Where are we? Blogging about place - Contemporary Issue

Xiaolu Xu studies architectural preservation in Shanghai

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 18:18:00 -0400

My student Xiaolu Xu, a native of Shanghai, writes:

Historic architectural preservation is a major concern worldwide. Every city has its own distinguished history and character, its uniqueness as a place. Protecting a city's built environment is extremely critical in keeping the city's spirit. Neighborhoods, architecture, and landmarks provide a material nexus that effectively conveys historical narrative and sustains a city's spirit.

Shanghai, a city of more than 700 years of history since it was built in the Yuan Dynasty, is regarded as the key to know the modern and the contemporary China. It was the place that Chinese feudal society was first demolished and the foundations of capitalism was first laid; it was the place that Chinese Communist Party was born; it was also the cradle for modern Chinese culture, commerce and industry. In the 1930s, Shanghai, the "Paris of the East," was the 5^th largest city in the world, and the biggest cosmopolis in China. The rich and diverse historical and cultural backgrounds made Shanghai the center of modern Chinese architecture, with an idiosyncratic character molded by the various nations and cultures.

The cross-cultural historic architectural heritage of Shanghai, however, has always been facing tremendous preservation challenges—especially the western-influenced architectural features that symbolize Shanghai's cosmopolitan colonial past, the Shikumen houses that reflect most of the local community culture, and the traditional Chinese architecture that were mostly built in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Between the 1950s and 1990s, there was a neglect of architectural preservation. The Cultural Revolution once opposed all western influence as well as traditional heritage. China's reform and opening up in the past 20 years has created a colossal construction boom in the city. Since the mid-1990s, a rapid real estate development has torn down much of the old community housing in the center of the city. As the paragon of China's modernity, Shanghai's original built environment has suffered seriously from the momentous urban transformation.

In collaborating with Prof. Peter Cannavò, my summer research is on the challenge of architectural preservation amid Shanghai's rapid modernization, with a focus on addressing the importance of preserving historic architecture, landmarks, and neighborhoods from large-scale urban transformation and investigating the current solutions and difficulties. I hope the case study of Shanghai, the dragonhead of China's modernization as well as one of the fastest-changing places in the world, will raise people's awareness of this problem and be valuable to emerging cities that are facing problems similar to Shanghai's.

Picture courtesy of Yu Zhi Wen.

Shaw and Anacostia

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 23:01:00 -0400

City planners have long tried to remedy “white flight” (the migration of traditionally white members of the professional and business-owning classes to the suburbs) by creating cityscapes that attract and accommodate discriminating dwellers. While such planning and development can certainly offer benefits like reduced crime or better transportation options, it also raises important concerns about identity, preference and displacement. With my Levitt Research grant, I decided to look into these issues as they affect two neighborhood’s in the Nation’s capital city, Shaw and Anacostia.

Shaw began as a bustling community of newly-freed African-Americans in the last half of the 19^th century. By the 1920s, the neighborhood had more than 300 black-owned businesses, including a bank and a luxury hotel. Home to Howard University and the jazz halls that made Duke Ellington famous, the neighborhood had a thriving cultural and intellectual scene as well.

However, desegregation meant the opening of doors for the neighborhood’s black professionals and many of them migrated to the suburbs. Race riots in 1968 were the final draw for many neighborhood businesses and the crime rates increased dramatically.

When city planners tried to improve the neighborhood, they met with neighborhood elites. The resulting plan that made the neighborhood more attractive to new professionals and other members of the upper-classes, but it failed to include any sort of protection for longtime residents of less means. Today, the neighborhood is full of newly-arrived, and often white, professionals and the once-vibrant culture of the old neighborhood is quickly fading as rents rise and residents age.

Anacostia on the other hand was a middle-class and mostly white neighborhood until the “white flight” phenomenon occurred. The influx of relatively low-income African-Americans changed the neighborhood dramatically and relatively quickly. However, racial tensions being what they were, this dramatic change made it hard for the neighborhood institutions to keep up. The lack of institutional support structures (e.g. strong schools) and the abundance of pre-existing poverty resulted in high crime and scarce (licit) commercial activity.

In the past two decades, city leaders have argued for a major-league soccer stadium, a light-rail system, and a riverfront development in Anacostia. They also recently opened a nearby baseball stadium and trumpeted it’s potential benefits for the neighborhood. But it remains to be seen whether many of these projects will be realized and, even if they are, whether or not they will benefit area residents.

