Many of my posts from now on are going to focus on the theoretical and concrete aspects surrounding my Fulbright project, as opposed to updates on my daily life. I've pretty much run out of amusing things to say about my own daily life in China. I think this is because I am integrating especially well into local culture and the routine of daily life is becoming slightly more monotonous for me, and thus I can't think of interesting things about my daily life to post about (that is, the daily parts of my life excluding aspects of my actual research). My life right now is pretty much conducting ethnographic field research in Old Nanjing, going to class, and reading books and articles in Chinese and English about urban politics, spatial structure, and cultural preservation.* Blogging about urban redevelopment might not be as much fun for those of you that are following me just to keep in touch or see what it's like to live as an American in China. I will try to still document some interesting or funny things that happen in intercultural communication, but for the most part I'm going to reserve those moments for my Twitter (@sbtynen). For those of you that are currently subscribed to my blog (you get emails every time I publish), please let me know at any time if you wish to unsubscribe.
*That being said, I am planning on writing a post soon about running and working out in China (one of my favorite daily routines is running around the lake or university track in the early morning) and volunteering (I am going to start translating for a charity called the Amity Foundation next week). Stay posted! ;-)
My blog is generally going to take on a slightly more academic tone for the next few weeks as I hope to prepare myself and my readers for the theoretical aspects of urban redevelopment: urban morphology [the study of the formation of human settlements and the process of their transformation], cultural preservation, socio-segregation and grassroots political movements. You know, the usual. The aspiring geographer in me is most interested in socio-economic segregation and I would like to incorporate this aspect into my case study. During my extensive literature review during the past couple months and field research in the past week, I realized that 1.) I don't really know what I'm doing, 2.) I need to re-write my research questions and research design. Therefore, in the upcoming months I plan to write about the existing literature, my new research design, and finally, my ethnography.
Furthermore, I'd like to eventually start submitting pieces to various magazines or news publications (Thanks for the tips, Dad!), and I'm going to use my blog as a mode of honing my writing skills and publishing articles that I've submitted. I'm still quite an amateur writer, but I'm hoping that by regularly posting on this blog, I will get enough practice and then eventually will get published someday. Your comments and feedback, as always, are greatly appreciated. Help me become a better writer!
I will use this blog to publish parts of my ethnography...eventually. For those of you that aren't as familiar, ethnography is a research strategy that examines the fundamental aspects of the human experience and behaviors in various cultures and societies. I am in the process of collecting observations, mapping, and interviewing in my field site. While my research is in the very beginning stages and I am very concerned about the ethics surrounding the publication of this data. I know that the people I talk to and take pictures of will never find this blog, but the fact is that I must get their informed consent before I post their personal stories and pictures on the Internet. Because I am still slowly gaining the trust of the residents of Old Nanjing and slowly integrating myself into their community life, I will first be posting more on the theoretical aspects of urban redevelopment and the fundamentals of my research strategy while I collect data. In the meantime, I will occasionally post short anecdotes and pictures about my field research experiences.
Without further ado, a word about urban redevelopment:
“纵观世界各国，不同的国家和不同的民族有着不同的城市形态和空间组合，这种城市形态和城市空间组合，展示着包括国家政治、价值取向、民族传统、时代主张等各要素在内，形成了多样化的丰富多彩的世界城市体系。但是，在经济与文化全球化的今天，‘世界性城市’正在席卷世界各地的城市，城市形态和空间组合正在趋同化，上海与纽约的空间样态正在相似、雷同。北京、南京、西安这样有几千年历史的文明古城，正在以现代化整合关系，表现着同一的文化样态，这种发展潮流... ...表现为民族性、地方性和多样化的城市形态正在丧失。”－张鸿雁
"In an overview of the each country in the world, different countries and different ethnicities have different urban morphology and space composition. This reveals the key elements [of a society]: national politics, value orientation, ethnic traditions, and the time period's opinions and standpoints. Each country around the world has formed a rich, colorful, and diverse city system. But, in today's world of economic and cultural globalization, the concept of the "The Global City" [a city that is deemed to be important in the global economic system] is taking off with cities in each part of the world, and the urban morphology and spatial organization is turning into a monotonous regularity. Shanghai and New York have a duplicate pattern, style, and attitude. Beijing, Nanjing, and Xi'an are all cities with thousands of years of ancient civilization, but through modernization they have been rearranged, and now all display the same cultural appearance, style, and attitude. This type of developmental trend...represents that we have forfeited our nationality, local identity, and diversity in the modernization of our cities."[1] –Zhang Hongyan
Zhang Hongyan, one of my sociology professors at Nanjing University, is an ardent advocate of the localization (本土化) of urban redevelopment. This means incorporating local identity, tradition, style, and culture into the necessary restructuring of Chinese cities, as opposed to allowing styles and traditions from the West to dictate a reconstruction process that is following an unprecedented economic growth and massive migration into Chinese cities. "The main problem with Chinese cities today," he tells us during class, "Is that our society is not equal (平等). Every place in China is imbalanced with the extremely rich and the extremely poor. This is anything but stable."
