keeping architects busy

The developments in Dongguan are such a waste of space. These 33 cities in Dongguan that are developed, yet empty, are startling. How does this happen? It seems that just by doing, by building, the developers and planners will make money. But how and why? These developments seem to be about creating the infrastructure so that business will come. Saskia Sassen’s lecture last semester about global networks and buildings serving as platforms for other processes rings true in this situation. The developers and architects in Dongguan use architecture and design, seemingly without considering the needs of the area, as a way to make money, to attract international business, and to supposedly modernize and benefit the economy of the region. This over-building and over-development anticipates the arrival of prosperity. The people in power dream big.

These empty cities remind me of a development in my hometown in Delaware, which isn’t on such a large scale. Some developers from Baltimore have been building up parts of the riverfront in downtown Wilmington as mixed-use, and devoting much of the space for upscale housing. Although designed with good intentions and certainly with my support, because it would be amazing for more of the city to be occupied, these developments haven’t yet created a community. Perhaps, in time pace will pick up. Developers build property that investors buy up, but don’t actually use. What I find quite ironic is that these investors dodge the marketing strategies and the architect’s forecasting of the atmosphere of these developments. The cute Rhino representations of these developments aren’t realized, as the apartments and condos, although owned by individuals, remain unoccupied.

It seems that consumption, for the very rich, also occurs on a larger scale. Those who can afford to buy up the newest properties proceed to let them remain unoccupied, and hopefully sell them later for a profit. The speed of development, the knowledge that the value of the area will continue to increase, seems to be an incentive to buy property and promotes the financial success of the developers. However, long-term implications seem to take the back-burner.