For my project, I’m looking at history, theory, current events and even just talking to affected people in an attempt to figure out how various factors determine the transformation of these places. I hope that if we can identify and understand the dynamics at work in these neighborhoods, we will be better able to develop structures of governance for them that hold in balance the values of the founding and preservation processes.

Graphic is used courtesy of the District Chronicles.

Can Preservation be a Conservative Value?

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 22:49:00 -0400

In the tension between environmental founding and preservation, one can often, and quite paradoxically, expect to find conservatives advocating sweeping change—such as the logging of centuries-old forests—and liberals advocating maintenance of the status quo or even the restoration of a bygone standard. But do the selection of the relatively-Green Senator John McCain and the recent musings of Newt Gingrich on climate change suggest this paradox will soon be turned on its head?

Although Republican nominee advocates increased nuclear power, a cap-and-trade approach to climate change, and the creation of a $300 million dollar prize to advance electric car technology, it’s too soon to claim a major realignment in American conservatism. After all, Republicans are still calling to end the ban on off-shore drilling and supporting a gas-tax holiday.

Still, it’s quite possible that conservationist and conservative interests could converge. Recent events like the rising costs of food and transportation and the Kelo ruling have brought together unlikely bedfellows in recent months. As environmental crises rise to the forefront of public consciousness, as they have this summer, I think it is possible for Republicans to make a case for conservationist action as an extension of conservative politics.

A strong case can be made intellectually, as these selections from major conservative thinkers indicate:

"Conservatism is too often the conservation of the wrong things: liberalism a relaxation of discipline; revolution a denial of the permanent things."

T.S. Elliot, Christianity and Culture, page 77

"The great Error of our Nature is, not to know where to stop, not to be satisfied with any reasonable Acquirement; not to compound with our Condition; but to lose all we have gained by an insatiable Pursuit after more."

Edmund Burke, A Vindication of Natural Society, 1757

"While I am a great believer in the free enterprise system and all that it entails, I am an even stronger believer in the right our people to live in a clean and pollution-free environment."

Barry Goldwater, "The Conscience of a Majority” (1970)

"We are on the Colorado...that means something more to me than thoughts of electrical power or a harnessed river."

Barry Goldwater "An Odyssey of the Green and Colorado Rivers," 1940

I recently came across a site with more conservation-friendly quotes by conservatives, which I will post when I come across again. Of course, there is also the electoral reality which is that in a democratic system, any ideology must be complimented with effective rhetoric if it is to be acted upon.

Fortunately, I don’t think linking conservationist action to conservative preferences is all that difficult, especially for the Red-State, “What’s the Matter With Kansas” cohort. A brief survey of campaign ads aimed at the Huckabee set reveals a demographic that idealizes an apple-pie-and-fishing-trip version of America and has potent concerns about its endurance. Conservation-minded conservatives should emphasize the importance of place to the formation of distinctly American-character (i.e. hunting with grandpa, locally-owned farms, shopping at local small businesses, and Boy Scout camping trips) and warn these voters that these places are under assault from faceless, value-neutral, globalized elites.

While some would argue this frame plays on fear, I think it would be more accurate to say that it alerts voters to the need for addressing a legitimate and considerable social problem. Its basic premise (that multinational corporations are upending fundamental aspects of traditional American life) is intellectually-defensible and the pressing nature of the issue, I think, warrants an alarmist tone that appeals to voters in hotly-contested areas (there are a lot of Sam’s Club Republicans in FL, MI, PA, OH, CO, VA and MO).

Of course not all conservatives are caught up in the culture wars and for others, I think you emphasize the need for environmental action in way similar to how we justified increased research expenditures during the Cold War, that is, as an urgent matter for preserving the political and economic hegemony of democratic nations, namely the US. This appeal to both literal security and economic security is also defensible intellectually and appeals to the other branches of the conservative coalition.

While the potential benefits for conservatives embracing conservation are considerable, so too are the potential hazards. Whether conservative leadership responds to the environmental crises by embracing conservationist action depends on their willingness to disengage from close institutional links to industries that reap the benefits of environmental neglect. Certainly the environmental movement has cause for hope, but I expect this hope will rightly be tempered with cautiousness as we enter what will likely be the most expensive electoral cycle in American history.

