Shanghai’s European Suburbs
Chinese urban planners are building new towns with a foreign flair, each mimicking architecture from Europe’s storied cities
- By Rachel Kaufman
- Smithsonian.com, June 10, 2010
(Tong Lam)
Thames Town’s Tudor houses sit mostly empty, partly because of housing prices (the least expensive home here is six million yuan or US $880,000), partly because the town is an hour from downtown Shanghai, and partly because the homes are not what the Chinese want, says Harry den Hartog, an urban planner. “In China, because of increasing differences between the poor and the rich, the rich do not want to live on the ground floor because they are afraid of burglaries,” he says. “The inhabited parts of Thames Town have transformed into gated enclaves, which is certainly not European.” Den Hartog edited a book about the rapid urbanization of the countryside around Shanghai, in which a chapter on the “one city, nine towns” project is included.
Comments (8)
The bear in photo 6 looks a lot like those you see in Berlin, dwon to its pose.
Posted by mw on October 27,2011 | 09:56 PM
Where are the people? nice concept but you need to have people, activities, atmosphere, children's activities, things they want to buy or do. Otherwise you have a ghost town.
Posted by aclowe01 on October 27,2011 | 02:50 PM
Right. I agree with most of the points. Details and nature resource, scenes are all different. Most important point is no culture ground for it at the moment. Therefore, it is hard to build a real european town in china. However, as a project architect, no matter how I persuade them to stop copy european towns in china, company would still like to do so. Anyone has any suggestions. I need help to do it as I have to develop a european town.
Here is my msn: kenwkan@hotmail.com...email me or msn me. I would love to be your audience.
Posted by Kan on August 4,2011 | 09:19 PM
Most of these buildings are cheaply built and poorly designed for the climate they are in.
Posted by Sparks on January 23,2011 | 07:10 AM
Unfortunately in Shanghai,in some areas newly developed,kitsch reigns supreme in my eye from what I have witnessed. British Town is a classic example of something dreamed up but no-one wants to reside there;it is way too fake and disneylandish.Where only honeymooners go to get a backdrop photograph and vanish. I would like to believe that these themed areas would be maintained,but knowing Shanghai as I do,I know that they won't.
Posted by gary r croft on January 10,2011 | 05:47 AM
Gray skies, all around
Posted by gt on September 28,2010 | 05:23 PM
nice pics. love it
Posted by jonniqua on August 24,2010 | 01:17 PM
$800 million seems a little over the top to me
Posted by JULIE on June 24,2010 | 05:04 PM