Solving Housing Problems in China - Essay Example

Solving china’s housing problems through the utilization of high rise buildings and inherent housing models Introduction More than 650 million human beings in China are living in the urban centers, cities and towns. In the next 10 to 15 years estimates predict that another tens of millions of human beings will have added themselves in the figure of urban dwellers. Logic dictates that, this phenomenon is chocking cities and presenting a housing night mare in china. Numerous individuals are currently employed and they are getting better salaries and therefore they are on a mission to improve their lives. As a result successive governments in china have rallied their might to provide housing in china. What was once conventional and sustainable way of housing is being replaced with better housing systems that can handle and accommodate better population size. China is struggling with huge population and as such the problem of housing comes naturally. As such it is as if the country is on building steroids. Everywhere across major towns and cities there are constructions taking place. One commentator notes that, china has evolved to become a colossal construction site. Old dwelling structures are being substituted for better dwellings. Even the dwellings that were considered better are also being made to pave way for even better dwellings. All this activity is in favor of producing homes for millions of Chinese citizens in the country. To get a magnitude of the construction taking place, it is an estimated figure that the country will construct in the 20 years more than 50000 sky crappers. With such impressive housing figures, questions are bound to arise on the effects of this constructions. While china has the biggest populace on earth, it also has the oldest medieval Chinese tradition on earth too. The population in the country has always been enormous since the ancient times and hence ancient generations had ways of solving the housing problems. Why then is the country changing housing formulae to a lot of sky crappers and generally high rise buildings. China had traditional Chinese dwelling that promoted neighborliness and good social progress. In dare need of solving human housing problems in china, the government is doing away with such dwellings and each time this is happening one more traditional culture is being killed. In this research paper hence, I have noted with keen interest that there is a short charge on the whole issue of solving housing problems in china. The country is building high rise buildings as a way of mass housing and quick solution to an enormous problem of housing. With that, there might be on comprise on standard of residential environment, real question is whether social life is remaining the same after traditional dwelling have been demolished. Of concern too, is the affordability of this new apartments on a high rise building. This paper will evaluate vigorously on the issue of high rise buildings and how it is solving the problem of housing. While solving the problem there are other negative effects occurring, also this will be brought out in this research paper. Hence the question is whether this housing model is the best for solving housing problems with comparison mostly on other hosing models mainly the traditional local dwellings. Hence that was the motivation behind this thesis question “solving china housing problems by demolishing Chinese traditional dwellings in favor of high rise apartments”. Review 7 years ago the populace in china clocked a mighty 1.28 billion humans that live in that country. With such a mighty population, the main agenda for government as a matter of priority is to provide housing to the population. The government might try, but providence of shelters which have decent conditions has become a challenge. In the tradition of the Chinese, the norm was that in one household lived big families, because the bigger the family the mightier it was taken to be. Mostly the society was agricultural hence the idea of big families in one household meant more hands on the farm. This style of living had been widely replicated in china; hence there was similarity in the way homes were built. Before the need for the new high rise buildings that are germinating everywhere the housing problem in china was tackled through hutongs. These are alleys that are formulated by lined courtyard traditional residences known as siheyuan. The build up to a hutong was very simple. A single siheyuan would be joined to another forming a hutong. Then a hutong would be joined to another hutong forming long alleys (Chinese vernacular dwellings, 2011). In between the hutongs there was existence of numerous tiny lanes running north and south for proper passage. The structures were neat and they were built in a social agenda and motive. Soon enough the hutongs started getting chocked by the huge populations. 20th century brought with it the building of many haphazard hutongs. The new hutongs were being built in a haste of the moment in order to get a sleeping space hence this led to the demise of social stratification. It did not take long before the subdivision of the siheyuan, in order for them to take in more households than the previous one house hold. Hence the standard of the hutong system started showing signs of deteriorating dramatically. Lack of planning meant that the hutongs could not handle the need for the huge populations. In a modern manner, a way was found to build hutongs that are a version of two or three storey. That way this kind would take in more people than the traditional hutongs. But instead of sustainability of the three storey hutongs as a housing solution the current hutongs are dwellings for celebrities (Chinese vernacular dwellings, 2011) The hutongs are part of china long dynastical history stretching across six different dynasties. Beijing especially has a long history of hutongs and they are still part of the old Beijing. The skyline a century ago was dotted with hutongs but most of these have vanished in favor of modernity. So what is the characteristic of a siheyuan? The siheyuan is also known as a court yard. The building format is a court that has been surrounded by buildings on all the four sides. That