Hamilton College's Community Farm Garden sells first produce

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 09:17:00 -0400

Hamilton College's student-run Community Farm Garden, which is being tended this summer by undergrads Chris Sullivan and Andrew Pape, is now offering its first harvest for sale. The

On the establishment of the garden, see http://www.hamilton.edu/news/more_news/display.cfm?ID=12967 .

This effort, by the students at the liberal arts college in Clinton, New York, is part of a growing movement toward local agriculture that has also caught on on college campuses across the nation.

The Community Garden's first harvest is ready for sale!

Lettuce Varieties! Minuet Cabbage!
Swiss Chard! Kale! Collard Greens!

Come to the Community Garden Thursday (6/26) between 4PM and 7PM for pick your own OR freshly harvested, organically grown produce.

The community garden is located behind the Ferguson parking lot, across the street from Admissions and past the dorms. If this time doesn't work for you and you would like to stop by, shoot us an e-mail or come by and we'll work it out!
-Chris and Andrew

The Principles of Place

Sat, 17 May 2008 19:17:00 -0400

On Thursday the California Supreme Court overturned a ban on same-sex marriage, paving the way for California to become only the second state in the United States to extend full martial rights to gay and lesbian couples. Of course, far more states have altogether outlawed same-sex marriage than have permitted it. The argument against same-sex marriage centers on the notion that marriage as an institution explicitly pertains to the union of a man and a woman. But if this is true, who makes such a determination, and why have so many other countries (Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands, Israel, South Africa, etc.) legalized same-sex marriage? The larger issue with bans on same-sex marriage is that they are inconsistent with the United States' alleged commitment to freedom and equality. The United States might proclaim itself the "Land of the Free," but civil rights issues have dogged it for its entire existence, from suffrage rights for women and minorities, to Jim Crow and the long-term establishment discrimination endured by Blacks, and now to same-sex marriage. Social outlooks and customs undoubtedly play a significant role in shaping the character of a place, but can the U.S. really pride itself on the principles of freedom and equality and yet render decisions on particular civil rights issues that seemingly conflict with these principles?

The New York Times ran an interesting article today on how same-sex marriage and racial justice have found common ground. Click here to view the full story.

Sustainability and Place

Fri, 16 May 2008 19:00:00 -0400

The environmental tension between sustainability and place is illustrated in the Cape Wind Energy proposal for Nantucket Sound. Proposed in 2001, the porject has yet to be permitted, even with heightened public awareness to environmental issues and greenwashing by the project developer. Opinions aside, I found it quite amazing that over 40,000 comments were submitted to Federal Government regarding the project. If anything, this long and drawn out process has been as democratic as it could be.

Read the Article

Hamilton changing

Fri, 16 May 2008 10:29:00 -0400

I'm graduating from Hamilton in less than two weeks. One of the weirdest aspects of this thought is that Hamilton will go on without me. I know that sounds excessively self-centered, but it's really bizarre to realize that a place that has affected me so much, is little affected by me in return. I suppose it makes logical sense that as I grow up and move on, so will Hamilton, accomodating new theatre developments and renovating the dark side. There are so many elements of my Hamilton years that I will sincerely miss, but the physical space if Hamilton is something that is so concrete and dear to my heart. When I returned from abroad the dark side was under construction. The memories I have of lying out in the McEwen quad and crossing the street between KJ and Martin's way are of the past before I even leave Hamilton. The library was completely reorganized. If Hamilton underwent these transformations while I was right here, then I can't even imagine the level of change that Hamilton will undergo after I graduate. Of course the original buildings on the light side will be maintained because it is in their construction that Hamilton is able to preserve the essence of an elitist, collegiate institute. However, I will greatly miss every other part of Hamilton that will not be the same when I return as an alumni.

West Virginia & The Democratic Race

Wed, 14 May 2008 16:06:00 -0400

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/13/us/politics/14cnd-campaign.html?hp

In yesterday's West Virginia primary Hillary Clinton had a sweeping victory over Barack Obama. While this may not have had a substantial affect on the final outcome of the race, it speaks volumes about West Virginia as a place. In the NY Times article, the author implies that inherent racism within the state was the main reason for the results, "Mr. Obama’s advisers downplayed the West Virginia loss, describing the state as demographically unfriendly territory — the primary electorate was 95 percent white; 70 percent did not attend college." While this may or may not be the actual case, it is interesting notion as it relates to the concepts of place. Why did race become such a factor in this primary election but in other historically racist areas of the country it did not?

