Postmodern City Texts: Toronto and Taipei as Examples Introduction 2004/2/19

Postmodern City Texts:

Toronto and Taipei as Examples Introduction 2004/2/19

Outline

Starting Questions Definition of Terms How do we read a city? A Cultural Example The Course’s Purposes (See Handout) Assignments for Next Week

Starting Questions

What is a city? What makes its cultural productions interesting?

What're the common issues of a modern city? What are the differences between modern and postmodern cities?

What are the issues specific to Toronto and Taipei as postmodern cities?

Defining a City

1. Dictionary definition 2. Aspects and Contradictions of a City

: The visible vs. the invisible, the planned vs. the lived, the physical vs. the mental.

3. Modern City 4. Postmodern City 5. Toronto and Taipei

What is a City?

1. dictionary definition: A large and densely populated urban area; may include several independent administrative districts;

e.g. Athen, Alexandria, Jerusalem, Pergamon (16 miles inland from the Aegean Sea) Rome, Teotihuacan (in the present Mexico).

Two kinds of city development: organic city and planned city. V-e.g. 1 two kinds (LA; cities for imperial leaders), 2. New York how about Taipei and Toronto?

Taipei (1)

Taipei – organic city; 1884 －台北城 1895 － Japanese cont

rol 1967 – 院轄市； 1994

－民選市長 城內（中山南路、中華路、

愛國西路與忠孝西路所圍的）、艋舺、大稻埕 忠孝東路 東區

Taipei and Toronto (1)

Toronto – more a planned city, starting with 10 geometric blocks cleared from the edge of a forest in 1973.

Main street– Yonge St.

Human Achievements and Inventions in the Cities

"Now the people in the city have something to teach me, but the fields and the trees won't teach me anything." (Plato)

E.g. water transportation system (aqueduct), concrete & architecture, road, urban design, fire engine, toilet flush, etc

Video examples: 1. water, 2. Roman’s toilet habit.

A City: the visible vs. the invisible; the physical vs. the mental & social

-- Marc Blanchard: "the city is in the streets, viewed and experienced through the eyes and the gestures of a passer-by" (qut in Zhang xv-xvi) city visions; -- Zhang [following Robert Park]: "This city . . . more than just a physical structure.  It is, among other things, a state of mind, an order of morality, a pattern of attitudes and ritualized behavior, a network of human connections, and a body of customs and traditions inscribed in certain practices and discourses" (Zhang 3-4).

What is a City?

E.g. Understanding Cities 1 Cities attract people who want a better life; Cities are the essence of us all; they are the

vortex of all human activities and inventions; They are unpredictable; they respond to

changes and develop on the basis of their own histories.

What is a City? (2)

What bring people to a city?

For work – the job opportunities provided by industrialism and technological improvements.

special rhythm and pace, convenience, fast flows of information, capital, commodities and people.

What is a City? (2)

What bring people to a city? For work, security and a better life? A

city is filled with contradictions: order chaos (crimes, the

unpredictable); civilization barbarous crimesthe organized & systematized the

unpredictable & irregular

What is a Modern City or Metropolis?

1) Population – over 100,000

2) Average distribution rate of 2000 (%) 

Urban Rural

China  32  68 

Hong Kong 100  0 

Japan  79  21

Rwanda 6  94  9.37 7.61

USA 77  23 

Canada  77 23

台灣

1985 年 -- 78.6%

台北 -- 2001/8 -- 2,626,811

Urbanization -- 2001年 人口 ( 百萬

人 )人口密度( 人 / 平方公里 ) 都市人口比率 (o/o)

1. 新 加 坡 3.3 6054.8 100

2. 奧 地 利 8.1 96.8 91

3. 澳大利亞 19.4 2.5 91

4. 英 國 60 242.6 90

5. 荷 蘭 16 392.8 90

6. 阿 根 廷 37.5 13.6 88

7. 德 國 82.4 230.5 88

8. 紐 西 蘭 3.9 14.3 86

9. 南 韓 47.7 476.9 83

10. 瑞 典 8.9 19.8 83

11. 巴 西 172.1 20.4 82

12. 日 本 218.5 341.4 79

13. 加 拿 大 31 3.2 79

14. 中華民國 22.3 620.5 78

15. 西 班 牙 40.1 79.4 78

16. 美國 286.1 30.4 77

Industrial to Modern City

The City in three phases since the 19 century:

1st – emergence of industrial city --> serious social problems and environmental problems. (e.g. Dickens’ London)

2nd – Modern city: utopian city, or a split between the spectacular metropolitan centers, declining downtown and spreading suburbs (2 Brasilia)

Postmodern City

3rd – Postmodern city: 1. globalization( 全球化 ), (globalizing capital) -- i

ncreasing fragmentation and assimilation by global culture

2. gentrification( 土地增值 ; East Area in Taipei), ghettoization( 陋巷區隔 ) discrepancy between the rich and the poor,

3. Pluralism (1) diversification of regions and their functions, manufacturing sites reinvented as tourist destinations (e.g. Taipei?)

characteristics of postmodern city (2) service over manufacturing

Pluralism (2): spectacular and multi-functional sites of consumption, architectural pastiche & restoration (e.g. Berlin’s parliament building;)

Pluralism (3): The new underclasses (immigrants) in the urban centers

Taipei and Toronto

Similarities: Experience colonization; issue of national identity; subway;

Differences: density of population; different types of plurality

Toronto vs. Taipei

國別 面積人口

(百萬人 )

人口密度(人 /平方公里 )

都市人口比率(o/o)