format was the dominating format throughout the history of the Chinese people. All the aspects of living were characterized by a court yard including and not limited to, government offices, temples, residences and so on. A court yard surrounded by houses on the four walls was a structure that promoted strong family ties and created a residential environment that was deserving of a humanity. Siheyuan hence could accommodate an entire household, meaning the old and the young lived together for long periods of time. The bigger a siheyuan was, the resourceful a family was. It should be noted that despite the social standing, almost everybody lived in a siheyuan whether small or large. The way this homes were had a significance on the Chinese people. The layout was a representation of morality and ethics. Siheyuan offered comfort, space and privacy. The walls also offered protection from storms and dust. The courtyard was either taken to be an open living room or a flower garden of sorts. The present verandas divided a courtyard into big and small spaces close to each other. Such a setting made it possible for family members to talk to another, leading to a creation of a cordial atmosphere. Currently siheyuans have been defined and they no longer serve as homes to majority of the Chinese citizens. Modernity has been characterized by population boom (China, 2008). There has been a major rural urban migration, bringing with it huge populations that need living spaces. The idea around a siheyuan though noble, was not meant to handle huge groups of people. In its original setting it cannot solve the problem of housing in china. Of relevance is the fact that a siheyuan is generous on space and so many siheyuans enough to tackle all that population would create a slum like scenario in china (Mok, 2010). To bring that point into better focus, let me present current siheyuan situation. They still serve as homes to people especially in Beijing. But like mentioned earlier they are housing more than one household. The courtyard has lost its meaning, and in its place the people has seen the space as a chance to expansion, hence where the court yards existed extra houses have been constructed. The conditions of living in this siheyuans are very wanting, with few toilets. This setting has created instead overcrowding (Knapp, 2000). Under a rapid development system, most siheyuans in china are being demolished and the trend has been happening for close to 20 years now. The government reckons that, the siheyuans are characterized by low standards of living and health hazard due to many people clogging in such a small space. On its behalf the government is constructing apartment blocks. This blocks are very tall, accommodating a lot of people in the process. The reasons behind doing away with siheyuans are as follows-: I. Lack of private toilets II. Overcrowding III. Need to utilize space IV. Lack of privacy V. Projection of more populations moving into urban centers. VI. Pursuit of modernity (Yuen, 2011). Currently the skyline in china is filled with hundreds and hundreds of cranes creating one huge construction area. The buildings mainly being constructed are high rise with a capability of holding hundreds of families. The relocation of being that was once living in the hutongs has been forceful. Once relocation takes place the hutongs are flattened and cleared and its place modern apartments are constructed. The relocated citizens are normally given a choice of either taking cash from the government or taking a similar living space in a high rise building. Since the process has been accepted across china the demolition of age old hutongs has gained pace and the construction of the high rise buildings has been phenomenon. The demolitions have not been taken lightly by many, while it is important that the government provides its people with housing, it is also good to note that the traditional hutongs have solved housing problems for centuries. Activists are citing that, when hutongs are destroyed, this is damage of historical architecture and social environment of living. But can the government turn a blind eye on the hutongs as a way of favoring traditions then risk creating social chaos across cities. Hutongs is a common knowledge that created an environment for family and communal bonding. But the current world is capitalist, majority of the people are working for money. Money is mainly inherent in technology and manufacturing. Majority of the populations and not only in china have moved to urban areas. Projections are that in the coming years billions more people will migrate to urban areas and this people will need quick fix solutions to their housing problems (Yue, 2005). When there has been as uproar about china’s demolition of the traditional Chinese dwellings among the activists maybe they should have done a better job by asking what the former residents of hutongs felt about their current situation. A study and research that was carried out by students in china sort to get views of the former hutong residents on what they felt about leaving their former residences in favor of modern apartments. The study surprised them when nearly all the residents living in the apartments said that they preferred their new way of living compared to a hutong. The process of displacing them had created a very inconvenient situation and completely demised some aspects of their former lives. But the new apartments had been favored due to-: I. Central heating II. Private bathrooms III. Reliable electricity IV. Modern touch (Yuhua, 2009). This order of demolitions will continue relentlessly because the cities have assumed little patience on the existence of hutongs. The remaining hutongs are luxurious, others are currently overcrowded by households and others have been documented as historical sites in order to prevent the government from coming for them. Despite all this the government across china is determined to offer better and universal housing and hence it is fighting hard to demolish the hutongs. What is not yet being understood is whether this demolitions will lead to negative impacts in the future? It`s worth noting that the people who made certain areas hutongs vibrant and good for social living are being subjected to new