Food Justice in West Oakland

Mon, 12 May 2008 17:38:00 -0400

http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/5/7/13125/01135

Grist.org posted an interesting video (Click on photo or link above) about an environmental justice—or, as they say, “food justice”—group in West Oakland called People’s Grocery. The group seeks “creative solutions to the health, environmental and economic challenges our community faces every day,” focusing on organic agriculture as a means of reclaiming food culture and reconnecting to community and place. The People’s Grocery is a place-based movement, “building an independent food system and a local economy grounded in community partnerships and a local knowledge-base.” The group provides fresh, organic foods to residents, education about local and organic agriculture, as well as community development programs.

I recently read Vandana Shiva’s Stolen Harvest for another course, and since I have been thinking a lot about food, culture, and place. I find the People’s Grocery particularly interesting from this perspective because it strives to combat the homogenization of food systems that alienates people from the culture and community bound up in a place. Cuisine, it seems to me, is a tangible expression of culture and place that is universal, at least in the sense that every cultural tradition has a cuisine and everyone must eat. The People’s Grocery, and they are by no means alone, recognize that by providing local, affordable, organic food to West Oakland residents, they can help empower residents to connect with one another and to the practice of place.

People’s Grocery website : http://www.peoplesgrocery.org/mission.html

Sprawl and the "Distancing" of Understanding

Sun, 11 May 2008 03:30:00 -0400

John a. powell effectively argues that concentrated poverty and sprawl are regional issues that can only be handled on a regional basis. One problem that hinders regionalization is a common view that sprawl is an issue at the edge of the metro region, having little impact on the problems of the inner city. I see sprawl as a “distancing” of understanding between the suburbanite and the urban dweller. This semester I participated in an inner-city service learning project at the Donovan Middle School in Utica. I found that this school, which serves the urban poor, is much different from the suburban middle school I attended, which stressed academic studies in preparation for college. In addition to providing basic education, Donovan has become a social services support system for this group. Nearly all of the students receive a free or reduced-price lunch. A large room inside the school, called the Wellness Center, provides a safe place where students can come to eat their lunches away from the social pressures of the cafeteria (including bullying) and to play games or talk with counselors and Hamilton students. For example, Donovan students who are refugees from Somalia use the Center because they were being disrespected by other students during lunch. At the Center, there is a rack of slightly-used t’shirts and long-sleeve shirts, which is maintained by the staff there. Students can “exchange” their old clothes for the items on the rack. And a batch of sneakers that serves the same purpose is on the floor. Donovan’s after-school program, the Advantage Program, provides disadvantaged children with a variety of classes and discussion groups, including a Pregnancy Prevention class for the girls and Alcohol Awareness and Planned Parenthood programs for the boys. I don’t think that many suburbanites are aware of the special problems that are trying to be addressed in urban schools like Donovan. If they did, a regional approach might find greater acceptance.

Hawley-Green Revival in Syracuse

Fri, 09 May 2008 16:10:00 -0400

I live in Sedgwick Farm, one of several historic neighborhoods in Syracuse. Sedgwick was built in the early 20th century. Now, one of the few 19th century neighborhoods in Syracuse, Hawley-Green, is undergoing a revival, spurred in part by an influx of gay and lesbian residents into the area. See the following story done by Syracuse-area public radio station, WRVO:

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wrvo/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1273374

Ground Zero - Business vs. Memorial

Thu, 08 May 2008 19:14:00 -0400

We've talked about how the rebuilding process at Ground Zero has split the site into a memorial sector and a business sector. Two weeks ago I heard Professor James Young speak about the importance of remembrance, and I came away with a better understanding of the view held by some of the 9/11 families. The memorial reinforces our memory with something visual, something concrete, so that we will never forget what happened. Professor Young is an expert on memorials, especially Holocaust memorials, and he was on a jury that reviewed plans for the WTC Memorial. He also spoke about the Vietnam Memorial in Washington and the effect it has on visitors, particularly veterans and families of fallen soldiers. He quoted its architect, Maya Ying Lin, as saying, "You look inside the landscape as you look inside yourself."

Zellner and Watson: Central Park and 610 North Buchanan Boulevard

Thu, 08 May 2008 16:41:00 -0400

Because we ran out of time in doing our presentations yesterday, we were unable to hear from Jon Zellner, who is doing his research paper on Central Park, and many in the class were unable to hear Andrew Watson's presentation on 610 North Buchanan Boulevard, the house where members of Duke lacrosse team lived or congregated, and the physical epicenter of controversy in the Duke lacrosse case last year.

