What is the function of botanical garden?

Botanical Garden is a museum of living plants, a base for popular science, scientific research and biodiversity protection, and a place for people to visit and rest. Using plant materials to carry out popular science activities; Use characteristic flowers to hold flower viewing activities to expand the ecological environment; Make use of human landscape to carry forward the culture of the motherland, promote the garden through science and education, and achieve sustainable development, so as to build the botanical garden into a landmark cultural facility of a modern metropolis, enhance people's awareness of loving nature, protecting the environment and loving science, cultivate patriotism and inspire national spirit.

Keywords: Botanical Garden Science Education Plant Diversity

Botanical Garden is a museum of living plants, a base for popular science, scientific research and biodiversity protection, and a place for people to visit and rest. Beijing Botanical Garden started construction from 1956, with a planned area of 400 hectares and an open area of more than 200 hectares. It is mainly composed of plant exhibition areas, scenic spots and nature reserves. The plant exhibition area includes ornamental plant area, arboretum and greenhouse flower area. The ornamental plant area consists of 1 1 characteristic gardens, such as Peony Garden, Peony Garden, Rose Garden, Bitao Garden, Lilac Garden, Xuanqiu Garden, Mulan Garden, Crabapple Xunzi Garden, Jixiu Garden (Bamboo Garden), Perennial Flower Garden and Plum Garden under construction. The Botanical Garden consists of Ginkgo, Pine and cypress, Magnolia and Berberis, Liquidambar formosana, Tilia, Platanus acerifolia and Paulownia under construction. The greenhouse flower area consists of exhibition greenhouse, low-temperature greenhouse, production greenhouse and bonsai garden. Places of interest include the Sleeping Buddha Temple, Cao Xueqin Memorial Hall, Longjiao Temple Site, 12.9 Memorial Pavilion, Liang Qichao Cemetery and other places of interest. There is a popular science museum in the Botanical Garden, which is a popular science education base for young people. Cherry ditch with dense trees and various varieties has been opened as a nature reserve. The Botanical Garden has introduced more than 620,000 cultivated plants and more than 6,000 species (including varieties), covering 900,000 square meters of grassland. Botanical Gardens are more and more loved by the masses because of their rich scientific content and beautiful garden appearance. However, compared with the advanced botanical gardens in the world, Beijing Botanical Garden still has some shortcomings. Such as: in the number of plants collected; Accumulation of collected species data; About the collection of "cutting-edge" plants; There is a certain gap with the world-class botanical garden.

The year 2000 is a year at the turn of the century. Facing the new challenges of 2 1 century, to build a world-class botanical garden and make it a symbolic cultural facility of a modern metropolis, we must persist in rejuvenating the country through science and education, develop sustainably and take the road of "building gardens through culture". Popular science is the primary task of botanical garden, and it is also the main content of "cultural garden building" of botanical garden. In order to strengthen the work of popular science and give full play to the functions of botanical gardens, we have made unremitting efforts in the following aspects: (1) trying to increase plant species and show biodiversity; (two) to carry out various forms of popular science activities; (three) the use of characteristic flowers to hold flower viewing activities to show the beautiful ecological environment; (four) the use of human landscape to promote the culture of the motherland; Thereby enhancing people's awareness of loving nature, protecting environment and science, cultivating patriotism and inspiring national spirit. The following are discussed separately.

First, increase plant varieties and show biodiversity.

Biodiversity is the eternal theme of botanical gardens, and rich and diverse living plants are the main signs of the success of botanical gardens. A high-level botanical garden is an important feature of an international metropolis and an important symbol of a country's civilization and progress. There are tens of thousands of advanced botanical garden plants in the world, such as 59,000 species collected by Kew Garden in Britain and more than 2 1000 species collected by Moscow General Botanical Garden. Located in the capital, Beijing Botanical Garden shoulders the task of serving the central leadership, scientific research, public and international exchanges. For more than ten years, the Botanical Garden has been taking increasing plant species as an important task, and completed 18 plant introduction research projects, among which "Introduction, screening, propagation, cultivation and preliminary application research of a group of American garden trees", "Introduction of Bambusoideae and screening of cold-resistant varieties" and "Tissue culture of several foreign woody plants" won municipal awards. The Botanical Garden has newly established an excellent plant nursery center and opened up more than 200 acres of nurseries. Nursery Center has extensive contacts with botanical gardens and nurseries at home and abroad, and vigorously introduced more than 0/000 new excellent plants at home and abroad, which have been applied in botanical gardens and extended to the city's greening industry, and achieved good environmental benefits. The introduction and domestication technology of plants in Beijing Botanical Garden is in the forefront of domestic counterparts.