中華民國 22.3 620.5 78

加拿大 31 3.2 79

台北 271 2.6 9667

多倫多(Greater Toronto Area )

632 sq.km 2.4 3797

Source: http://www.moi.gov.tw/W3/stat/home.asp 內政部統計資訊網

Toronto’s development Modern period -- 1950’s至 60’s年間，多倫多由

戰時的平靜整齊的小鎮 (Toronto the Good and the Grey)快速成長為加拿大第一個城市，居民遽增一倍（由125萬到將近300萬），城市建築規劃採現代模式（規律、國際式、反歷史），並建造大型公寓區（如St. Jamestown, Regent Park和 Alexandra Park）將都市郊區化（Caulfield 5-60; Callaghan Introd.）。同一時期，加勒比海移民有限度移入，以女僕和學生為主，出現在Bloor、 Bathust等街和多倫多大學校區。

Postmodern period-- 1970’s至 1980’s間，多倫多在城市改革者（urban reformists）、投資者、中產階級居民以及一些邊緣團體（如藝術家、同性戀團體和華裔團體）影響下，發展為一個多元的後現代大都會。

Toronto’s postmodern features

１．經濟上，去工業化，由服務業和商店取代﹔ ２·建築上，保留並維修古老建築（包括舊市街如 Yonge 街、華埠、羅馬式建築的 Richardsonian Romanesque 舊市政府及許多維多利亞式的住屋）﹔新型建築物仿古（如許多購物中心仿傳統市場或維多利亞式建築），或與古蹟在形式和建材上銜接（如 Eaton Center 與 Church of Holy Trinity Caulfield 97-12﹔3 ）﹔ ３·在人口上，大量中產階級由郊區住回市區（或稱 gentrification ）。

Immigrant/Total Population in North American cities

0

20

40

60

80

100

1990s

Canada

Toronto

Montreal

Vancouver

Miami

New York

statistics

加拿大

多倫多 蒙

邁阿密

溫哥華 紐

約

Immigrant Population in North American cities

In 1996 immigrants represented 17.4% of Canada’s population. Across the Toronto CMA (Census Metropolitan Area), immigrants comprised 42% of the population, while in the amagamated City of Toronto 47.6% were foreign-born.

The Vancouver CMA -- 35% are immigrants Montreal CMA -- 18% immigrants in the States

Miami 33.6% New York 19.7% (Siemiatycki 75)

Taipei/Taiwan

1977 Twelve Major Constructions started.

1984 the investment of MacDonald's 1987 the lifting of Martial Law (7/15)  1994 年恢復市長民選 West-Gate – a mixture of Local, Ameri

can and Japanese cultures.

Taipei/Taiwan’s ethnic plurality

Taiwan: 92/3 年統計，外僑人數 56246; 全國 91 年取得國籍 1533

2002, 12.5% newborn babies were by foreign brides.

Taipei (2003—1728 brides), the third highest no. of foreign brides.

How to Read a City –targets Cultural representation of cities (films, photographies,

songs, literature); Documentaries on one of the world cities;(e.g. 《城市

的遠見》 , City Cabs, Six Degrees, Chasing Time in a City, etc.)

The social phenomena of a region we observe(e.g. of youngsters’ consumption habits at West-Gate; changes of the East Area of Taipei)

The signs of an urban space. (e.g. The elements of a city: paths, edges, districts, nodes, and landmarks + people + architecture and spatial decorations)

The signs of an urban space.

No overall

design

The signs of an urban space (2).

Ambiguous gender

identities

The signs of an urban space (3).

Mutual Gaze of the Controlled and Controlling

How to Read a City –Questions

a. (In analyzing urban planning and a cultural representation of a city or urban spaces) -- what does "the producer" try to say and 'how'? Is there a way to not follow their orders without being punished?

a. (In analyzing less organized texts such as what we observed and the documentaries) --

What are the characteristics of your chosen city? How is it different from Taipei? (Do not just generalize; give concrete examples.)

What types of city dwellers have you seen? Do you expect to meet the same people here in Taipei?

What are the major factors of the environment which shape the life styles of the city dwellers you have seen/observed: history, power relations, capitalism, etc.?

How to Read a City –Topics

History -- Read how it is influenced by history or oblivious of history (e.g. 超級大國民 )

Concept City vs. Lived City Postmodern features: -- globalization, ghetto-ization, gentrification; -- electronic network and flows (e.g. Polygraph 1, 2, 16

Happy Together 1, 2); -- commodification of space; chance encounters a

nd interconnectedness (example: next page)

An Example: When the Day Breaks

Gender difference Chance encounter and accidents The pig’s responses:

Sympathize by trying to imagine the chicken’s history;

Escape; Re-connected with society

How are we connected in a city?

Recurrent images:cells, eating, lemon, lines (veins, water pipes, drainage, electric wires, subway tunnels, radio/TV antenna, hole) , darkness and brightness.

Assignments for Next Week

Watch 2 videos – “Toronto: The Meeting Place” “Taipei, Taipei”

Read 3 articles – “Urbanism as a Way of Life” & those by 詹宏志

Write either about ‘The Taipei I know’ or “The Toronto I know.’

References

Discovery Programs: Understanding Cities; City Life

Zhang, Yingjin.  The City in Modern Chinese Literature and Film.  Standord, CA: Standford UP, 1996.

"Toronto Key Facts." http://www.city.toronto.on.ca/ourcity/keyfacts.htm

"T`ai-pei t`u-ti jen-k`ou kai-k`uang [The Land and Population of Taipei: General Introduction]." http://www.dbas.taipei.gov.tw/stat/express/