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Urban Development History of Shanghai, China
[Introduction] [Part I: The Feudal Age] [Part II: Concession; Foreign Settlement]
[Part III: Great Shanghai Scheme] [Part IV: After Liberation] [Part V: Culture of Longtang]
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City is not a plan with colored pattern on the wall, but an amalgamation of all the forces in it. Policy, ideology, economy, cultural and historical factor are the powerful forces influence the development of a city. It is administrative system, as a mechanism, through which all these forces realize their power.
With fertile rural area, good education system, economic boom and burly industrial foundation, Shanghai has not big problems in its development except its administrative system. This nearly dictatorial system is more like Chinese feudal system. So the city is manipulated by the governor as a means of promotion or a monument for himself. In Shanghai because of high education level, the situation isn’t so bad. But not all decision was made in a scientific way. Realizing the shortcoming of this system the government starts to reform its working procedure to make it more open to the public.
The other major problem by this system is the lost of independence of planners and architects. In such medium atmosphere, which voices for government, there were little real city planning or architecture critiques on the newspaper or television. Therefore, the citizens will only be happy with the “achievements” but neglect some unhealthy trends in their community development. And professionals became draftsmen of the government.
Luckily, things start to change these years; with the prevailing of Internet some critiques emerge on this new medium. And the city construction commission started to reform. This will indeed change the visage of Shanghai in the future, and the city will be developed in a more democratic and more scientific way. In the writer’s opinion, it is childish to change the system in one day, it is easy to replant the system from developed country but it is hard to stop the inertia of the 5000 yeas long Chinese culture, which is enrooted in Chinese ideology for a long time.
Huge
Model in Shanghai City Development Exhibition Center
Source: http://www.mwr.gov.cn/
[Introduction] [Part I: The Feudal Age] [Part II: Concession; Foreign Settlement]
[Part III: Great Shanghai Scheme] [Part IV: After Liberation] [Part V: Culture of Longtang]