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'Viewed Sideways'

jonathanchatwin@me.com — 2011-12-26T12:36:18+00:00

My new review of Donald Richie's Viewed Sideways: Writings on Culture and Style in Contemporary Japan at the Asian Review of Books.

Liveable Cities

jonathanchatwin@me.com — 2011-12-14T21:09:32+00:00

It's always struck me that the increasingly common lists which appear in the press rating a city's liveability are predicated on fundamental misapprehensions as to how and why we choose where to live. The first problem is this: though we think we do, most of us don't make big life decisions, such as where to live (or who to marry, or what job to do) based on empirical evidence. For many, it is mere happenstance which dictates their place of residence: where they are born, or, simply, where they are able to secure employment. At best, these decisions tend to be primarily inspired by extremely specific personal motivations; I moved to my old hometown, Exeter, for example, not because of its many assessable virtues, but rather because of a confluence of specific circumstances: an affinity for the place bred in childhood; an offer of a PhD place; the fact that my then-partner found a job there.
However, even granting that the intrinsic qualities of a city are a fundamental influence, these lists are still flawed. The truth is that cities, by their nature, contradict a lot of established truths about how best to live. Cities are noisy, dirty, dangerous, expensive and crowded. The cities which regularly top the lists of most liveable cities tend to be those which best contradict these truths. Yet, few would realistically choose to live in Copenhagen over, say, New York. We simply don't appear to find attractive those qualities which are concentrated upon in these lists; our response to urban life – as with so much else in life – is fundamentally counterintuitive.

Learning to navigate a city of smog

jonathanchatwin@me.com — 2011-12-13T21:24:24+00:00

As my impending move to Beijing draws closer, I'm increasingly preoccupied by the West's increasing preoccupation with the Beijing smog (or is it fog?). Over at The Atlantic Cities, Deborah Bruno reflects on the panorama provided by the spectacularly epic map of the city found at the Beijing Planning Exhibition Hall – useful for a newcomer yet to see the city clearly:

'In a city beset by some of the worst pollution in the world, fog, crazy-bad traffic and 22 million people, the map on the third floor of the Beijing Planning Exhibition Hall is a pretty good way to get a sense of where you are [….] The better perspective here makes a visitor feel like Gulliver on Lilliput: a layout encompassing 1,000 square meters of a miniaturized model city surrounded by three-foot-high glass walls. There's also a glass-covered map that visitors can stroll – or crawl – over….'

Fog of Uncertainty

jonathanchatwin@me.com — 2011-12-08T17:51:04+00:00

As anyone who has visited the city will attest, Beijing has awful problems with pollution. Yet, there is a war of words going on about just how dangerous the murky air of the capital actually is. The government claims that impressive strides have been made in recent years, with much heavy industry having been expelled from the city, and that the current 'fog' affecting the city is an anomaly in a generally upward trend. The monitoring station at the American Embassy, which tweets as @beijingair, has rather contradicted this perspective however with their hourly measurements, which peaked last Friday with an announcement that the levels were 'beyond index'.
Brilliantly, the Chinese government have responded to recent criticism by opening a monitoring centre for the public to visit. There is, however, a problem, as the BBC reports:

'It is open to the public only on Tuesdays between 1400 and 1600. Just two groups are allowed in on each open day - meaning a maximum of 60 visitors a week.'

So the fog appears unlikely to clear anytime soon.

Midnight in Peking

jonathanchatwin@me.com — 2011-12-07T13:16:00+00:00

Paul French’s Midnight in Peking is undoubtedly one of the most compelling books I’ve read all year (along with the addictive but strangely unsatisfying Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson). Read my review at the Asian Review of Books here and enjoy Paul French giving the background to the story in the video above.

PS. You can also enjoy Paul’s excellent blog here.