One of the classes I am taking is called "Shanghai and Globalization." The main idea of the course is not how globalization is evident (because IT IS) in Shanghai, or even Shanghai's part in globalization, but it is about how if you understand Shanghai's history, past and present, you understand globalization. Shanghai IS globalization and globalization IS Shanghai. Not sure if that makes sense. The professor explained it much more eloquently.
Anyways, we were introduced to this concept last week during our first day of class and I have been thinking about it everyday since then. The more of Shanghai I am able to see and analyze, the more I agree with the sentiment. The sheer size and dynamism of Shanghai is so HUGE and complicated that it is almost too hard to comprehend. The "uneveness of its sophistication" is something that I don't think you will find anywhere else on this planet. The breakneck pace of development has turned Shanghai into one large construction site. Cranes as far as the eye can see. Streets, neighborhoods, alleys, and malls are demolished and rebuilt as futuristic glass and concrete showpieces. Buildings that you would NEVER see in the US are built here. Some look like landing pads for flying saucers. All in all, the buildings are just completely out of this world. The "uneveness" occurs when you're standing in front of one of these 100+ floor Star Wars-like buildings and you see a rickshaw parked in front selling steamed dumplings for nearly nothing. Or also when you see three Audis, a Mercedes, and a Range Rover parked next to a man peddling his entire family, ancestors, and last season's crop on his bike. Images like these are the ones that really resonate in my mind. I will have to carry my camera around with me from now just to document such instances. Anywayssss, the speed at which all of this occurs is truly astonishing, especially when compared to how slow anything and everything in the US takes. The 101 in Arizona, for example, has been under construction/expanding for months (probably years) and most likely took years to have plans for it solidified and approved. Let me tell ya... shit like that doesn't happen here. Construction happens around the clock. Buildings and freeways sprout out of the ground like weeds. (Speaking of Weeds you can get all seasons of the show on the streets here for just a few bucks. Bootleg, of course)
There are billboards and ads for the 2010 World Expo all over the city. The slogan of the expo is "Better City, Better Life." Much of the infrastructure work that they are doing in preparation for the big event is the expansion of the subway system. I've heard that the system here is only a few years old and already is one of the most extensive (and clean in comparison to New York's) in the world. The mass expansion that it is undergoing now will leave it with completely new lines once the expo arrives. Truly astonishing. It is hard to describe without seeing it for yourself.
The slogan, "Better City, Better Life" also relates to the topic of "cities" in my Shanghai and Globalization class. Our professor said that innovation and creativity only happens in cities. However, for that to even occur, cities have to attract that kind of talent. Shanghai was once that city. In the 1930s, Shanghai was known as the "Paris of the East." It was glitzy. It was glamorous. It had everything that a true city could ask for. All that kind of got lost in the whole Communism thing but flash forward to today and Shanghai is in the midst of experiencing its modern-day revival. With the mentality of "if we build it they will come," Shanghai is now able to come off to the naked eye as a pretty highly developed city. However once you look closer you see that the creativity and innovation is just not at the level that a city of its size and "look" would seem to have. This is where the phrase, "Shanghai has state of the art hardware, but lags with its software" (or something like that) comes from. Looking around, no phrase describes Shanghai better. The ("hardware") technology, infrastructure, and everything needed to support a thriving and modern society is here. Sadly, once you look closer you realize that the "software," or the people, innovation, and creativity are still a few years behind in its development and sophistication. That's not to say that there aren't highly sophisticated and innovative people here, because there definitely are, but its just not common or at the level it once was in 1930's Shanghai.
Shanghai (and China) is urbanizing so quickly that the government has resorted to building entire "satellite cities" outside larger more established cities. Such cities are being built outside of Shanghai and are constructed completely from scratch. Entire cities with housing, streets, schools, hospitals, etc... are built and then the people move in. The way in which this is being done is not something I have ever heard of happening, or at least in the Western world. Crazy, huh?
In other news: I dropped my shaving cream in the toilet yesterday when I was reaching for my contact solution. So if you see Gandhi walking down the street, it's actually me. Also...KUMQUATS! I'm obsessed with these little exotic fruits!
Okay, that ends my babbling for today. Au revoir!
No comments:
Post a Comment