Greenhouse is the center to display plant diversity and also the place to protect exotic species. Modern large-scale exhibition greenhouse is known as the crown jewel of botanical garden. It not only represents the construction level of botanical gardens, but also reflects the scientific and technological level of the country. With the efforts of leaders at all levels, the construction of the exhibition greenhouse in Beijing Botanical Garden started from 1997 and started at the end of March, 1998. After a year and nine months of hard work, it was completed and opened to the outside world in 2000 10. The newly-built exhibition greenhouse is the largest in Asia and the most advanced in domestic equipment. It is also the image project and symbolic cultural facilities of the capital's modern city. The total area is 5.5 hectares, including 9800 square meters of exhibition greenhouse, 6000 square meters of experimental greenhouse, annex building 1200 square meters, and 2000 square meters of old greenhouse reconstruction, with a total construction area of 19000 square meters. The investment is 260 million yuan. The exhibition greenhouse is a beautifully shaped special-shaped glass curtain wall and steel frame building, and the indoor plant growth environment adopts multi-system integrated control and automatic management. The greenhouse is divided into four main exhibition areas: tropical rain forest, desert plants, specialized plants, four seasons garden and shady plants area, and there are alpine plants display boxes. More than 60,000 plants and 365,438+000 species of plants were collected from home and abroad. In the tropical rain forest exhibition area, there is the largest living root plant in the world greenhouse, with a root diameter of 2.8 meters; There is a big banyan tree with the largest trunk diameter in the greenhouse, with DBH of1.5m; In the greenhouse, there is the world's largest tree, 15 meters high and 50 cm in diameter at breast height, which is strangling Iraqi candied dates. There is a national first-class protected plant, the tree fern "Alsophila spinulosa" contemporary with dinosaurs. There are more than 1000 species of cactus and succulents in the desert plant exhibition area, ranking first in the country in quantity and scale. There are "golden amber" with a diameter of 80 cm and multi-headed golden amber with a diameter of 1.2 m; The "giant column" with a height of 5.5 meters is a unique desert plant "Dragon Tree" of Compositae in China. Rare "stick tree" and "hawksbill dragon". There are more than 1000 varieties of pineapple, Phalaenopsis, Dendrobium, Paphiopedilum, Oncidium and other tropical orchids with excellent ornamental effects in the special garden. There are also insect-eating plants "Nepenthes", "Bottle Grass" and "Flycatcher"; Dancing grass swaying to the music. Millennium-old "Dragon Blood Tree", huge "Plumeria" and "Indus" in the Four Seasons Garden; Gorgeous begonia, impatiens, hydrangeas, longevity flowers, unique trollius and lotus lanterns, as well as flowers from all over the world, constitute a colorful picture.

The completion of the exhibition greenhouse has greatly enriched the plant species, innovated the scientific research materials of tree transplantation, accumulated practical experience, increased the scientific and technological content and cultural connotation of Beijing Botanical Garden, provided the public with places for popular science education, biodiversity display, environmental protection knowledge propaganda and high-grade tourist attractions, and also provided a base for plant research and academic exchanges at home and abroad.

Compared with foreign large-scale exhibition greenhouses of the same scale, Beijing Botanical Garden has the shortest construction period, the least investment and the largest in seedling size, which has set new records in many aspects. It takes 3-5 years to build such a big greenhouse abroad, and we only need one year and nine months. The greenhouses in Japan's Dream Island and England's Kew Garden cover an area of just over 4,000 square meters, and the investment is several times higher than ours. The largest DBH of greenhouse trees in the world is 80 cm, while the largest banyan tree in China is1.5 m. The successful tree protection innovation of Beijing Botanical Garden has won unanimous praise from garden experts and botanists from Britain, Japan, the United States, Canada and other countries who visited the greenhouse.

Two, the use of botanical garden rich plant materials, to carry out various forms of popular science activities, education in appreciation.

