PSU-China Innovations in Urbanization Program

08/24/2018

Jingzhou is an ancient city about 230 km west of Wuhan. It was the capital of 20 kings for 411-plus years of the State of Chu during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods of the Zhou Dynasty (1046 BCE - 256 BCE). It was also one of the Nine Provinces of ancient China referenced in Chinese historical texts, such as the Tribute of Yu, Erya and Rites of Zhou. [ 513 more words ]

Jingzhou is an ancient city about 230 km west of Wuhan. It was the capital of 20 kings for 411-plus years of the State of Chu during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods of the Zhou Dyn…

08/21/2018

Tongji University, one of the top schools in China for Architecture. Every summer the school offers a revolving design summer school based on landscape design, architecture and urban planning. This year was architecture’s turn, with the theme of rehabilitating built heritage within the pinching grip of urbanization. I was lucky enough to be selected as a student participant. The chosen site of this year’s program was Nanxun and Lianshi, two small water towns just to the south of Taihu Lake, China’s third largest freshwater lake. [ 660 more words ]

Tongji University, one of the top schools in China for Architecture. Every summer the school offers a revolving design summer school based on landscape design, architecture and urban planning. This…

08/20/2018

Everyone loves garbage. Consumption drives the economy, and what you buy today is tomorrow’s trash. A lot of garbage may have very short turnover time from when it was purchased to when it will be discarded. This is especially true when buying packaged food and takeout, as well as food waste. In this entry, I will show some different examples of trash receptacles in the public realm in Wuhan. [ 423 more words ]

Everyone loves garbage. Consumption drives the economy, and what you buy today is tomorrow’s trash. A lot of garbage may have very short turnover time from when it was purchased to when it will be …

08/02/2018

I referenced unique residential blocks in the last post on the south side of Jinghan Boulevard. What makes them so unique, in my perception, is how they are so integrated within the neighborhood, yet somewhat hidden at the same time. Walking streetside one may not notice the residential communities that are imbedded within the retail, restaurant and commercial developments in the older, mixed neighborhoods in Hankou District, Wuhan. [ 318 more words ]

I referenced unique residential blocks in the last post on the south side of Jinghan Boulevard. What makes them so unique, in my perception, is how they are so integrated within the neighborhood, y…

07/30/2018

Through my department at UPDIS, I was fortunate enough to have been invited on a four-day site-visit to the City of ZhanJiang (湛江), the southernmost major city in Guangdong Province. A little bit about Zhanjiang: • It is a port city on an inlet of the South China Sea on the Leizhou Peninsula (雷州半岛). • It has a population of around 7 million people. [ 741 more words ]

Through my department at UPDIS, I was fortunate enough to have been invited on a four-day site-visit to the City of ZhanJiang (湛江), the southernmost major city in Guangdong Province. A little bit a…

07/25/2018

Hello all! Joseph here again! I wanted to do some time-traveling with you all today. Picture it, Hong Kong, 2018. I am being scraped off of a 13-hour flight from San Francisco wondering where the nearest bathroom was and hoping to find a decent cup of airport coffee. The airport is a wild maze of shopping, people and most importantly, … [ 233 more words ]

Hello all! Joseph here again! I wanted to do some time-traveling with you all today. Picture it, Hong Kong, 2018. I am being scraped off of a 13-hour flight from San Francisco wondering where the n…

07/25/2018

Hello all, My name is Joseph, I am going to be a second-year MURP in the Fall. I'm studying environmental planning and have an interest in urban design. I am fortunate enough to be able to live in the city of Shenzhen (深圳市) in Guangdong province in Southeast China. Here is my office building in Shangmeilin (上梅林): So here we go! [ 275 more words ]

Hello all, My name is Joseph, I am going to be a second-year MURP in the Fall. I’m studying environmental planning and have an interest in urban design. I am fortunate enough to be able to li…

07/25/2018

Hello. I am in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province in central China. The name of the province means “north of the lake”, referring to its location of being north of Dongting Lake. When I flew into China this trip, my arrival city was Changsha, Hunan Province – Hunan means “south of the lake”. Many Chinese cities and provinces have names that refer to their local or regional position. [ 581 more words ]

Hello. I am in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province in central China. The name of the province means “north of the lake”, referring to its location of being north of Dongting Lake. When I flew into…

07/25/2018

Thanks for clicking! Since this is my first time “blogging” and this is also your first time to read my stuff; let’s set expectations! Think about a bar, now lower it, and after lowering dig deep and bury it. Done? Ok, cool. As you may imagine by now, I’m not a writer. When I say that I’m not a writer, is because I’m truly not, at least not a good one for this kind of stuff. [ 609 more words ]

Thanks for clicking! Since this is my first time “blogging” and this is also your first time to read my stuff; let’s set expectations! Think about a bar, now lower it, and after lowering dig deep a…

04/26/2018

Shenzhen is a really strange city. I'll try to give a brief summary of this wacky little town for those not too familiar with it, who might be wondering why PSU would send a bunch of students there of all places. [ 649 more words ]

Shenzhen is a really strange city. I’ll try to give a brief summary of this wacky little town for those not too familiar with it, who might be wondering why PSU would send a bunch of students…

04/26/2018

Hey everyone, all of the interns here in China would like to thank you for taking the time to read and share in our summer adventures. As we have been traveling and exploring Chinese cities and culture we often come across language and norms that just don't... quite... translate. Or even have a logical explanation as far as we can tell. [ 110 more words ]

Hey everyone, all of the interns here in China would like to thank you for taking the time to read and share in our summer adventures. As we have been traveling and exploring Chinese cities and cul…

09/30/2017

John Logan of Brown University discusses how the field of Chinese urban studies has developed over the years