For those who don't know much about why I'm here, my trip is sponsored by the Thomas Watson Foundation in New York. Through the Watson Fellowship program, the foundation "offers graduates of 'unusual promise' a year of independent, purposeful, exploration and travel--in international settings new to them--to enhance their capacity for resourcefulness, imagination, openness, and leadership and to foster their humane and effective participation in the world community." My particular project is to examine the challenges, benefits, and strategies of creating sustainable buildings and cities in different climatic, cultural, and historical settings. What I ultimately want to gain from each place I visit is an idea of the challenges facing sustainable city development in that location, what is necessary to overcome these barriers, an idea of any indigenous technologies or cultural practices which lend themselves particularly well to the creation of a sustainable city that can be replicated elsewhere, and a sense for how sustainability is perceived within the nation. To me that still seems a bit broad for just a year, but as I progress I'll see the direction the interviews and research take me and go from there.
It was quite a whirlwind turnaround returning from Kenya on July 21 (if you want to read about our work there, check out www.hmckenya.blogspot.com) only to go camping from July 22-25 and then get on a plane out of LAX early morning on July 29 to arrive here in the evening on the 30th. Landing in Shanghai I couldn't help but be reminded slightly of home by the brown haze setting over the city and the massive amounts of urban sprawl radiating from the city center. However all similarities to L.A. were quickly wiped away as I entered the airport to find myself surrounded by a language written in characters I couldn't even begin to recognize. Not that I didn't expect this, but it was a completely new experience for me. Navigating the metro to my hostel for the night turned out to be easier than expected due to the existence of English subtitles on all metro and street signs and so with little trouble I was able to get a good night's sleep.
Since then, I've had the chance to explore some of Shanghai's distinct areas including Hongkou and the New Bund, formerly the Jewish District, People's Square, Jing'An Temple, and the Bund. I plan to spend more time in each of these places and so will give more details when that happens. The primary focus of my first few days was just getting settled, which can be difficult when you don't speak the language of the country. Luckily, HMC junior Eric Zhang and his wonderful family helped me find a phone, find an apartment, and showed me around a bit. Now I can say I'm happily in my own apartment overlooking the Suzchou River and looking out on other apartment buildings exactly the same as my own. It is a nice sight at night when lights along the river illuminate and change colors over time and colored spotlights atop the other buildings provide a light show in the sky which is reflected below in the river. Yet during the day I am a bit taken aback by the homogeneity of these developments. They are called "superblocks" and are infill developments of approximately 30 story high rise apartments which all look exactly the same. The buildings are connected by winding, picturesque gardens (perhaps an attempt at making the eco-friendly?). But what is astounding is the number of these developments around Shanghai. They seem to have overtaken certain areas of the city, providing a bland cityscape which contrasts greatly with the dynamic and unique skyline of Pudong, the city's up and coming business center. In my opinion, it's a disappointing solution to the problem of burgeoning population--a cheap, quick fix that likely will not last more than a few decades.
Some more first impressions of China. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that a city of 20 million people is always bustling and busy. At times the metro is so crowded that all you can do is move with the mass of people and hope to wriggle your way out at your stop. Even in what Eric said were lean (not busy) times, the streets seemed crowded to me. But I'm realizing that I like that about the city. There is always activity and life and you don't feel alone, even when you are as different from the multitudes as I am. Speaking of different, it's been fun to try and communicate across languages using just gestures and the bits of broken Chinese I'm learning and the bits of broken English street vendors know.
I guess my biggest complaint thus far is that it is too humid here. Heat I can handle (and there is plenty of it) but humidity is another thing. Just standing in the elevator down from the 24th floor where I live my shirt begins to stick to me. When there is a nice breeze through the apartment it's not bad, and at nights when I run the A/C it's great, but aside from that it's pretty uncomfortable. I'm getting used to it, but after a few days I was already missing the dry heat of Africa and LA.
Well that's about it for now. I know this has been a long post, so I'll try and be more frequent with the posts now that I have a workaround for the firewall to keep them shorter. Tomorrow I'm off to Nanjing to visit a couple of fellow HMC grads and meet with a professor about transportation in China, so I'll write about that when I return.
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ReplyDeleteHaving grown up in L.A., too, it took me awhile to get used to humidity in West Africa. After living there over a year, I took a trip north, away from the Gulf, and thought all the water was being sucked out of me! It's amazing what you can get used to!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you're off to a good start.
Hi Rob! Can't wait to hear about all of the exciting things you will be doing!!!
ReplyDeleteYour trip already sounds amazing and you're only a few days in! Having this blog is such a fantastic idea, I'm so happy you'll be keeping all of us updated on your discoveries.
ReplyDeleteI really liked your comment about how the apartment complexes are only a temporary solution which will probably not last more than a couple decades. As I walk around Cambridge looking at their hundred year old buildings, I really wonder which - of any - of the buildings we are putting up today will be able to last that long.
Looking forward to your next post!
Awesome post, Rob, I'll make sure to follow this blog! The superblocks remind me of Estonia: you can find many of them spread throughout the capital (mostly outside downtown) and were built during the 70's. From what I recall, they are also common in many places in Russia. Makes you wonder whether the communist government favored these types of structures...
ReplyDeleteRob Astley! I hope you're doing well. Make sure to take some pictures and share them with us! How long will you be in China? So what dialect of Chinese are you learning?
ReplyDeleteYay! Glad you made it over safely!
ReplyDeletePeter: I'll let you know if I get used to the humidity. I hope so, because you remember how bad Dubai was, and that's up next!
ReplyDeleteIrene: Hope you're having fun in England, and can't wait to hear about it! But I know what you mean--buildings today seem to have a set lifetime. Here that lifetime can be anywhere from 10 to 100 years (supposedly), and in the U.S. they are supposedly multiple decades. I'm sure some will last, but not all, and many not without renovation.
Dmitri: I hadn't thought of it that way. I don't know a whole lot about Communism, but perhaps the idea that everyone is equal extended to buildings too. Dwellings were meant to reinforce the idea of equality and thus didn't have individuality. I had been thinking of it here more in the context of being the quickest way to accommodate the rapid urbanization of China's cities, but there could be more to it. I'll have to look out for that. Thanks.
Liz: Thanks for the wishes, and check out the new pictures. I'll get more too. I'll be here until November 1 and then I head to Dubai. As for Chinese, I'm trying to pick up as much Mandarin as I can. That seems most useful in Shanghai.