Over the past decade and a half, the nation’s developers and government officials have replicated discredited urban planning templates, importing ideas that were tested, failed and long since abandoned in places like Europe and the US. Photograph: Corbis Photograph: Corbisīut China looked back instead of forward. ‘Ten years ago American planners told Beijing: “Don’t eliminate cycle lanes for cars! We made that mistake!” But they didn’t listen’. For China, California dreaming has turned into a nightmare. McMansion communities like Rancho Santa Fe have also helped recreate the golden state’s car headaches and endless sprawl, thanks to planners and policymakers who have repeated the urban design sins of developed countries.
And just in case the connection isn’t clear enough, China’s neighbourhood even has a familiar name: its developers called it “Rancho Santa Fe”.īut as I sat in a beat-up Buick not long ago, snarling through bumper-to-bumper traffic in a slow trek from Rancho Santa Fe, in the suburbs, to Shanghai’s city centre, it was clear that Chinese developers had done more than duplicate California’s Mediterranean-themed architecture.
There’s at least one car in each garage, terracotta planters overflowing with flowers, and a clubhouse with tennis courts and swimming pools to soothe the stress of a long day at the office. The version of it that I know best, however, is in the suburbs of Shanghai: this themed Chinese subdivision, modelled on the posh Californian suburb, features the same Mission-style homes with red tile roofs and the same lush green lawns encircling driveways mounted with basketball nets. You’ll find the original Rancho Santa Fe community nestled between golf courses and tennis clubs in sunny southern California.
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