Since the establishment of Beijing Botanical Garden for more than 40 years, popularizing plant scientific knowledge has always been the first task. 1999, which was turned into a popular science education base for young people in Beijing. There is a large outdoor popular science exhibition area in Beijing Botanical Garden, including characteristic garden, cherry valley nature reserve and exhibition greenhouse. With the development of garden construction and scientific research, the popular science work in our garden has gradually formed its own situation. The newly-built Science Museum covers an area of 2,670 square meters. Every year, it receives thousands of visits, exchanges, internships and special summer camps for middle school students from institutions of higher learning and relevant units, and receives more than one million tourists. At the same time, actively carry out various forms of popular science activities:

(1) Scientific activities of biodiversity conservation

In April, 1, 1998, our garden and the Cultural and Education Section of the British Consulate General jointly held the "Our Earth, Our Home-Science Exhibition on Environment and Biodiversity". In the form of exhibition boards and objects, the concept of biodiversity and the relationship between the earth environment and human beings are illustrated, and people, especially young friends, are called upon to become guardians of the earth and pioneers of environmental protection.

2. 1999, April 17, 2000 —— May 17, "Beijing Biodiversity Popular Science Activity Month" was held.

3. Hold "expert series lectures on popular science" every weekend. Invite experts and scholars in landscape architecture and plants to give popular science lectures on issues of common concern to the public, such as environment, plants, biodiversity, family flowers and grass planting. The public and experts will answer questions, provide opportunities for the public to meet and discuss with experts, and strive to make popular science deeply rooted in people's hearts and enter people's real life. Up to now, 20 "expert series lectures on popular science" have been held, which are increasingly welcomed by the masses.

4. Hold a "one-day tour of popular science for primary and secondary school students". Visit the plant exhibition centered on the science museum; Hold the "jigsaw puzzle competition of rare and endangered animals and plants"; Watch environmental protection videos and conduct "environmental protection knowledge contest"; Organize a visit to the seasonal garden of the Botanical Garden to explain the knowledge of seasonal flowers such as peach blossoms, peony and roses; Make full use of the newly-built tropical plant greenhouse, organize the "Green Tour" youth plant theme activities, and discover the mystery of plants.

5. Expert consultation: Invite experts with rich experience in flower cultivation to answer all kinds of family flower cultivation questions raised by tourists, and organize the distribution of nearly 10,000 copies of popular science propaganda materials such as Ornamental Plant Diversity in China, Biodiversity in China, Plant Diversity in China, Flowers and Health, Green Plants, Kindness to Life and Green Packaging.

(2) Use the Science Museum to hold exhibitions and carry out mass participation activities.

The Science Museum is aimed at tourists, especially primary and secondary school students, to popularize the knowledge of plants and environmental science, so that visitors can understand the important role of plants in human life and fully understand the importance of protecting the environment and biodiversity. On the other hand, it shows people the important role of botanical gardens in species protection and social sustainable development, and enhances people's concern about the increasingly serious urban environment and ecological problems. At the same time, the science museum has also become a place for people to learn gardening techniques. At present, the daily exhibition projects of the Science Museum include: the theme exhibition of "Plants and Human Life" and the exhibition of "Botanical Garden and Biodiversity Protection". Through modern display means, the big screen of the exhibition hall will play videos on the themes of plants and environmental protection, such as "Pearl beside the Sleeping Buddha Temple-Beijing Botanical Garden", "Earth-Last Home", "Tropical Rainforest" and "Plants and Trees". Use 6 multimedia touch screens to play multimedia CDs such as Beijing Botanical Garden, China Botanical Garden, World Botanical Garden, Tropical Plant Exhibition Greenhouse of Beijing Botanical Garden, 100,000 Why-Plants and Diversity of Higher Plants. By showing the model of Venus flytrap, visitors can understand the mechanism of Venus flytrap preying on insects through personal participation. There is a paper workshop in the Science Museum. Visitors can make a brand-new recycled paper by soaking, beating, copying and drying waste newspapers and sawdust, so as to understand the traditional papermaking process and enhance people's awareness of environmental protection. Set up a data desk to distribute popular science propaganda materials such as flower cultivation knowledge.

(3) Use the exhibition greenhouse to carry out popular science activities.

