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CCHU9048 The City: Histories of Urbanism and the Built Environment
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The Continuing City: A Future Urban History Project
In this assignment, students were asked to write a two-part narrative about a city: the first in 2020 and the second in 2050. By constructing an “urban story” through the lens of a narrator and engaging with a specific issue of concern that links the past with the future, the exercise offers students a means to creatively express their ideas as well as to develop a critical understanding of the complex forces that shape cities and urban practices. It also encourages them to attend to the emerging social and environmental challenges confronting human communities in the coming decades.
Alma Weijia Chen
Pets in the Future City
Through the unique perspective of a pet dog living in Guangzhou, this story explores a set of interlinked issues concerning pet-keeping in the future city, including the use of AI technology, animal welfare and urban sustainability.
Keywords: Guangzhou, pets, AI technologies, animal welfare, ethics
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Dieter Chun Ping Chan
A Seemingly Improved Future: Hong Kong
This story explores the housing problem in Hong Kong in connection with climate change. The student has chosen a low income woman as the narrator to connect different issues by articulating her everyday experience and aspiration to live well.
Keywords: Hong Kong, housing, climate change, subdivided flats, container homes
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Saumya Gupta
Mumbai: City of Dreams
This story uses the lens of a Hindu migrant worker to explore the urban problems in Mumbai between 2020 and 2050. By narrating his own improved living conditions amidst worsening inequality and political tensions, the story underscores both the hopes and fears of different constituencies in the city.
Keywords: Mumbai, housing, social inequality, protest, Citizens Amendment Act (CAA)
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Samuel Zhou
New York City
Through the lens of a poor, young factory worker living in New York city, this story highlights the social inequality that has long plagued the metropolis and articulates a more progressive, hopeful vision of the urban future.
Keywords: New York city, housing, welfare, poverty, social inequality
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