modern living that is un affordable to them hence it has led to slow pace of universal home ownership (Chen, 2011). People can longer walk and share on open streets, or walk to one another’s houses to share and gossip as has been the norm. Modern high rise building has tried to solve housing problems but it has killed a conducive residential environment that was inherent at the old Chinese dwellings that have been demolished. One commentator in bringing out the effects of high rise buildings notes that nobody has is ever invited for a tea cup in a high rise apartment. The modern high rise building has solved one major problem in a quick and better way. It has created homes for majority of urban dwellers and offered them better homely conditions but they have killed all else. The shift has been from streets social culture to closed doors apartment culture. Suddenly everybody became stranger to the other. Some of the traditions and social human activities that have been killed include-: I. Death of home front shops. II. Death of socializing on home fronts with neighbors III. Travelers can no longer be invited to someone’s house for a conversation IV. People have become sequestered in their apartments silently, while they were talkative, friendly and open previously. (brown, 2006) The above matters might appear petty to a westerner but the fact is, according to the culture of Chinese this are qualities that have been inherent in the society for centuries and then suddenly they are dead. This is a culture shock of sorts. That is the disadvantage of high rise apartment blocks in china. One major fact that cannot be argued is that, a single high rise structure can handle more people. Figures show that, more 40 years back, 90% of populace in china was rural. Currently the populace in the urban world is 51% with a projection of 70% in 2050. Hence the authority in command has to be drastic in solving housing (Chen, 2011). China has a goal of moving an entire 900 million people into cities. This means creating enough housing that is supported by enough amenities. But the dream could go down the drain because there lacks affordable houses. The people in need of affordable houses are mainly made up of the urban poor and the migrants into the cities. Foreign investors have moved into place creating a situation of a housing boom. Houses have moved to unaffordable level, yet the cheap hutongs have been demolished. This can lead to a very dire situation in china. The government ambition has killed affordable housing in pursuit of modernity (Yuen, 2011). Students and young professionals are the most affected lot. They are living in cramped box like rooms on the outskirts of big cities and hence take hours to commute to work. On the side of the fence we find ghost like cities that have been built and yet they do not have residents yet. This houses are out of reach to the urban poor. But the government has committed millions of yuan to provide affordable housing in china between now and 2015. As such, currently in china most people cannot afford to live in standalone houses which have better spacing due to the cost, while the traditional hutongs are very much hungrily being demolished by the government. Hence in the spirit of family, and maintaining communal family values, most families are living together in this high rise buildings but in different flats. Same building necessity is so that the young can be able to take care of their old once and developers are building to take care of this need (Brown, 2006). But the fact is that, with all this rush to demolish and to rebuild. Certain significant aspects of living may be killed. Lack of green space and killing of age old socializing culture. The government wants the citizens to own homes, high rise buildings are solving this problem but then again it is presenting a cost night mare and burying Chinese culture to the grounds. Conclusion I agree that high rise building apartment is a solution to the housing problems in china. In fact such advantage is not singular to china alone but it has the best impact in china because the country has such enormous population such that it is mind boggling. This new apartments are offering better standards as I have noted. Nobody hates central heating and reliable electricity plus a private toilet obviously. Due to this I have noted that, it is as if low cost housing is being wiped away because the hutongs that were so practical are being demolished. With it a culture is killed, and the social behaviors of people are being altered by the government. A society that knew of visits and chatting over a cup of tea out a home is now getting the rude shock of being sequestered. Let me not that this idea of killing street life and societal social behaviors is not intentional. But it is towards a need by the government to solve the problem of housing that can turn chaotic on slight provocation. No government would desire to face the wrath of over 1 billion people, hence by whatever means the government can go ahead and build this high rise buildings. But I think it is time there is a change in the way housing is provided. Let the new housing not affect the social behaviors of people, new models of buildings should be found such that, they can integrate socializing, living and having a home. There is need for a human to engage with another in environment that is friendly and permitting. I would recommend a further research question to the next interested partner “can the Chinese government solve housing problems by integrating hutongs with modern designs so that it can promote the ancient communal spirit and family importance”. References Brown, J., & Brown, J. (2006). China, Japan, Korea: Culture and customs. North Charleston, South Carolina: BookSurge. Chen, X. (2011). Settlement calculation on high-rise buildings: Theory and application. Beijing: Science Press. China: A cross-curricular theme. (2008). Greenwood, W.A: R. I. C. Publications. Chinese vernacular dwellings. (2011). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Guldin, G. (1993). Urban anthropology in China. Leiden u.a: Brill. Knapp, R. G. (2000). Chinas old dwellings. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Pre. 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