User:Tzvetichristov/sandbox

Planning stage: To start with we are going to find links to interesting articles, academic reports and other wikipedia articles which we might consider using for our wikibooks chapter.

Tzveti

https://www.jstor.org/stable/524471?read-now=1&seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents

Mabogunje, Akin L. "Urban Planning and the Post-Colonial State in Africa: A Research Overview." African Studies Review 33, no. 2 (1990): 121-203. doi:10.2307/524471.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02665430902933960

Yue

possible topics related to urban planning and imperialism:

1. categorization based on the motivations

We can discuss a bit the motivation(s) behind the imperialistic urban planning methods, such as for the goal of Europeanization, for the colonizers' own commercial/economic benefits, etc.

2. categorization based on the results (1) what has been changed (2) what remains the same (3) what are some adaptations being made

3. evaluation (1) We can evaluate to what extent is the plan a success and to what extent it is a failure. (2) impact on cultural identity (3) what's the city today like? in what ways does it deviate from the imperialistic plan? how is it different from the old cities? In what aspects does it remain the same? (4) any dying customs/cultures because of the urban plan? (5) any influence on the city's economics? technological development? (6) any political influence? (7) What might happen if there is not an external force pushing it to change?

4. modern-day imperialism

We can discuss the still existing cases of imperialism in urban planning out of the European colonial periods in 16-20th century.

(I have already posted this to Clare's sandbox but i think it might be helpful to put it here again) I am thinking if we could discuss both the "stereotypical" imperialism during periods of colonialism and its impact until today, and a modern version of imperialism that seeks to spread certain modes of urban planning to other regions. For instance, the UN-Habitat is essentially still trying to spread what they think is beneficial and helpful -- such as sustainable housing -- on what they would identify as underdeveloped regions. Even though the UN does have more reliable evidence that can prove why these regions are truly facing housing crisis, using only ONE concept like "sustainable housing" might not be flexible enough to alleviate/solve specific problems in each single area. We could find more similarities between imperialistic urban planning during colonial periods and the emphasis on sustainable housing today and make this argument work. Moreover, this webpage (https://unhabitat.org/urban-themes/housing-slum-upgrading/) is an example of their guiding principles and methods they are adopting in order to address the housing issues.

some interesting cases I found

(1) the city of Changan in ancient Tang dynasty and the Nara city in Japan. (2) Beijing (?) (3) Guangzhou (?) (4) to be continued

things that need further thoughts

1. definition of imperialism

I think it would be better if we can include situations when there isn't a western power using military force to impose certain ideologies - for instance, it might be based on neutral agreement, like country A seeking help from country B, or country A observing, studying and copying (especially in the early stage) patterns of cities in more "advanced" countries.

What counts as imperialism in urban planning? Does ANY help from foreign experts/organizations/countries count as imperialism? Must it be "forcible"? Must military means/colonisation/physical occupation be present? Can a country/regime be imperialistic to itself? For example, if a new regime takes over the old one and it adopts quite different policies on urban planning for whatever reasons, is this another type of imperialism in urban planning as it involves the presence of military powers, "colonization" (in a way maybe?), etc?

Ravi

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenzhen#1980_onwards_as_a_Special_Economic_Zone Reference comes from "The spirit of enterprise fades: Capitalism in China". The Economist. 394 (8666): 61. 23 January 2010. Retrieved 28 January 2010.