the future of the jurong lake park area



Today at the URA, we were able to learn about the urban planning system of Singapore;

-concept and master plan;

-URA working with the other agancies to finalise and implement their plans.



Firstly, the concept plan is for planning the arrangements of the different forms of buildings for different purposes and the plan maps out the vision of URA for the next few decades.

Secondly, the master plan which legally binds the buyers of the different plots of land in Singapore setting the boundaries of the properties that will be built by developers in terms of deadline, building specifications. etc.

Lastly the co-operation of the different agencies. The URA will first draw up their plans then later discuss with the relevant authorities then finally split their jobs and turn paperwork into reality.

This trip was a fruitful one that allow us to be able to learn more than what we are able to find through the internet.



by Ong Xin Lei



we are currently experiencing some technical difficulties uploading pictures....so till next time, i suppose...cos i really don't have much experience with on the net problems ~ Peiling





Sometimes you don't see the stars because the sky is cloudy, sometimes its too bright down below...
~you may not see us, but we are out there, somewhere~

The end of Old-Shanghai

In 1936, Shanghai was one of the most populated city with 3 million occupants including 35 000 foreigners(That's A LOT of people). However, foreigners controlled half of the city(ugh foreign talent). Most of the foreigners were Russians seeking refuge in China(WHY?).
The city was thus divided into two. The western part of Shanghai was predominantly European while the eastern part of Shanghai was mainly occupied by traditional Chinese. The westerners helped transform Shanghai into a metropolis.

Shanghai Grand
During this period, Shanghai was known as "The Paris of the East, the New York of the West". Shanghai was made a special city in 1927, and a municipality in May 1930. The city's industrial and financial power increased, because the merchants were in control of the city.

Artistically Shanghai made major strides for the nation by becoming the home and headquarters of three new art forms; namely, the city was recognized and credited as the entertainment hub for Chinese cinema, Chinese animation and Chinese popular music. Other forms of entertainment include Lianhuanhua comic books.

The architectural style at the time was modeled after British and American design(Hmm, foreign influences). Many of the most grand scale buildings in The Bund such as Shanghai Club, Asia Building and the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation building were constructed or renovated at the time. The city created a distinct image that separated it from all other Chinese cities that came before it.

Economic achievements include the city becoming the commercial centre of East Asia, attracting banks from all over the world. When movies and literature depict the golden days of Shanghai of the past, it is generally associated with this era.

End of Old Shanghai (1937 - 1945)
World War II and the Japanese Occupation
1931-1941:
Shanghai becomes a haven for Jews fleeing Nazi terror. As other countries closed their doors to immigrants in the lead up to the Second World War, over 20,000 Jewish refugees found asylum in Shanghai. Germany wanted Japan to exterminate the Jews of Shanghai, but Japan only put them into a ghetto. The Japanese were harsher on the British, Americans and Dutch.
1937:
Japanese bombs hit Shanghai and the foreigners evacuate en masse. Japanese control Shanghai and much of China's eastern coast until their defeat at the hands of the Allied Powers in 1945.
End of foreign Concessions
The major government controlled companies in Shanghai of KMT-China became corrupt after moving to inland China in 1937. The foreign concessions were closed in 1946 when the French departed. Shanghai merchants and bankers had lost faith in the economy during the KMT-rule as the nationalists were not concern about the public interest but tried to force everyone to accept autocratic rule(understandably). The main protectors of the mafia, the Shanghailanders (westerners) were gone and the mafia was ignored by the nationalist government. Communists gained control over the workers. The success of the communists had mainly to do with a different policy. Instead of exclusionism of non-communists, the communists tried to gather a broad coalition.

Maziyyah


Sometimes you don't see the stars because the sky is cloudy, sometimes its too bright down below...
~you may not see us, but we are out there, somewhere~

Alright, I know many people hate Wikipedia for giving lots of wrong information, but it’s the best I got and I think can be trusted, so spare me… just to note, [these are my notes on the information].

The name “Shanghai”, 上海literally meant ‘above the sea’[ah, hehe]. The earliest occurrence of this name dates from the Song Dynasty (11th century), at which time there was already a river confluence and a town with this name in the area. It is was also known to people in other names like, “Songhu” or “Hua Ting” or “Shen” or “Shencheng”, even the English nickname of “Paris of the East”, “New York of the West” [they actually thought of Shanghai as a romantic city?? new york is cool ^.^].

Shanghai was founded somewhere in the 10th century in the wet and muddy swamps east of Suzhou [i thought that they would've been smart enough not to built it in a very disgusting place and monkeys don't like water, right? but, oh well, the land could've been the most fertile you can ever find...]. Till 1127, it was a small market town with 12,000 households. At this period of time, the city of Kaifeng was conquered by the Jurchen, which later became the Jin dynasty. Many refugees came to Shanghai, the population rose to a startling 250,000 inhabitants. It became China’s most prosperous city by the importance of its geographic location for trade. Cotton production is the ‘backbone’ of this economy until the recent 1900s.


Long story short, in the Ming dynasty, restrictions to protect the Merchants from the Japanese pirates led to all foreign trade to end. In 1554, a wall was built to protect the city from the pirates. [possible build-up of hatred for the Japanese]

Qing dynasty had little governing control, and the Western powers took advantage and used its provincial networks to control the city. Tong Reng Tan succeeded in establishing a measure of control over the city, but was replaced by the municipal government in 1905. The Self-Strengthening Movement was used to improve economic conditions by adapting Western practices, but corruption, incompetence and inefficiency caused the efforts to fail [good grief].

Later, they even had a war over the imports of opium called the “First Opium War” [you mean there are more?!] in the early 1800s which ended with the 1842 Treaty of Nanjing (opening treaty ports), the 1843 Treaty of the Bogue and the 1844 Sino-America Treaty of Wanghia. These treaties led to the influence of Western cultures in Shanghai.

Erm…wait, I haven’t digest that much yet[there is more wars coming], how ‘bout checking-in the next few days for an update, ciao~
Peiling AKA Remenyke

Sometimes you don't see the stars because the sky is cloudy, sometimes its too bright down below...
~you may not see us, but we are out there, somewhere~