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A Respone To: |
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| "European Urban Fictions in China" |
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| Alright, Deiter... Here we go... - Yes, the towns were either planned as part an effort to introduce change to certain aspects of traditional Chinese culture, or simply ignore certain aspects. This is justified, because as you pointed out, community planning has been going on for some time now, and many aspects considered "traditional" are actually a result of earlier approaches to urban - and cultural - planning. It depends on how far back you want to look, and to what degree you associate present-day "traditions" with earlier efforts at urban and cultural planning. Often, things are planned one way and end up quite differently - for better or worse. - I don't think the reasons behind the New Towns have the sort of deeper explanation you're looking for. The part where you talk about the expanding population of Shanghai is probably the closest to an explanation you'll get. After that, it probably just seemed like a neat idea. Once the idea took hold, the potential positive outcomes became more apparent, but I seriously doubt there is a deeper explanation as to why urban planning was needed beyond the expanding population of Shanghai. We need to do A, along the way we can accomplish B. Real estate developers aren't exactly the philosophical sort... - The part about the orientation of the buildings has come up repeatedly. That is one explanation for the low populations of some of these towns that is consistent when all the towns are considered. But even then, I don't think it is the best explanation. I'm tossing out everything but building orientation and fences (see the next point below). The reason is that your study leaves out the Chinese-themed towns. And their outcomes are the same as the European-themed towns. In fact, one of the American towns in your chart was changed to a Chinese theme. (The other two American towns were never built, because the project was cancelled.) The Chinese-themed towns face all of the same issues as the European ones, so the explanation for the low populations can't be any of the ideas you've proposed related to a failure to properly transpose a European town to China, or to any cultural mismatch between European cities and Chinese culture. That said, do you think someone living in a tiny windowless apartment in Shanghai cares about the orientation of the buildings in Thames Town? If they do, I'm quite sure the Chinese would like to change that aspect of their culture. - You may be onto something about the fences and gates. I don't think it's about individualism vs. socialism, though. I think the Chinese middle-class are worried about being robbed. The open feeling in the new towns seems like a security risk. That's all there is to it. I think that - more than anything else - is behind a lot of this. And I think it's something the Chinese want to change. If it takes time, then it takes time. They got them built, and some of them are popular tourist attractions for now. So, I guess I can agree with you on the tourism benefit, although you didn't exactly call it a benefit. - Your chart was helpful. While the original plans have changed slightly, you mentioned that. And you talked about how difficult it was to get the latest information. I feel ya there, buddy. The chart is out-of-date, though. But without the actual Chinese names of some of those towns, I wouldn't have been able to get any pictures. So, thanks for that. - I'm really pissed at you for poo-poo-ing this project. Sometimes a bad review can be as powerful as an urban plan. And your review SUCKS! Hope you enjoy my post, and enjoy the pictures. Peace, though, Dieter... You're one of those damned postmodernists and we'll never see eye-to-eye anyway... |
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