From what I have learned, the idea behind the inequities of hasty Chinese urban redevelopment is that urban reconstruction in China favors the extremely rich. Usually two phenomenons either happen independently or simultaneously: 1.) cities planners expand into the suburbs, leaving neighborhoods in the old city neglected and dilapidated, which essentially serves as a type of ghetto for local residents, while wealthy outsiders (外地人) move into the new apartment buildings in the new city. 2.) there are parts of the old cities that are demolished, which are replaced with expensive apartment buildings (sometimes that will remain empty for years because the rich in China will buy up apartments as the most stable and reliable investment China has to offer) that locals cannot afford, and the locals are therefore displaced to the suburbs or another dilapidated, old city (read: ghettos).
Mr. Zhang, therefore, argues that more careful urban planning that incorporates the preservation of natural and national characteristics of China as a unique society is essential for stable and sustainable urban redevelopment. He argues that urban redevelopment as it is now is unsustainable because it only serves to exacerbate the gap between the rich and the poor. He argues that China should take advantage of the "cultural capital" (城市文化资本) that naturally exists in every nation as an effective way of preserving Chinese nationalism in its urban morphology (remember urban morphology is the form, function, character, and spatial structure of a city). "In China, the changes in our urban space express the rapid pace of our development, but even more so, the style of fluctuation in our urban space shows that China is eager for instant success and benefit (急功近利). The fact that in China's public policy there has never been a government proposal that includes a standpoint, policy, or theory regarding the localization of urban morphology reflects history's greatest pity and regret."[2]
Mr. Zhang, therefore, argues that more careful urban planning that incorporates the preservation of natural and national characteristics of China as a unique society is essential for stable and sustainable urban redevelopment. He argues that urban redevelopment as it is now is unsustainable because it only serves to exacerbate the gap between the rich and the poor. He argues that China should take advantage of the "cultural capital" (城市文化资本) that naturally exists in every nation as an effective way of preserving Chinese nationalism in its urban morphology (remember urban morphology is the form, function, character, and spatial structure of a city). "In China, the changes in our urban space express the rapid pace of our development, but even more so, the style of fluctuation in our urban space shows that China is eager for instant success and benefit (急功近利). The fact that in China's public policy there has never been a government proposal that includes a standpoint, policy, or theory regarding the localization of urban morphology reflects history's greatest pity and regret."[2]
I take Mr. Zhang's Ph.D. level (I know, I'm kind of crazy...) "Urban Sociological Development Theory" course. His class is my favorite, partially because it is seminar style and he allows participation (not that I can participate myself yet, unless it is to offer some juvenile insight into American cities), and partially because he is so incredibly passionate about his subject. One day he was jumping up and down in front of the class, spit flying everywhere, and he stopped and said, "Oh, sorry, I'm getting so excited (激动)." His biggest pet peeve (along with all my other sociology professors) is when Chinese people use Western sociological theories and try to apply them to Chinese society. The problem, he says, is that urban sociological theory specific to China, or even East Asia for that matter, doesn't exist yet. "This is your job, to develop sociological theories specific to Chinese society," he tells the class. During the last class, he showed us a video about the reunification of East and West Berlin, and how they were able to use localization to preserve important aspects of their culture while reunifying the divided city. It was especially applicable to Chinese society because East Berlin is transitioning from a communist to a market-oriented society.