The newly-built exhibition greenhouse has set up a popular science museum, 20 touch computers provide visitors with rich plant knowledge, and two large-screen color TVs scroll to show plant introductions and scientific and educational films about man and nature; The advanced digital audio navigation system is adopted in the tour guide's explanation; Let tourists receive popular science education while visiting. In order to let people know about plants, we hung famous brands of plants and set up explanatory boards to vividly introduce the key plants and main flowers that are often displayed in the Four Seasons Garden.

(4) setting up popular science galleries, hanging popular science signs and publishing popular science books,

Since 1997, we have established a popular science gallery. Open 12 popular science window, 45 square meters, and the exhibition content is updated twice a year. Vividly publicize plant knowledge and environmental protection knowledge with pictures and words.

The Botanical Garden has designed, produced and hung nearly 10,000 famous plants. Publish 5000 guide maps of botanical gardens; 5000 sets of peach blossom postcards; 5000 copies of greenhouse guide map; 5000 sets of postcards in greenhouse; 25,000 popular science guide books in greenhouses; And make multimedia CD-ROM of greenhouse tour guide; Recording feature films and making VCD discs.

(five) the establishment of botanical garden website, the use of high-tech means to do a good job of popular science.

In order to give full play to the role of Beijing Botanical Garden as a popular science propaganda and education base, strengthen the propaganda of Botanical Garden and further popularize plant knowledge, the website of Botanical Garden was officially opened on June 5438+ 10, 2000. Set up botanical garden information, news tracking, recent flowers, botanical garden tourism, plant world, children's special board, gardening paradise, people and plants, plant clubs and other columns. On the one hand, it introduces the timely exhibition of botanical garden and releases the latest news of botanical garden; On the other hand, the botany knowledge is popularized through the botanical garden website, and the public's awareness of caring for plants and protecting the environment is cultivated. At the same time, the botanical garden website is also an important medium for the exchange, scientific research and popularization of science in the international botanical garden. At present, the website is constantly improving, and the number of visitors will reach 50,000 during the year.

Third, the use of characteristic flowers to hold flower viewing activities, show a beautiful ecological environment, and enhance people's awareness of environmental protection.

How to improve people's awareness of environmental protection, let people know about the relationship between plants, people and the environment, and understand the important role of plants in the sustainable development of cities, so as to arouse people's love for life and cherish the environment is another important task of popular science in botanical gardens. Peach blossom is a famous flower representing spring, which has been loved by Chinese people since ancient times and has gradually formed a peach blossom culture with peach blossom as its theme. In order to enrich the cultural life of the citizens and show the beautiful ecological environment, the Botanical Garden has held the "Peach Blossom Festival in the Spring Festival" every April since 1989. Mainly to enjoy flowers, carry out various cultural activities, and educate tourists on popular science. Over the years, our garden has made great efforts to collect peach blossom varieties and set up peach blossom research projects to provide visitors with a garden to understand peach blossom resources and peach blossom variety diversity. There are 5,000 peach blossoms and more than ten varieties in the Botanical Garden. Up to now, more than 64 varieties 10000 peach blossoms have been collected. In terms of tree types, there are straight peaches, broom peaches, longevity peaches and hanging peaches. From the flower pattern, there are single petal, plum blossom, rose, peony and chrysanthemum. Botanical Garden has become the garden with the richest variety of peaches in the world. Every spring, after careful arrangement by gardeners, colorful peach blossoms and more than 20 kinds of spring flowers, such as Yingchun, Forsythia suspensa, Mume, Begonia, Clove and Peony, form a pleasing and beautiful scenery against the backdrop of young grass. Cultural exhibitions related to peach blossom are held during the Peach Blossom Festival, such as: arranging scenic spots such as "Peach Blossom Face", "Lin Daiyu Reunion Peach Blossom Club" and "Peach Blossom Garden"; Dispose poems that sing peach blossoms in peach blossoms; Make large-scale flower arrangement works such as sound of spring, Peach Tone and Spring Return; Hold a peach blossom painting and calligraphy exhibition or something. At the same time, it also organizes a variety of mass activities, such as: inviting outstanding teachers and representatives of three good students to carry out "peaches and plums all over the world" tree planting activities; Invite painters and writers to come to the garden to write poems and paint; Organize primary and secondary school students to carry out the Peach Blossom Festival composition competition.

