has a good three-part series up right now on the hutongs in Beijing and their continual disappearance to make way for China's rapid urban development -- “where have the memory masochists gone to?” and why has “the topic of the disappearance of the hutongs disappeared from the agenda. Are the hutongs the victims of their own hype? If we don’t debate it, does it mean we don’t care (and we actually have never cared about it)?”
Moving Cities has a good three-part series up right now on the hutongs in Beijing and their continual disappearance to make way for China's rapid urban development -- “where have the memory masochists gone to?” and why has “the topic of the disappearance of the hutongs disappeared from the agenda. Are the hutongs the victims of their own hype? If we don’t debate it, does it mean we don’t care (and we actually have never cared about it)?”
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There is only one block of hutongs left in my area of downtown Beijing and it's already been marked for demolition as everything around it has been leveled to create a new "Art District". I make it a point to go by there a few times a week because once it's gone there will be nothing left of old China.
AAAAgggg!!!!
I thought they were protecting them!
I've read that somewhere in Beijing UNESCO was protecting some hutongs. But now I've read that it is a "make over" operation, that only a few are protected while many others are destroyed.
I've found this:
http://www.opendemocracy.net/arts-photography/hutong_destruction_3632.jsp
Thank you for talking about it!
I'm gonna read more, 'cause I think nobody tells the true story...
Great to know this link, I hadn´t reached to it yet and it seems quite interesting to explore China´s process of supra-urbanization and how this process is creating a new society that looks for identity.
And not really a surprise but that link is blocked in china...especially with the word "democracy" in the page name.
awesome post, fascinating how voids of dialogue create the opportunity for the commandeering of space. it would be fascinating to see the way that new developments were put in place to block the view of hutongs from main corridors and then have a second study to understand their gradual eradication. is there a "method to the mad-ness" is this another example of israeli west bank-type development as warfare?
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