Resources Bureau responded: In 2016, when the third phase of Shenzhen Rail Transit Planning was submitted to the state for approval, its engineering station was named "Huawei Station" and was managed according to the laws of the relevant country. Regulations do not prohibit naming rail stations with corporate names. Later, in 2017, Shenzhen City issued relevant regulations prohibiting rail stations from being named after companies. But at the same time, the "Shenzhen Rail Transit Lines and Stations Naming Rules" also stipulates that rail transit line names should be concise, clear, and easy to remember, to facilitate travel and operation management, and give priority to the use of old place names.
After this explanation, the discussion about the name of the "Huawei" station on Shenzhen Metro Line 10 has finally subsided.
Who should we listen to?
Naming a subway station is not something that can be decided on a whim. From the first draft to the release of the final document, local civil affairs departments, transportation departments, rail management units, as well as sociologists, local residents, etc. will all participate in it. Some The site name even went through several revisions.
Taking Chengdu as an example, the process of creating Chengdu subway station names is roughly as follows:
1. Chengdu Rail Group will submit relevant applications, subway network planning and other information to the Civil Affairs Bureau.
2. The Civil Affairs Bureau organized experts to conduct demonstrations in accordance with the "Chengdu Place Name Management Regulations".
3. After soliciting opinions from many parties, finally determine how to name each subway station.
4. After approval from the municipal government, a formal document will be issued to announce the naming results.
It is true that it is difficult to have a standard answer on how to name a subway station, but everyone is concerned about whose opinion should be the main one.
In 2012, before the second phase of Beijing Metro Line 10 was opened to traffic, whether to name one of the stations "Fanjiacun Station" or "Shou Economic and Trade Station", the Beijing Municipal Planning Commission published a naming plan to solicit public opinion.
In this regard, the Beijing News conducted a survey that year: Who should be listened to when naming subway stations?
This station was eventually named "First Economic and Trade Station".
The survey results show that most of the respondents believe that "listen more to the opinions of residents around the subway station, and the majority opinion shall prevail", accounting for half (49.8%), and one-third of the respondents Only 5.7% of respondents (33.0%) believed that “the spirit of participation and public opinion behind the dispute should be respected and actively interacted with each other”, while only 5.7% believed that “the government will make the final decision and directly determine the specific name”.
It can be seen that under the background that the voice of "respecting public opinion" has gradually become mainstream, the votes of the respondents tend to be rational. On some issues that are closely related to people's lives, listening more to the opinions of the people will greatly promote the rationality and operability of policies.
China Communications News Zhou Xiangyang Comprehensive
Do you have any
“unreasonable” subway station names?
Comments are welcome
Submission email: xww@zgjtb.com
Editor | Guo Qi