During the Peach Blossom Festival, people, old and young, come to the Botanical Garden to enjoy colorful peach blossoms and enjoy the fresh and pure air. The vitality of nature and the beautiful scenery of the motherland give people beautiful enjoyment, and the elegant Peach Blossom Festival cultivates people's sentiments. "The sky is clear, the wind is sunny, the peaches and willows are green, and everything is glorious" and "Range Rover is in the picture and the flowers are back in the sleeve". Tourists' messages expressed their love for the Peach Blossom Festival, which was well received by leaders at all levels and the masses. The Party and comrades such as president, Yang, Wan Li, Wei Jianxing, Song Ping, Rong Yiren, Qian Qichen, Wu Bangguo, Jiang Chunyun, Jia Qinglin and Song Jian visited the Garden successively. By holding the Peach Blossom Festival, the cultural life of the masses is enriched, the visibility of the Botanical Garden is greatly improved, the knowledge of peach blossoms is popularized, a good ecological environment is displayed, and the social and economic benefits of the Botanical Garden are improved. Since the Peach Blossom Festival, the number of tourists has increased year by year. The first session had only 1.28 million tourists. By the twelfth session of this year, the number of tourists has reached 459,000. The number of visitors to the Peach Blossom Festival accounts for 30% of the total number of visitors throughout the year. Ticket revenue has also increased from 96,000 yuan in the first session to 6.5438+0.82 million yuan this year. (Ticket price is transferred from 3 yuan to 5 yuan).

In addition, the Botanical Garden holds the "Rose Chrysanthemum Flower Show" every autumn, which has been held for seven times last year. The urban flower show centers on the Rose Garden and Xuanqiu Garden, planting chrysanthemums in a large area, which complements the 654.38 million+roses in the Rose Garden. Through careful design, three-dimensional landscapes such as "chrysanthemum tree", "chrysanthemum umbrella", "float" and "flower basket" were arranged, which attracted a large number of tourists to watch and take pictures as a souvenir. The lotus exhibition held in summer, the lotus varieties are fresh and elegant, adding color to the hot season and bringing beautiful enjoyment to tourists.

Fourth, make use of the humanistic landscape of the botanical garden to carry forward the culture of the motherland, cultivate the spirit of patriotism and inspire the national spirit.

Lying Buddha Temple, located in the north of Botanical Garden, is an ancient temple built in the Tang Dynasty. It has a history of 1000 years and is listed as a municipal cultural relics protection unit. The reclining Buddha of Sakyamuni was made of bronze in the Yuan Dynasty, with a length of 5.3 meters and a weight of 54 tons. It is a rare and precious cultural relic in the world. The exquisite glass archway and towering hall in the temple are all buildings of the Qing Dynasty. The plaques and inscriptions inscribed by Yong Zhengdi, Emperor Qianlong and Empress Dowager Cixi added to the cultural atmosphere of the reclining Buddha Temple. The Millennium Cooper, Ginkgo biloba and Chimonanthus praecox in the temple show the long history of the ancient temple.

In order to show visitors the profound cultural connotation of the reclining Buddha Temple, the Botanical Garden, on the one hand, strengthens the protection of the cultural relics of the reclining Buddha Temple, on the other hand, makes an in-depth investigation on the information about the reclining Buddha Temple and enriches the explanation content. In the early 1980s, the temple was renovated for the first time, and the Buddha statues destroyed in the unrest were reshaped, and the broken curtains and tables were replaced, which basically restored the original appearance of the reclining Buddha temple. From 65438 to 0995, the Botanical Garden sent four people to Shaanxi, Shanxi, Sichuan, Henan, Hubei, Jiangsu, Fujian, Shanghai and other provinces and cities to inspect 30 reclining buddhas in China. After more than two months of hard work, I have mastered detailed first-hand information about sleeping Buddha, and at the same time I have increased my knowledge of Buddhism. Through investigation and study, we confirm that the bronze reclining Buddha in the reclining Buddha Temple is the largest and oldest existing bronze statue of Sakyamuni in China, and its cultural value is irreplaceable. Using the collected data, the lecturer was organized to study and train, which improved the quality of service personnel and enriched the lecture content.

