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)
A statue of a panda shares space in an empty public square with a statue of Winston Churchill. “You’d never guess that anyone expected it to be a livable community,” said Sara Farina, an expat living near Thames Town.
The town also boasts a fish and chip shop copied from one in Lyme Regis, Dorset, UK; the owner of the original told the Daily Telegraph that “We are the only fish and chip shop next to a pub on a river mouth in England. And they have given it the same front and back, in an identical position but on the mouth of the Yangtse.” The developers replied that there was no law in China forbidding imitating a building, and besides, a nearby suburb had just built a replica of the White House.
Thames Town, which despite being so far away from downtown Shanghai that the few residents here are all academics working at the nearby universities, is ranked third on a “hot places to hang out” list on dianping.com, a Chinese rating site similar to Yelp.
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