What is it like to live in one of the biggest cities in the world?
Researchers from the SHLC team joined their international research partners, who had travelled from Africa and Asia, in China to visit and learn more about the built environment and social infrastructure of Chinese cities.
The international team of 30 researchers explored different neighbourhoods in Chongqing, which is said to be one of the biggest cities in the world with an estimated population of 30 million. The research visit formed part of the GCRF Centre for Sustainable, Healthy and Learning Cities and Neighbourhoods (SHLC) international partner meeting hosted by project partner Nankai University.
From traditional ‘work unit’ housing areas to social housing, and high-end luxury villas where the Yangze and Jialing rivers meet, the international team explored many different types of neighbourhoods in Chongqing.
As Urban Studies Professor Ya Ping Wang, the Principal Investigator leading the project said:
“The neighbourhood research tours provided a unique opportunity for the international SHLC research team to experience Chinese neighbourhoods first hand. For some of our researchers this is the very first time they have visited China, and for some it is the first time they have been to Asia, so it was excellent to all come together to understand the difference, and sometimes surprisingly similarities, of urban development in different developing countries.”
Josephine Malonza from the University of Rwanda said:
“It would have taken many months of reading for me to get to know the planning and design of Chinese cities. So it has been a fantastic opportunity to visit Chongqing to help me understand the makeup of neighbourhoods in China and help support my own urban research and analysis back home in Rwanda.”
"It would have taken many months of reading for me to get to know the planning and design of Chinese cities. So it has been a fantastic opportunity to visit Chongqing to help me understand the makeup of neighbourhoods in China and help support my own urban research and analysis back home in Rwanda.”
Next the team ascended 45 floors in an area close to the river in the financial district to view a gated luxury apartment block. With gardeners, cleaners, security guards and building managers working throughout the grounds, this neighbourhood, and the shiny elevators, revealed an entirely different reality.
“We learned that as recently as 2000 this district was just a village surrounded by fields and with very little commercial activity”, said Professor Keith Kintrea. “But today this whole area is dominated by commercial private housing worth millions of pounds”
‘Oriental Glory’ luxury town houses on the river near Chongqing’s financial district. China. June 2018. Picture taken by Gail Wilson.
The international SHLC team began their research meeting at Nankai University in Tianjin by sharing key lessons from the first stage of the research project. Researchers from South Africa, Tanzania, Rwanda, India, Bangladesh, China and the Philippines presented an overview of national policy frameworks responding to urban, health and education challenges including a profile of SHLC case study cities.
The team also began to plan the next stage of research, which will focus on a three-stepped analysis to establish emerging patterns of neighbourhood distribution at the city, district and neighbourhood level, and discussed new opportunities to provides as part of the forthcoming capacity strengthening workshop.