Comments on: Shenzhen. The New, New City http://calpolymbatrip.com/2008/china/shenzhen-the-new-new-city/ The MBA Graduate Program at Cal Poly Thu, 20 Nov 2008 16:38:42 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: Mike http://calpolymbatrip.com/2008/china/shenzhen-the-new-new-city/#comment-5621 Mike Sat, 19 Jul 2008 17:51:52 +0000 http://calpolymbatrip.com/2008/china/shenzhen-the-new-new-city/#comment-5621 This is constant talk about connecting the 2 cities into one "mega city" within the next 20 years (i think that time frame is correct). There is already talk about allowing Shenzhen locals (people who have hukou here) to have easier access to Hong Kong, a train linking the 2 airports that only has a 20 min link and other possible joint projects. The police departments are even working together to catch smugglers going back and forth (and who are even tunneling stuff underground). This is constant talk about connecting the 2 cities into one “mega city” within the next 20 years (i think that time frame is correct). There is already talk about allowing Shenzhen locals (people who have hukou here) to have easier access to Hong Kong, a train linking the 2 airports that only has a 20 min link and other possible joint projects.

The police departments are even working together to catch smugglers going back and forth (and who are even tunneling stuff underground).

]]> By: Chris Carr http://calpolymbatrip.com/2008/china/shenzhen-the-new-new-city/#comment-5371 Chris Carr Tue, 17 Jun 2008 02:41:29 +0000 http://calpolymbatrip.com/2008/china/shenzhen-the-new-new-city/#comment-5371 Hi Lonnie. Nope. Did not know that. Interesting. A formal Hong Kong-Shenzhen link would be an incredibly powerful one-two punch. Hi Lonnie.

Nope. Did not know that. Interesting. A formal Hong Kong-Shenzhen link would be an incredibly powerful one-two punch.

]]> By: Lonnie http://calpolymbatrip.com/2008/china/shenzhen-the-new-new-city/#comment-5370 Lonnie Mon, 16 Jun 2008 17:13:17 +0000 http://calpolymbatrip.com/2008/china/shenzhen-the-new-new-city/#comment-5370 did you know there is an active coalition, and they made their thoughts known at the last congress, that hopes to make Shenzhen part of Hong Kong? did you know there is an active coalition, and they made their thoughts known at the last congress, that hopes to make Shenzhen part of Hong Kong?

]]> By: Woon Lam "Justine" Wong http://calpolymbatrip.com/2008/china/shenzhen-the-new-new-city/#comment-5344 Woon Lam "Justine" Wong Sat, 14 Jun 2008 00:01:44 +0000 http://calpolymbatrip.com/2008/china/shenzhen-the-new-new-city/#comment-5344 Shenzhen is next to Hong Kong, where is a place I used to go a lot when I was younger. We often crossed "the border" and went shopping for cheap products (sometimes fake products). The last time I went there, I shopped for books, because the books in China are really cheap, no matter Chinese or English. Although it was blur, I remembered the Shenzhen I saw last time was really different than the one I used to know before. Shenzhen has been developed so much, with high resemblance with Hong Kong. I hope Imay have chance to visit this place again soon, though may not through our trip. Each part of China "grows" differently with its own "mini culture" , and I think we can learn something wherever we go. Shenzhen is next to Hong Kong, where is a place I used to go a lot when I was younger. We often crossed “the border” and went shopping for cheap products (sometimes fake products). The last time I went there, I shopped for books, because the books in China are really cheap, no matter Chinese or English.
Although it was blur, I remembered the Shenzhen I saw last time was really different than the one I used to know before. Shenzhen has been developed so much, with high resemblance with Hong Kong. I hope Imay have chance to visit this place again soon, though may not through our trip.
Each part of China “grows” differently with its own “mini culture” , and I think we can learn something wherever we go.

