Cities in Asia
As an American, I’ve learned to love my elbowroom. The rolling golden hills and spacious California suburbs are what I call home. Yet soon I will be moving to Asia, which “is the largest region, with 30% of the global landmass and 60% of the world’s population… with 42% of its population in cities in 2010.” (Dahiya, 44) Acre large home properties with city zoning preventing multi-story buildings to preserve the scenic view will likely be but a fond memory while I reside in Ho Chi Minh City – a city with a population density over 10,000 per square mile (noticeably larger than what I believe to be the unacceptable 7,000 per square mile in San Francisco.)
San Francisco and Ho Chi Minh City
Land and housing seems to be a relatively pervasive issue while “the Asia-Pacific region remains host to 505.5 million slum dwellers.” (Dahiya, 50) According to Dahiya, many governments in the region have attempted to combat the growing jousting deficiencies due to urbanization through a number of various strategies such as building public housing, creating public-private housing partnerships, enabling private sector housing for low-income groups, and much more. I imagine that when I move to Ho Chi Minh City I will be surrounded by massive groups of people, all living in close quarters. It should be an adventure and experience to see housing issues in an urbanizing county.
On The Back Of A Motorbike
Were you aware that motorcycles in Vietnam are heavily related to: transportation, economic means, rise of the middle class, sex, communism, consumerism, status, privilege, interpersonal connection, and social order? Well now you are. In the 1960s the US government subsidized motorbikes for the purpose of nation building (Truitt, 11), and by 2003 there were an estimated 10 million within the country (Truitt, 5).
From multiple sources – scholarly readings, photographs, and person tales – it appears that Vietnam, and major cities especially are flooded with motorcycles. I am one who is drawn to adventure, and the videos of Westerners attempting to cross the street makes me excited to brave the wave of fast moving Vietnamese. Yet at the same time, the danger does seem real. A young man I am friends with, and a fellow International Affairs major at Lewis & Clark was recently injured and hospitalized after taking part in a motorcycle collision in South East Asia. I imagine that simply having so many people on the road could pose some serious problems. I look forward to seeing the effects with my own two eyes.
Spotted on the back of a motorbike