Your Guide to Creative China
How the City Moved to Mr. Sun
Published December 2, 2011
Contact the Author
When architect Daan Roggeveen arrived in China back in 2008, he quickly realized that understanding the context and demands of a country still in the throes of modernization would take more than a trip to the Great Wall or Terracotta Warriors, and that wherever the answers he sought lay, it certainly wasn't in the already glitzy metropolis of Shanghai. A chance meeting with Michiel Hulshof, a fellow Dutchman and experienced journalist proved the catalyst for what turned into almost four years of research, culminating in the recently launched, eminently readable and thoroughly absorbing book, How the City Moved to Mr. Sun.
"We're both interested in things beyond specifics in China – what I like best is not things like the Great Wall but instead, say, a Tuesday afternoon in a suburb of Yinchuan to see what happens there. Michiel is a journalist and I learnt from him that often small stories tell wider ones and that's how you can get an idea of the larger phenomena of what's happening here.
Fittingly titled GoWest, the research project takes its name from an eleven-year old Chinese government policy, aimed at opening up the country's western environs. Bringing to mind ideas of exploration and perhaps even early pioneers, it's an apt name for an undertaking that's borne a book genuinely refreshing in its approach.
"We were an architect and a journalist working together", explains Daan, "So it wasn't your classical architectural research – mapping, drawing sections of street profiles, that sort of thing. These places are transforming so fast that once you've drawn a map, the reality may have already changed – journalistic methods made more sense: interviewing residents, photo series and so on to document what's going on".
The book takes thirteen central-western cities, exploring a particular aspect of urbanisation for each, together providing a concise overview of how China is transforming, the challenges it faces, and importantly, all too human stories, charting both sorrows and successes. Set alongside impressive photography, also by the talented authors, chapters such as Chongqing examine issues of migration, whilst in Chengdu the focus is more on the flourishing cultural life, or Xi'an's residential compounds.
"It ended up like a patchwork of themes that we feel really covers the total transformation of Chinese cities but within that we more or less divided that into three main topics: the development of people – how people move to the city and when it starts to take over the countryside, how the city moves to people; how the city develops – the CBD, the compounds, the upperclass neighborhoods and so on. Finally we looked at the soft power of the city, its content, cultural life, ethnic culture and sustainable aspects".
It is the tale of Shijiazhuang resident and the book's namesake, Sun Huangzhong, above, that perhaps best illustrates the hurtling speed with which these cities are embracing change, as well as the implications for inhabitants. Now 65 years old, Sun has lived in the outlying village of Jianling all his life. Well into the 1980s, he was a farmer, cultivating corn and livestock on a modest plot of land, whilst later, migrant workers based in the nearby city would arrive, looking for cheap accommodation. Sun was eventually forced to reluctantly sell his farm to make way for a golf course; jobs are promised but never materialized. Taking matters into his own hands, Sun used his paltry compensation to finance a four-storey, 800sqm building, comprising a shop space, multiple rooms to let to those aforementioned migrant workers, a home for Sun and his family, and best of all, a roof-top garden so he could continue growing fruits and vegetables.
"He's a great example of the creativity of Chinese people", muses Daan. "He created his own reality". When GoWest meet Sun, however, his fortunes have changed yet again: his entire village is to be demolished to make way for a five-star hotel, 12 office buildings and 28 residential towers. The displaced 'urban villagers' will indeed be compensated, but with a cap at just 300sqm – far smaller than Sun's previous, self-styled home."His story represents a clash between top down and bottom up, and of course, how people respond to that"
There are success stories, too, particularly that of Chengdu artist Luo Fahui, formerly impoverished, but now, and thanks largely to the Chinese government, a Range Rover-driving, comfortably well-off adviser to the local cultural bureau. His role is to help explore ways that soft power such as art can become a catalyst for development and so drive economy in these western cities: "There's lots of government programs to [become more cultural], including big investments in not only cultural buildings but also cultural infrastructure. So again in Chengdu, you see lots of young people are setting up galleries there and building bars where people can come and play their music."
Of course, the insights Daan has garnered on his lengthy travels stand him in good stead for phase two of his China projects: returning to architecture and getting down to the nitty-gritty of building. Personal aims aside, though, the development of China's western cities has implication for not only the rest of the Middle Kingdom, but internationally too. Take the startling fact that in twenty years' time, Chinese cities will host the majority of the world's urban population – unless these new cities take some green initiative, the consequences for the environment could be dire.
Another challenge Daan forsees exists on a more local scale: "China now has the biggest Gini index, that is, the difference between rich and poor and that makes it a very unequal society. If that's combined with disparity between different groups in society, for example between Han and non-Han Chinese, it can be quite an explosive mix, and we've seen examples of that last year in Donguan and Xinjiang. That's a big challenge for China, and it relates to how to fill in the physical setting".
