overseer
FULL MEMBER
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- Apr 24, 2007
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don know when did we switch it into urban planing but it's ok. I had been in Beijing for 6 years and now in Guangzhou and dont wanna complain about the city layout at all, they're becoming more like what you are worrying about though. The residential district I live in is 10Kms or 30min drive away from downtown and my office. and now we have Parkson mall and 2 Mcdonald's (1 take-away) along the nearby shopping street and a bunch of bank outlets inside and around our "living zone", not mentioning about gyms, shops, restaurants and even a primary school within the area. you can locate my zone and its surroundings with google earth.
whatever predesign was drwan for the area, once there is buyer's market, there is business in consequence. believe me China can/will not copy western models and implement them to an inch.
Well, I sincerely hope China adopt a more mix-use, greener urban planning strategy. Concentrated/centralised "zoning based" strategy simply don't work and is problematic in the energy thirsty 21st century. I am concerned because urban planning is strategic importance, once you laid down the foundation of one strategy, it's hard to change to another one. Take US, France, and Britan for example, they have too much cultural and infrastructural baggages to change now, since to change would require tearing up the whole city, or country and rebuild it over again. China is still very fresh from modernisation, so there is still a lot of chances to change over for a greener, more energy efficient city planning strategy before it becomes too late.
btw, Neo is a pretty nice guy and just doing his moderating work here. lets be suggested and get back to a true China.
Well, I did not started this thread, and with respect to the original poster, I don't want to suggest that we change the title without his approval. That's all. But I do support changing the title for clarity.