Class Discussion: Development and Urbanization of Beijing, Hong Kong, and Xi'an

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Prior to the Class Discussion

1) Divide into these three groups --

1.) Rana, Lana, Carolyn, Uyen, Patrick, Thebe, May, Monic, Rui
2.) Chris, Ivy, Myra, Cristina, Elaine, Lindsay, Valerie, Andy, Veronica
3.) Liz, Sara, Craig, Sarah, Derek, Cora, Jacky, Helen

2) Each group will look at all three cities with regard to two specific topics, past and present:

Group 1 -- Economic Growth and Resources
Group 2 -- Demographics and Human Conditions
Group 3 -- Governance and Cultural Aspects

3) Research topic and city -- past and present

4) Use readings from the reader, specifically --"Developments and Contrasts in Human Settlements", from Cities in a Globalizing World: Global Report on Human Settlements 2001 -- p. 455
--"Three Challenges for the Chinese City: Globalization, Migration, and Market Reform", John R. Logan, from The New Chinese City: Globalization and Market Reform, John R. Logan (ed), 2002 -- p. 488

5) Prepare an outline of each topic for each city (to be shared with the entire group)

6) Prepare a short presentation (5-7 minutes) on each topic for each city (depending on how you divide this, each city might want to give an approx. 10-15 minute shared presentation in their respective groups)

During the Class Discussion:

1) Give a short presentation (5-7 minutes) on each topic for each city (depending on how you divide this, each city might want to give an approx. 10-15 minute shared presentation in their respective groups -- you will stay in the same small groups for the whole class)

2) Hold a discussion comparing how these two factors have affected the three cities

Topics (sub topics are suggestions, by no means the only ones that should be considered):

Group 1

Economic Growth
-- what drives growth
-- employment -- types, availability, training
-- investment
-- industrialization

Resources
--environment
--sustainability

Group 2

Demographics
-- population -- distribution, ethnic/religious/class make up, etc.
-- migration into and out of the city (causes consequences)

Human Condition
-- housing
-- health care
-- sanitation

Group 3

Governance
-- impact of governing country's policies (China -- different leaders, Britain's legacy)
-- local government
-- response to urbanization, migration

Cultural Aspects
-- how has the city changed culturally