Huanggang Village, located in Shenzhen, China, shows how villagers themselves can be in charge of transforming a village-in-city from rural to urban in order to match the evolving urbanization of the surrounding city. However, it also shows how these transformations can erase village history and culture in pursuit of economic gain for those in power: the village shareholders company. (clear thesis statements)
The first renovation of the city, completed in the late 1990s, was headed by the village shareholders company and aimed to urbanize in a way that counteracted many of the stereotypes of the villages-in-the-city. They increased the security of the village by having a gate (see photo) and security officers keeping track of everyone entering and leaving the city. (purpose of doing so and how to support your thesis claim) They also installed cameras all over the village and claimed that the new security measures made Huanggang safer than the surrounding neighborhoods of Shenzhen. They also built several symbols of urbanization, including a jumbotron in the town center, a Vegas-style fountain and a European townhall style clocktower (see photo for jumbotron and clocktower). (again what the built architectures speak for?) Additionally, many of the villagers constructed “self-built” apartments in order to profit off their land by renting to migrant workers. Therefore, they too recognized the high demand for housing and the power they could hold in taking the initiative upon themselves. The renovations in the late 1990s were meant to symbolize to the city and the villagers that Huaggang was modernizing in parallel with the surrounding city.
In this first step towards urbanization, the village shareholders showed how with the villagers themselves in charge, the renovation was able to strike a balance between honoring the village’s rural past while also celebrating its urban future (good points). The primary way it did this was with the construction of the ancestral hall, located in the main plaza of the village. The Ancestral Hall serves as a historical monument in terms of traditional architectural style, centrally located site and its use of traditional materials. In the photo, there is a clear contrast between the past and the present, making the hall stand out amidst the modern architecture and only further emphasizing the unique roll the hall plays in the culture of the village as well as the greater city. In addition to celebrating traditional Chinese architecture, it was also the first museum dedicated to village history in the nation. This enabled visitors and villagers alike to memorialize the village’s past in light of its ever-evolving urban future. Overall, the first renovation successfully combated many of the negative stereotypes held against villages-in-the-city and was also able to maintain identity and historical memorialization of the village while simultaneously modernizing with the times. (this is a strong section)
The plans for the second renovation show how economic gain can outweigh the value of maintaining the village as a place of culture and history. As the photo demonstrates, the latest plans for Huanggang are to demolish almost all of the existing structures in order to build high rises. These high rises are modern in material and will erase the at that site village entirely. Not only will this displace the villagers that live there and the migrant renters, but the space will likely cease to be residential at all, instead being filled by office spaces and losing the sense of community that previously existed. The central location of Huanggang, at the bottom of Shenzhen’s main north-south axis, has resulted in pressures for the village to become something else entirely. The first renovation of the city seemed like a compromise between these urban demands and the villagers. This second renovation, however, seems entirely driven by the economic gain at stake. The land can be made much more profitable with the construction of sky scrapers compared to the low rise, “self-built” apartment buildings. Therefore, Huanggang will no longer represent a harmony between the city and a village-in-the-city. Instead, it will disappear and homogenize into the city landscape around it, and with it erase the history of the village.
Overall, Huaggang has experienced many phases of being a village-in-the-city. At first, it represented a progressive and proactive approach by the villagers themselves, who were willing to change with their changing surrounding city in a way that still celebrated the village’s existence and cultural significance. However, the location of the village eventually outweighed this original compromise, subjecting it to the fate of many villages-in-the-city: demolition for the economic gain that comes from skyscrapers and office buildings.