There are more than 100 arborvitae trees in the reclining Buddha Temple, ginkgo biloba embraced by two people, and the oldest wintersweet in Beijing. In order to show the characteristics of the ancient temple, the Botanical Garden has strengthened the management of the ancient and famous trees in the temple, laying breathable bricks, watering regularly, applying fertilizer and spraying drugs, and taking various measures to rejuvenate. In recent years, more than 100 Chimonanthus praecox plants have been newly planted. Lush cypress trees, leafy ginkgo and fragrant wintersweet make the reclining Buddha Temple more profound, quiet and elegant.

The Botanical Garden implements standardized services, and the instructors in the museum implement a service commitment system, giving enthusiastic and meticulous explanations to tourists at regular intervals. Visitors to the reclining Buddha Temple not only know the historical origin of the reclining Buddha Temple, but also learn some Buddhist knowledge. The reclining Buddha Temple has become a famous scenic spot in Beijing, with annual visitors accounting for 38% of the total park population.

Cao Xueqin, a great literary master in China, and his Dream of Red Mansions have already swept the country and spread all over the world. In the early 1950s, Cao Xueqin was the only celebrity recommended by China among the 26 planets named by world celebrities. According to redology research, Cao Xueqin lived and wrote near Xishan in his later years. In order to show admiration for literary masters and promote the culture of the motherland, the Botanical Garden established the Cao Xueqin Memorial Hall in its southeast in 1984, and expanded it on the original basis in 1996. In order to artistically reproduce the living environment of Cao Xueqin in his later years and the scene of writing A Dream of Red Mansions, the memorial hall was expanded to 1.8 hectares, surrounded by hedges, adjacent to the courtyard, with winding stones and deep alleys. The memorial hall is divided into four courtyards and five exhibition rooms, which systematically introduces Cao Xueqin's family background, life, writing environment, research results and influence of A Dream of Red Mansions. The "poems on the wall" discovered in the 1970s were exhibited to tourists as the basis of the "former residence theory" of some redology scholars, which aroused people's great interest in the debate. According to the historical data, the "Life Scene of Cao Xueqin" reproduces the living atmosphere of the standard-bearer 200 years ago. It is simple and unique to open a vegetable garden, build a melon shed and a bean rack with a variety of yellow trees in the hospital. In order to increase the cultural content of the memorial hall, we invited 12 calligraphers from the Red House to write poems reflecting Cao Xueqin's living environment and make them into stone sculptures to stand in the courtyard. Teahouses, restaurants and arrow fields set up at the head of the village allow visitors to appreciate the living habits of Cao Xueqin and the flag bearer.

Because Cao Xueqin frequented the writing of A Dream of Red Mansions, many scenery in the botanical garden were endowed with literary color. According to the textual research of Dream of Red Mansions, the name of the protagonist "Jia Baoyu" was inspired by Cao Xueqin's "The Gemstone in the Cherry Ditch". And "pine on the stone" symbolizes the "wood-stone alliance" that represents Baodai's love in the novel. Under the big locust tree at the mouth of the cherry ditch, it used to be a small teahouse where Cao Xueqin often drank tea; The three existing watchtowers are the "ancient docks" that Cao Gong's friends once boarded; Outside the memorial hall, next to Bicheng Lake is the "river wall" that Cao Gong often walks through; Lying Buddha Temple is the "Yellow Leaf Temple" in Cao Gong's poems. In the explanation of the memorial hall, Cao Xueqin's life and writing environment are introduced in combination with the relevant scenery of the Botanical Garden, which not only makes the exhibition vivid and fascinating, but also adds aura and cultural connotation to the plants, trees, stones and water in the Botanical Garden. Cao Xueqin Memorial Hall in Huangye Village has become a place for people, especially teenagers, to learn about history, learn the culture of the motherland and cherish the memory of literary masters. It is also a classroom to cultivate patriotism and enhance national pride.

To sum up, in terms of cultural construction, Beijing Botanical Garden not only makes use of the diversity of plants, but also uses high-tech means to carry out colorful popular science activities, and uses the cultural landscape in the park to excavate cultural connotations, popularize traditional cultural knowledge, carry out activities in all directions, and combine education with sightseeing and entertainment. Botanical Gardens have greatly enhanced their cultural connotation and garden landscape through "building gardens by culture", and they are increasingly welcomed by the masses. Visitors to the Botanical Garden increased from 7 1.8 million ten years ago to 1.0 1.2 million, an increase of 4 1%. In the future work, we should aim at the world-class level and strive to build a Beijing Botanical Garden commensurate with a modern metropolis.