]]> By: Nicholas Dominguez http://calpolymbatrip.com/2008/china/shenzhen-the-new-new-city/#comment-5342 Nicholas Dominguez Fri, 13 Jun 2008 23:37:28 +0000 http://calpolymbatrip.com/2008/china/shenzhen-the-new-new-city/#comment-5342 Even as the trip is about to start I feel that I will never be able to comprehend what this Chinese urban boom has done to the fabric of the Chinese society. I cannot imagine a city that has grown to 8 million people in 30 years. That kind of growth almost frightens me as a former city planning undergrad. The changes in the since of community that will take place in these hyper growth Chinese communities would be a fascinating experiment in social studies. It is shame we will not be able to visit Shenzhen before it grows even more and the character of the city is lost to the future.. I am sure many Chinese people feel the same way and they live there. Even as the trip is about to start I feel that I will never be able to comprehend what this Chinese urban boom has done to the fabric of the Chinese society. I cannot imagine a city that has grown to 8 million people in 30 years. That kind of growth almost frightens me as a former city planning undergrad. The changes in the since of community that will take place in these hyper growth Chinese communities would be a fascinating experiment in social studies. It is shame we will not be able to visit Shenzhen before it grows even more and the character of the city is lost to the future.. I am sure many Chinese people feel the same way and they live there.

]]> By: Pierre Michael http://calpolymbatrip.com/2008/china/shenzhen-the-new-new-city/#comment-5335 Pierre Michael Fri, 13 Jun 2008 17:11:14 +0000 http://calpolymbatrip.com/2008/china/shenzhen-the-new-new-city/#comment-5335 Thanks Adam Thanks Adam

]]> By: Robyn Bowie http://calpolymbatrip.com/2008/china/shenzhen-the-new-new-city/#comment-5332 Robyn Bowie Fri, 13 Jun 2008 16:37:37 +0000 http://calpolymbatrip.com/2008/china/shenzhen-the-new-new-city/#comment-5332 Wow, Shenzhen has certainly had some amazing growth. Adam, you bring up an interesting point about the urban sprawl. It is very true and one of the reasons I prefer San Francisco over LA - SF has a very distinct downtown because its on such a small area of land and can't sprawl in the same way as LA. I always find is rather strange when cities don't have a defined downtown and I agree that it is sad for such cultural cities as Beijing to lose this. It would have been very interesting to see some of China's "smaller cities" in the South, although I am very much looking forward to seeing India instead. Wow, Shenzhen has certainly had some amazing growth. Adam, you bring up an interesting point about the urban sprawl. It is very true and one of the reasons I prefer San Francisco over LA - SF has a very distinct downtown because its on such a small area of land and can’t sprawl in the same way as LA. I always find is rather strange when cities don’t have a defined downtown and I agree that it is sad for such cultural cities as Beijing to lose this. It would have been very interesting to see some of China’s “smaller cities” in the South, although I am very much looking forward to seeing India instead.

]]> By: Mark Fairman http://calpolymbatrip.com/2008/china/shenzhen-the-new-new-city/#comment-5315 Mark Fairman Thu, 12 Jun 2008 22:33:21 +0000 http://calpolymbatrip.com/2008/china/shenzhen-the-new-new-city/#comment-5315 It is unfortunate that we won't be able to visit Shenzhen this year. The video did a great job depicting what I would imagine is quite common for many village-to-city transformations throughout China. I agree that it is difficult to maintain the integrity of "place" when building and expanding at such amazing rates, and it is important to maintain the sense of "what was there before" whenever new construction is considered. I think Shenzhen was able to incorporate some of this into the new city with the allowance of existing home owners to keep their land. This local context will invariably influence all new construction to come. It is unfortunate that we won’t be able to visit Shenzhen this year. The video did a great job depicting what I would imagine is quite common for many village-to-city transformations throughout China. I agree that it is difficult to maintain the integrity of “place” when building and expanding at such amazing rates, and it is important to maintain the sense of “what was there before” whenever new construction is considered. I think Shenzhen was able to incorporate some of this into the new city with the allowance of existing home owners to keep their land. This local context will invariably influence all new construction to come.

