Ive read so much about the loss of Chinas hutong and courtyard houses, but I didnt appreciate the difficulty of preserving these structures, and their intricate social and economic ecosystem, until I spent time visiting their narrow alleys in Shanghai, Beijing and Suzhou. Most old houses have no water or toilets, and the only way to get money to improve them is through the usual process of gentrification, which destroys the social networks that make them so special in the first place. The situation reminds me so much of Philadelphias declining working class rowhouse neighborhoods.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Nov 2014 13:21:13 +0000
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