Central Park was established in the 19th century and was planned in part by Frederick Law Olmsted. Zellner's paper looks at how the park has related to, and contrasted with, the surrounding, intensively urbanized landscape of Manhattan. In particular, Zellner considers the degree to which the park has been faithful to Olmsted’s original intentions for it, which were: (1) accessibility (equal access); (2) safety and hospitality; (3) interaction with nature; and (4) stress relief and the promotion of physical wellbeing. The degree to which the park has remained faithful to its original intentions and the degree to which the park has evolved touches on the tension between preservation and founding in the practice of place.

Watson looks at how the identity of a particular place has been created through contestation. 610 North Buchanan Boulevard has in many cases embodied tensions between town and gown and within the campus community, tensions that exist both for Duke University and for college campuses in general. Watson says, “Relations between Duke and the Durham community stretch back over a hundred years, a relationship strained by issues of race and class. On campus, in recent times, the Duke administration and fraternities have conflicted on Duke’s desire to make fraternities less exclusive in the social fabric of the university and to curb alcohol consumption. Duke’s students, faculty, and administration had antagonistic images of 610 Buchanan. And liberal elements of the Duke faculty used 610 Buchanan as a symbol of social conflicts to promote their own social agenda and fields of study related to race, gender, class, and privilege.” The result is an interesting study not only about a very tragic case but about how even the character of a single house can be the product of contestation by competing social forces.

Re: Jaguar population threatened by immigration fence

Thu, 08 May 2008 12:01:00 -0400

The effects of the immigration fence on the wildlife in the Southwest and Northern Mexico is often overlooked in the immigration debate. I would just like to add to what Chris wrote about with the example of the Jaguars. Because the wall is being constructed under the department of Homeland Security they have the power to waive all environmental regulations that exist in order to protect the landscape. They justify these actions by suggesting the Wall is a security measure that protects us from terrorists. To date, the Border Patrol along the entire US/Mexico border has not caught any terrorists. They have detained something like 27 suspected terrorists, which simply means that these detainees have been to a country in the Middle East (these statistics come from Borderlinks). Homeland security says they are actually working to protect the environment because in the 2007 fiscal year they detained 19,000 migrants who would have left trash in the conservation areas in the border region (NY Times).
The physical construction of a wall in the Sonoran Desert is so much more destructive to the environment. When they build the wall they clear the area around at least 30-50 feet on either side. This leaves a horrible scar on the landscape, and a terrible barrier all wildlife cannot cross. Similarly, it is not like the border region is all barren desert to begin with. There are several small ranching communities that are virtually being invaded by border patrol, the National Guard, and spy towers. The border also crosses the center of the Tohono o’Odham Nation. In order to construct this wall, the United States government is excavating many burial grounds. An archeologist friend of mine worked on one of these sites. He was telling me how from the worksite he could see where they were building the wall. He said he saw deer and rabbits cross the empty cleared land and just stare at the wall trying to decide what to do with it. He said he felt morally conflicted excavating a burial ground and watching the wildlife. On the other man he made friends with many people in the area, one of which had cut a whole in the wall and welded a door onto it. He put a lock on it and charged people to let them in. Chris is right, a wall will never stop people but it will always stop wildlife.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/23/us/23fence.html?pagewanted=all

Tibetan Uprising

Thu, 01 May 2008 19:00:00 -0400

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/guides/456900/456954/html/nn0page1.stm

In many regards, the recent uprising movement led by Buddhist monks in Tibet is a defense of a cultural Tibet which is in jeopardy of disappearance. The Tibetan monks and native people of the greater Tibetan region are acting (violently, at times) to preserve Tibet as an autonomous region within China.

China has defended their actions of suppressing the movement on the grounds that Tibet has benefitted greatly from the increased contact with mainland China. Indeed, it is indisputable that economically Tibet has experienced great expansion in recent years; concomitantly, Tibet has seen a large influx of non-Tibetans (Han Chinese and Hui Muslims) who have altered the physical and economic landscape.

Tibetans are struggling to maintain the place they have known for centuries. While their violent actions of preservation through destruction are potentially counterproductive, a consideration of the fragility of their culture and place is valuable in understanding the current conflict.

For a compilation of news articles on the issues, see http://www.truthout.org/TibetUnderSiege.shtml.