Better City, Better Life?

A little while ago I visited the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall, which is currently showcasing the "Path to the World Expo." In line with the city's Expo 2010 motto: "Better City, Better Life", the exhibit showcased all the infrastructure the city is set to complete by 2010. There's no doubt that in a little over a year, this city will look better, glittering even more brightly than it does now. Whether or not this investment will make a material difference to the everyday lives of Shanghai's citizens remains to be seen. After all, every city in the world has at some point hoped that new infrastructure would be the panacea to solving their societal problems. Another city that's preparing for a big 2010 event comes to mind.

In brief, the Exhibit featured six floors of 3D models featuring the new initiatives, Expo buildings, transportation projects and an overview of the city as a whole. Aside from riding a helicopter, visiting this exhibit was the best way to get an isometric view of the city. I managed to spend three hours there.

A post on this topic is pointless without pictures, so here's the running commentary:

The Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition building, with its distinctive flat roof cannot be missed from People's Square (note the fake Starbucks in the foreground). An "adult ticket" costs 30 RMB, and upon entering there is a model of the Bund.


The second floor displayed a timeline of the city's development, beginning from the Ming Dynasty. Unfortunately, most of the exhibits weren't very photo-worthy. One caught my eye though.


The third floor was dedicated to Expo-related construction projects. I was particularly intrigued by "Welfairytales" - the Danish Pavilion (http://www.ebst.dk/expoinfo.dk). Apparently it is representative of an integrated healthy community concept, which is a bike course combined with public meeting areas and an ice rink. But really, it just looked cool. Luxembourg also had a pavilion designed... but it was a random-looking mound of brown.


This floor also featured a stretch of the Whampoa River, complete with all the requisite landmarks:


The next four buildings are being constructed explicitly for the Expo. Each of the facilities will be ultramodern and emphasize sustainable, state-of-the-art designs. They include the Performance Center, Theme Pavilion (which will be solar powered), Expo Center and the China Pavilion. All four of these buildings will be situated by the Whampoa River, along with an entire stretch of the riverbank reserved for the Expo itself.


Speaking of the Expo, many of the existing buildings will have their roofs repainted with the flags of participating nations.


The fourth floor was amazing. It featured a 3D overview of the entire city, and spanned the entire floor. It was truly the largest city model I've ever seen, and must have taken many months to build, paint and transport (not to mention millions of dollars in materials and workmanship).


This was also the first time I saw the "park" of Zhongshan Park, which is where my shuttle bus stops every time I arrive in Downtown Shanghai. My stop is at the mall that is joined with the blue skyscraper, which is a hotel.


The fifth floor featured transportation. Since the city is trying to establish itself as the centre of commerce for all of Mainland China, it is also expanding its logistical capabilities to facilitate international trade. The Pudong airport continues to undergo expansion, while the city is also expanding the Yangshan Deepwater Port so it can accommodate more heavy freighters. The Donghai Bridge, which spans 32.5km, will connect the port with the processing hub. One cool feature about this exhibit was that it simulated a sped-up 24 hour day. What wasn't cool was the lame boat simulator that accompanied the exhibit, which was loudly blaring Whitney Houston.


And here are a few cross sections of the Shanghai subway system (although there should be twenty times the number of people):


Finally, these pictures are what artists envision Shanghai will look like in the near future:


The last picture succinctly captures the gist of the entire exhibit, and perhaps even summarizes the main goal of the Shanghai's development strategy. Shanghai wants to rub shoulders with the world's greatest cities (barring Canberra?), and be considered one of the trend-setters, a city people instantly think of when deciding where to vacation or host a fashion show.

The counterpoint I offer is this. Is New York a leading city because of the Chrysler Building? Or Paris a leader in haute couture because of the Louvre? Or London the world's greatest producer of contemporary art because of the Tube? Or is there something more? Perhaps, it is the people and the culture they breathe, the summation of their daily interactions, that make a city great.

And if this is truly the case, the other city that is scurrying to meet its 2010 deadlines should not worry so much about its buildings, but what message the new projects send to society about the city's priorities.

Dialogue

- Fong, I'm really glad I only have to deal with public transportation on the weekends.
- niCk, They introduced it to me.