VIP Class Notes (Jesse) [W]

As a metropolitan, Shanghai faces the same issues as other big cities, which are the high real estate prices, great city density and the high living costs. Today I came across an article titled “Walkable urban areas can become playgrounds for the rich. Is there any way to prevent that?”, an interview with the former chief planner in Vancouver. In the article, the urbanist talked about some ways to improve the affordability of a city. For instance, public housing projects are effective tools. He also used terms like “gentle density” (rowhouses, stacked townhouses, etc.) to describe his solution in Vancouver. Some of his ideas are inspiring, and I think Shanghai is trying similar things to solving her own issues. For example, Shanghai government has made great effort to build public houses, limit people from other cities buy apartments, and extending residential areas to the outskirt of the city. But still, the housing prices are too high to be affordable, people living in this city may have to work a whole life to repay the loan of a small apartment with two tiny bedrooms, which is so sad and desperate.

As a metropolis, Shanghai faces the same issues as other big cities, which are the outrageous real estate prices, high city density and the inflated cost of living. Today I came across an article titled “Walkable urban areas can become playgrounds for the rich. Is there any way to prevent that?”, an interview with the former chief planner in Vancouver. In the article, the urbanist talked about / mentioned / raised / discussed some ways to improve the affordability of a city. For instance, public housing projects are effective tools in that low income citizens can afford inner-city housing. He also used terms like “gentle density” (rowhouses, stacked townhouses, etc.) to describe his solution to the problem in Vancouver. Some of his ideas are inspiring, and I think Shanghai is trying similar things to solving her own issues. For example, Shanghai government has made great effort to build public houses, limit the buying of apartments by people from other cities, and extending residential areas to the outskirts of the city. But still, the housing prices are too high to be affordable, and people living in this city may have to work their whole lives to repay the loan of a small apartment with two tiny bedrooms, which is such a  sad and desperate situation.

Vocabulary

practical (iphone) < > sentimental (flowers)

like-minded – ppl who have things in common with you
eg. I like to go to the gym to meet like-minded people

metropolis = metropolitan city 

borrow < > loan
eg. I borrow money from the bank, and the bank loans money to me

renovation – zhuang xiu
eg. we are renovating our house currently

consistency 
eg. i think consistency when it comes to the rules that you set for kids, is really important

lisp – a speech problem

forte – sth you’re good at
eg. teaching kids is not my forte