Home » Feature » Art and Culture
Change is the only constant: getting used to today’s rapid development
Print Edition
I first came to live in Shanghai a good six years ago, and already the face of this city I now call home has changed enormously. The pace of change here is so swift that sometimes old, cliched sayings are completely true: If you blink, you’ll miss it. We’re reminiscent creatures, so that doesn’t always feel good.
Just recently I went back to the street I lived on while I was doing my masters and I literally couldn’t recognize it. What was once a renao (bustling) street with dozens of little stores selling meat, fish, fruit, vegetables and street snacks has turned into a desolate, gray, boarded-up backstreet. Chai (拆 to be demolished) was spray painted on nearly every building, and the doors were bricked in with cold, colorless bricks.
I wanted to say nonghao to the little old lady who I would see sitting on the street — rain or shine, frozen or sweating buckets — sewing up our neighbors’ ripped pants, split blankets and broken zips. I paid her 6 yuan (US 88 cents) once to reattach the shoulder strap of my favorite bag, and from that day forward she would always say hi if we caught each other’s eyes.
Then there was the man in the printing shop just a few steps away who had a young son and used to take on stray kittens. “Come any time to see them!” he once laughed when he saw how much they made me giggle. To be demolished.
A short walk around the corner to one of the spots I most loved to visit on the weekend — my neighborhood flower and bird market — faces the same fate, with the ominous chai literally the writing on the wall. Its fate is set.
We, as humans, don’t often cope well with change. We like to reminisce and draw on what were once clichés about “the good old days.”
Back in New Zealand that change happens slowly. A mall in the small city where I grew up has been slowly dying for the past twenty years. Back when I was in primary school, people were saying it wouldn’t last — driving over the hill to Lower Hutt for the weekly groceries was cheaper and offered more range. That’s what the mums would say to each other, anyway.
A friend sent me a news link just a couple of weeks ago saying that the Wainuiomata Mall was finally being demolished. It took decades.
Shanghai is another beast altogether, and the rate of change here is something I almost can’t fathom. But I know change is the only constant in the universe — we need to get used to it.
The Shanghai government has achieved a lot, even just in the past year, that shows that this rapid development is doing a lot of good.
Here, not only is infrastructure developed at a rapid pace, but also the quality of people’s lives.
Last year the local government spent a whopping US$1.65 billion on 31 projects designed just to improve the lives of locals, with many projects aimed squarely at those who need help the most.
Caring for the elderly was just one area where massive improvements were made. An extra 7,103 beds were added to senior care homes, and an amazing project labeled “Memory Town” was set up in a care facility just for seniors with dementia. What makes Memory Town amazing is that it has a “nostalgic” environment, where patients can watch old broadcasts, use old-style thermoses and enamel cups and read old books and newspapers.
Another massive project the government completed last year was its so-called Love Relay Stations, where those who work outdoors in the cold or heat can go for a quick break from the elements. The centers are equipped with an air conditioner, rest areas, clean drinking water, a microwave, and toilet facilities.
Old, dusty homes across Shanghai were renovated or demolished and rebuilt last year, totaling a massive 10 million square meters. This project included building toilet and kitchen facilities in every home, a luxury not often afforded in older complexes where numerous residents had to share facilities.
Nearly 90 jogging and walking paths were constructed inside parks, green spaces and residential areas last year, and the building or renovating of 72 sports fields and 342 community sports sites was completed.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg of what was done last year just to improve the livelihoods of Shanghai’s residents. It’s all progress and it’s all part of the development the city is undergoing at a massive rate.
Sometimes we’ll lose our favorite spots, and sometimes places that feature in our warmest memories will be gone forever — even if you’ve only lived here a few years — but I reckon that’s a small price to pay.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