]]> By: Adam Windham http://calpolymbatrip.com/2008/china/shenzhen-the-new-new-city/#comment-5312 Adam Windham Thu, 12 Jun 2008 18:41:36 +0000 http://calpolymbatrip.com/2008/china/shenzhen-the-new-new-city/#comment-5312 Pierre, What I meant by "Urban Sprawl" is that when cities keep expanding and pushing their boundaries outward, large new developments are usually "out in the middle of no where" in relationship to the "city center". Like the article said, these new projects are "springing up out of the sand". With nothing surrounding them, designers and developers look to create some kind of identity for the project. In contrast, when you are building a project surrounded by a lot of existing structures, most designers try to incorporate the exisiting context into the new building so it will "fit in" and establish its connection with the surrounding area (a brick apartment building might look out of place surrounded by a bunch of glass sky-scrappers). The problem I was referring to was as cities continue to expand outward, the "no man's land" becomes filled-in with projects that have no real connection among each other, whether it be architecturally, functionally, etc. An ultra-modern high-rise may end up being down the street from a classic looking strip mall. What ends up happening is the city becomes disjointed and "unorganized". Many US cities have actually taken surveys of its residents on where they think the city center is located, and no one can come up with a definitive answer. LA is a perfect example of this, the city has continued to expand outward rapidly creating a patchwork of "communities" or areas that have no real connection between each other. Many planners and designers are looking to fix this "problem" by revitalizing older buildings and create that connection, looking "inward" rather than continuing to push development outward. I'm not saying that cities like Beijing shouldn't be doing what its doing right now, that is taking advantage of its huge economic boom period to build new infrastructure, high rises, industrial parks, etc. I just feel that they are going to face the same problems that many American cities are facing today. Pierre,

What I meant by “Urban Sprawl” is that when cities keep expanding and pushing their boundaries outward, large new developments are usually “out in the middle of no where” in relationship to the “city center”. Like the article said, these new projects are “springing up out of the sand”. With nothing surrounding them, designers and developers look to create some kind of identity for the project. In contrast, when you are building a project surrounded by a lot of existing structures, most designers try to incorporate the exisiting context into the new building so it will “fit in” and establish its connection with the surrounding area (a brick apartment building might look out of place surrounded by a bunch of glass sky-scrappers).

The problem I was referring to was as cities continue to expand outward, the “no man’s land” becomes filled-in with projects that have no real connection among each other, whether it be architecturally, functionally, etc. An ultra-modern high-rise may end up being down the street from a classic looking strip mall. What ends up happening is the city becomes disjointed and “unorganized”. Many US cities have actually taken surveys of its residents on where they think the city center is located, and no one can come up with a definitive answer.

LA is a perfect example of this, the city has continued to expand outward rapidly creating a patchwork of “communities” or areas that have no real connection between each other. Many planners and designers are looking to fix this “problem” by revitalizing older buildings and create that connection, looking “inward” rather than continuing to push development outward.

I’m not saying that cities like Beijing shouldn’t be doing what its doing right now, that is taking advantage of its huge economic boom period to build new infrastructure, high rises, industrial parks, etc. I just feel that they are going to face the same problems that many American cities are facing today.

]]> By: Jesse Dundon http://calpolymbatrip.com/2008/china/shenzhen-the-new-new-city/#comment-5311 Jesse Dundon Thu, 12 Jun 2008 16:17:52 +0000 http://calpolymbatrip.com/2008/china/shenzhen-the-new-new-city/#comment-5311 Wow, that is really cool how the government let many of the citizens keep their own land. I wonder how often developers go in and buy out the citizens, and if they really get fair market value for their land. Does China have any kind of eminent domain law? That is, when it gets down to it, what is to stop the city of Shenzhen from taking large areas of these urban villages for a new skyscraper? Wow, that is really cool how the government let many of the citizens keep their own land. I wonder how often developers go in and buy out the citizens, and if they really get fair market value for their land. Does China have any kind of eminent domain law? That is, when it gets down to it, what is to stop the city of Shenzhen from taking large areas of these urban villages for a new skyscraper?

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