Had trouble selecting which photos to post. So I might post all of them eventually. China has undergone enormous development, be it planned or unplanned. High density living is more than common. (However, there also is a high level of Greenfield low density development which I will post later.)
And guess what, this is the neighbourhood I grew up in. The small building with red-tile roof in the bottom left section is my primary school. My place is not from the left corner. The large white building in the front is a hospital. My place is surrounded by more than 10 hospitals within 1~2 kilometres. Contrast to Australia much? In terms of physical forms, facilities and density of living as well as people's perception of such things.
I love the idea of your blog! I've never been to Guangzhou before, but, after seeing this, I have decided to go to Guangzhou and Shenzhen this July! China is indeed very facinating. I've been to 1st and 2nd tier cities but am looking forward to visiting places like Wenzhou, Taiyuan, Lanzhou, Baoding, etc., and even 3rd tier cities! Theses are where a lot of interesting changes to China are happening, right?
ReplyDeleteI like how you mention that not all development is planned or permanent. When I was in China I felt many things were transient -- there until something else could/would eventually replace it.
Great photo! Did you take it? It reminds me of the Wuhan skyline. :)
Hey thanks for the comment!
ReplyDeleteYes I did take the photo, from my humble little Nokia haha!
Well I don't think many developments in China are very transient. Once something is built, especially with the growing scope of development nowadays, it's not easy or efficient to knock it down and build something else.
What I was trying to say was that there was a lack of planning in China historically as you can see from the photo the buildings are all over the place and don't follow any obvious guidelines like zoning, height, space and other development controls in Western civilisation.
Nevertheless, the new developments in China seem to be more planned and well designed, which I will post about later.
p.s. I haven't been to many other cities in China!
Oh really? Maybe it was a particular area I'm thinking of, but my Wuhanese friend told me many apartments are demolished there at 20 - 30 years to make way for larger, taller, more densely populated apartments. Do you know anything about "foreced demolitions"? I don't know much about it, but I know it's quite big on Chinese language forums.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, keep up the good work! I'm looking forward reading your ideas! :)
Oh in that case, old buildings do get demolished and redeveloped very often.
ReplyDeleteForced demolitions, I wouldn't say I know much about it, but I think the government would always replace the residents in some way - it's only a matter of whether the residents like it or not.