It is an interesting class because he loathes the way that China has gone about with its rapid reconstruction and urban planning. His book, the one I quoted above, is scathing against the ways that China has destroyed their sense of nationality and diversity in the reconstruction of their cities. Indeed, any visitor to China will note that every city in China fundamentally looks the same. Sure, Nanjing has a city wall, Beijing has the Forbidden City, Shanghai has the Bund, and Xi'an has the Terracotta Warriors. But when you look at the residential areas, these cities are surprisingly similar in appearance and organization. Many Communist countries have the reputation for this phenomenon, as it's a result of central planning. One of Nanjing's unique characteristics, one of the only things that makes it different from other cities in China, are the huge trees that line many of the streets downtown. These trees definitely would have been torn down decades ago if it hadn't been for public protests to "save the trees" when government officials wanted to widen the roads.
How does a country with a population of 1.3 billion growing at 10% a year have time to worry about preserving old cities? For me, it's less about preserving those tangible aspects—that is, the preservation of the actual houses as cultural artifacts—and more about the people that have been left behind, that is, the losers in China's economic growth, the poor that just keep getting poorer. For Zhang Hongyan, and other Chinese scholars, it's about incorporating localism (as opposed to central planning and globalization) into urban reconstruction. Also, he writes, it's about advocating for sustainable and stable growth that encourages equitable growth, and controlling skyrocketing property values instead of boosting them: "You must have a proper level of awareness of the significance of localization in urban morphology, and at the same time improving your understanding of the function, special qualities, and growth mechanism of urban morphology, in order to understand cities. If those that were in control of a city's laws had this knowledge, they could make the dynamic development of a society become a truly creative and harmonious process."[3]
OK we are ready for the academic stuff. We will work our brain bags! Dr. Zhang's course sounds really interesting.
ReplyDeleteI love your comments
ReplyDeleteHey Sarah:
ReplyDeleteFantastic blog post! I thoroughly enjoyed it. A few quick thoughts:
There is a very simple political economy reason for the destruction of old portions of cities in favor of radical redevelopment: the performance assessment system used for local leaders, which determines their prospects for promotion, etc., is comprised almost entirely (roughly 70%) of economic metrics, principally GDP growth. New infrastructure projects such as skyscrapers and malls serve them well as both tangible evidence of their success and drivers of investment, job creation, etc. As long as the mechanism for assessing these leaders remains the same it is going to be tough to get them to take urban restoration seriously. I write this neither to dissuade you from conducting your research nor stop you from advocating your cause, both are necessary and noble. Rather, I'm hoping that this bit of macro-level analysis from me can help you conceptualize why things happen the way they do. Of course, there's also the issue that many of these local leaders are paid significant "hong bao" by developers, but we won't even go there...
Take care,
Bobby
Hey Bobby,
ReplyDeleteYour explanation of the political economic situation makes a lot of sense and I have learned about this phenomenon. But I actually don't really see "cultural preservation" as a cause I am advocating for, per say. Indeed, I do find it a little self-righteous when Westerners, or even Chinese intellectuals, parade around calling for the preservation of the Beijing hutongs or old cities.
I don't really support the Chinese style of preserving their old cities anyway (什么都是假的, everything is fake). Besides, most of the old city residents themselves would love nothing more than for their neighborhood to be demolished and to have the opportunity to be relocated into an apartment building (providing the government and land developers hold up that part of the bargain).
I've heard that some of the people that protest evictions (钉子户) don't actually care about the preservation of their home, they just want more money, or perhaps are getting paid off by land developers, who can then leverage with the local government to lower the cost of the land (due to the delay caused by the protester). I can't blame them, I wouldn't want to live in a house without a toilet either.
Anyway, I am simply more interested in the role that such "urban rearrangement" (城市的空间整合) (since housing went from being determined by work unit to simply income) has in changing certain aspects of the Chinese, and more specifically the Nanjingese, human experience. That is, the goal of my ethnographic study: to gain insight into the (potential changes) in cultural and social behavior of a community of the Nanjingese over a few generations. How has urban redevelopment in Nanjing changed Nanjingese cultural and social behaviors? How has urban redevelopment changed the human experience of a local Nanjingese? What changes in lifestyle can be attributed to urban spatial change?
As I recently started my fieldwork, more questions about the impact of urban redevelopment on businesses in Old Nanjing and the impact of economic reform in general on Nanjing culture and society have also peaked my interest. I'm going to start looking into the role of the Resident Committees too... Anyway, stay posted, I will be writing up my research focus in a future blog post, I hope.