Esprit de L'Escalier

Soggy thoughts on what I want to be when I grow up

Today started off a bit soggy. It started raining yesterday evening and did not stop until this evening. Thus my trip to the polls early this morning was fairly wet, and my galoshes got a work out. I found something amusing with voting today. It must be that Ohioans aren't used to voting in primary elections, because I saw two people have mini tantrums about having to choose one ballot over another. I think it's because they were Republican and only wanted to vote on the Democratic ticket for president. Frankly I didn't have a lot of sympathy.

I am currently coming off the giddiness that follows public speaking. I just gave my final presentation for my "Where Do I Fit?" class, in which I had to describe what kind of planner I want to be when I get done with my master's program. We had to have one slide with an image that would serve as our inspiration. I chose this photo of the Urban Planning Exhibition Hall in Shanghai. When I saw it, I thought about the mass of humanity that would be living in such a dense urban area, and how nature and community could possibly be balanced. My interests in planning are related to design, community and sustainable living. In a perfect world I'd be able combine these three interests in a job to make urban living better in America in places like Columbus, Ohio. I'd also like to be able to write about it. (Have I told you how Dwell magazine influenced two major life decisions last year, including getting a master's in urban planning? I'd love to be published by them one day.)

I'm writing about this now partially to start forming more coherent thoughts for myself (and my final paper for that class). It's funny how this assignment has been both difficult and easy. I know what sparks my interests and passions, but it's hard to consolidate those interests into goals. Part of the assignment entails writing a "perfect future resume" - which I haven't yet started. It's exciting and scary to dream, especially when there are real life implications (even if they are good implications).

Anyhow, sorry for the navel gazing, though that's what this space is often for. I just got two rolls of film back today and have some great photos to share this week. Stay tuned! (Below is a shot of the main drag in town, taken Sunday during our short bit of beautiful weather.)

Dense humanity

My big joke when people are asking about how my trip was is to retort, "There are a lot of people in China!" Which isn't very funny, but it was something I thought about a lot while I was there, beyond just the crowds. Part of my interest in traveling to Shanghai was its growth and to see in person what that meant.

I had an abbreviated conversation with my mom tonight while waiting for the L this evening about China and urban planning. I was telling her about my visit to the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall. Its main feature being a huge scale model of the master plan of Shanghai. My guidebook joked that it's where the old Shanghaiese go to see what is going to be built over their old homesteads. I was interested to see it because I'm interested in urban planning and was curious to see what the plans were like. How do you accomodate for hyper-dense populations? I'm not sure if the overly optimistic signage has the answers. It seems like the planners of the future Shanghai are trying to find a balance between urban and nature, with lots of different levels of parkland spread throughout the city. Because can you imagine the heat of hyper-cities if some amount of greenspace didn't exist? I can't imagine how people could live in the heat and the smog.

Can we balance such a large growth of dense population and nature? Is it possible on that scale? I guess time will tell, but it seems like such a delicate balancing act, one I'm unsure that government can make. Is there the political will to see through the difficult decisions that need to be made?

Being in Shanghai also made me think a lot about how necessary sustainable architecture is, especially with the growth of huge cities and dense populations. The smog was terrible in Shanghai. I wondered if they ever had blue skies there. One day would have been clear, and there was the faintest blue beneath the gray sheen. I bought a book about the environmental hurdles in China, ironically called The Greening of China by Geoffrey Murray and Ian G. Cook. It looks interesting and (according to the back flap) doesn't discount the enormous hurdles China faces.

Anyhow, this post does not fulfill the photos and/or stories requirement that has been requested, but I'm getting there. I promise.