The book cites reformist Party leader's Deng Xiaoping's famous assertion that "some must become rich first" - as indeed China's East coast has. Now, it would seem it's the turn of the West in a sometimes confused, bafflingly fast fashion - and certainly not without its casualties. Much more than simply a snapshot of cities in flux, How the City Moved to Mr. Sun offers a sensitive and indepth insight into the urban centres of tomorrow. For more, check Go West's website here, and for a fascinating read, pick up a copy of the book here or at Garden Books (400rmb).
"We're both interested in things beyond specifics in China – what I like best is not things like the Great Wall but instead, say, a Tuesday afternoon in a suburb of Yinchuan to see what happens there. Michiel is a journalist and I learnt from him that often small stories tell wider ones and that's how you can get an idea of the larger phenomena of what's happening here.
Fittingly titled GoWest, the research project takes its name from an eleven-year old Chinese government policy, aimed at opening up the country's western environs. Bringing to mind ideas of exploration and perhaps even early pioneers, it's an apt name for an undertaking that's borne a book genuinely refreshing in its approach.
"We were an architect and a journalist working together", explains Daan, "So it wasn't your classical architectural research – mapping, drawing sections of street profiles, that sort of thing. These places are transforming so fast that once you've drawn a map, the reality may have already changed – journalistic methods made more sense: interviewing residents, photo series and so on to document what's going on".
The book takes thirteen central-western cities, exploring a particular aspect of urbanisation for each, together providing a concise overview of how China is transforming, the challenges it faces, and importantly, all too human stories, charting both sorrows and successes. Set alongside impressive photography, also by the talented authors, chapters such as Chongqing examine issues of migration, whilst in Chengdu the focus is more on the flourishing cultural life, or Xi'an's residential compounds.
"It ended up like a patchwork of themes that we feel really covers the total transformation of Chinese cities but within that we more or less divided that into three main topics: the development of people – how people move to the city and when it starts to take over the countryside, how the city moves to people; how the city develops – the CBD, the compounds, the upperclass neighborhoods and so on. Finally we looked at the soft power of the city, its content, cultural life, ethnic culture and sustainable aspects".
It is the tale of Shijiazhuang resident and the book's namesake, Sun Huangzhong, above, that perhaps best illustrates the hurtling speed with which these cities are embracing change, as well as the implications for inhabitants. Now 65 years old, Sun has lived in the outlying village of Jianling all his life. Well into the 1980s, he was a farmer, cultivating corn and livestock on a modest plot of land, whilst later, migrant workers based in the nearby city would arrive, looking for cheap accommodation. Sun was eventually forced to reluctantly sell his farm to make way for a golf course; jobs are promised but never materialized. Taking matters into his own hands, Sun used his paltry compensation to finance a four-storey, 800sqm building, comprising a shop space, multiple rooms to let to those aforementioned migrant workers, a home for Sun and his family, and best of all, a roof-top garden so he could continue growing fruits and vegetables.
"He's a great example of the creativity of Chinese people", muses Daan. "He created his own reality". When GoWest meet Sun, however, his fortunes have changed yet again: his entire village is to be demolished to make way for a five-star hotel, 12 office buildings and 28 residential towers. The displaced 'urban villagers' will indeed be compensated, but with a cap at just 300sqm – far smaller than Sun's previous, self-styled home."His story represents a clash between top down and bottom up, and of course, how people respond to that"
There are success stories, too, particularly that of Chengdu artist Luo Fahui, formerly impoverished, but now, and thanks largely to the Chinese government, a Range Rover-driving, comfortably well-off adviser to the local cultural bureau. His role is to help explore ways that soft power such as art can become a catalyst for development and so drive economy in these western cities: "There's lots of government programs to [become more cultural], including big investments in not only cultural buildings but also cultural infrastructure. So again in Chengdu, you see lots of young people are setting up galleries there and building bars where people can come and play their music."
Of course, the insights Daan has garnered on his lengthy travels stand him in good stead for phase two of his China projects: returning to architecture and getting down to the nitty-gritty of building. Personal aims aside, though, the development of China's western cities has implication for not only the rest of the Middle Kingdom, but internationally too. Take the startling fact that in twenty years' time, Chinese cities will host the majority of the world's urban population – unless these new cities take some green initiative, the consequences for the environment could be dire.
Another challenge Daan forsees exists on a more local scale: "China now has the biggest Gini index, that is, the difference between rich and poor and that makes it a very unequal society. If that's combined with disparity between different groups in society, for example between Han and non-Han Chinese, it can be quite an explosive mix, and we've seen examples of that last year in Donguan and Xinjiang. That's a big challenge for China, and it relates to how to fill in the physical setting".
The book cites reformist Party leader's Deng Xiaoping's famous assertion that "some must become rich first" - as indeed China's East coast has. Now, it would seem it's the turn of the West in a sometimes confused, bafflingly fast fashion - and certainly not without its casualties. Much more than simply a snapshot of cities in flux, How the City Moved to Mr. Sun offers a sensitive and indepth insight into the urban centres of tomorrow. For more, check Go West's website here, and for a fascinating read, pick up a copy of the book here or at Garden Books (400rmb).
