global kampong
this is a piece by william j. mitchell that i really enjoy. it's a snapshot of the current asian urbanity in the late 1990s. much has changed. and much has stayed the same.
global kampong
the punjab
traditional settlement patterns are still very much in evidence. flying into delhi, over the vast expanse of the punjab, you can see them spread out below. villages dot the plain, each one surrounded by the fields that give it sustenance. houses cluster tightly around village centers where gathering places, markets, and public buildings are to be found. tracks and roads run from village to village, forming a simple circulation network for pedestrians, animals, and wheeled vehiclies. you can immediately see how it works; there is a beautiful diagrammatic clarity to it all.
bangalore
but newer urban configurations are, at first, much harder to read from the air. take bangalore, for example; there is no immediately apparent logic to its layout. and no wonder; the flows of digital information to and from its industrial labs and software shops - the foundation of its prosperity - are completely invisible. its unseen electronic connections to distant silicon valley and seattle are at least as vital as the streets and roads that link it to surrounding areas. moreover, much of what really matters here takes place behind the walls of airconditioned buildings. you can only begin to understand the arrangement of bangalore when you realise that it's not a self-contained settlement, but a node in a global system.
beijing
until recently, i never got email from china. but now, there's an increasing flood of messages bearing .cn addresses. china is embracing the internet and the world wide web! i'm glad that my academic colleages in beijing and shanghai no longer bear such a burden of isolation from the rest of the world. (this is, of course, a tendentious western way of putting it. the chinese have always tended to see it another way; the rest of the world has been isolated from them.) but i'm also beginning to worry; what if this trickle of messages grows into a vast, unmanageable flood as the barriers between china and the west become increasingly permeable? the friction of distance, and the barriers created by iron and bomboo curtains and berlin walls can no longer divide us as they once did. do we really understand what this eventually means? are we truly ready for inexpensive, ubiquitous, global connectivity?
taipei
the acer computer plant near taipei; laptop computers flow endlessly off the assembly lines. some of them have the acer label, and will be sold as taiwanese products. some of them bear the logos of american companies, and will be marketed by them as their own. open up any of these plastic boxes, and you will see components from all over the world. many of these machines will be shipped without the motherboards, which will later be purchased at a more advantageous price than is currently available, then inserted, just before sale, at their destinations. the assembly robots are from japan; the workers on the line are from the philippines. this factory, like many in asia, is just one link in a pattern of intertwined, constantly reconfiguring, global supply chains and labour markets.
singapore
ships coming into the busy container port transmit descriptions of the layout in the hold, and destinations of the containers that they carry; computer software sequences, temporary storage configurations, and loading sequences. then the software drives the giant automatic cranes that move the containers around. the homely process of calling a taxi is digitally mediated as well; the radio-controlled cabs carry GPS (global positioning system) devices, so that the nearest available one can automatically be directed to you. and automobiles are equipped with transceivers, so that tolls can be collected automatically and dynamic road-pricing schemes can be used to manage traffic congestion. transportation, electronic telecommunication, and computerised control systems are now inextricably intertwined on that tiny, crowded island that has few natural resources, and that depends utterly on being more efficient than its rivals.
hong kong
betting on the horses is a passion here, and you can, of course, still go to the racetrack to pursue it. but the jockey club - an exceedingly rich and powerful institution - has introduced a new wrinkle. you carry a small, wireless electronic device that allows you to place bets in an instant. it automatically computes the odds in the fiendishly complicated multi-horse and multi-event gambling schemes that are favoured locally. and it automatically credits or debits your bank account as the results come in. an activity that had once taken place at a particular, circumscribed location is now diffused everywhere. and it is probably the precursor of many more.
seoul
a bus making its way through the car-choked, fume-filled streets; the schoolgirl on the bus seat beside me is tending her electronic virtual pet. the businessman opposite is making deals on his cell phone. several passengers have headphones on, and are listening to cds. they are all, electronically, somewhere else.
hong kong again
the density of hong kong hands hong kong telecom a great advantage; distances are short, and the technicians can just run the fiber-optic cables into the basement switchrooms in highrise buildings. it is far quicker and easier to put high-bandwidth telecommunications infrastructure in here than, for example, in spread-out american suburbs. so telecom is pressing ahead with pioneering new services that compete with more familiar kinds of retail and entertainment settings. there's video-on-demand, audio-on-demand, and karaoke-on-demand. retailers are experimenting with online ordering combined with home delivery. there's home banking through your tv. using a special set-top box, you will be able to load a smart card with cash from your bank account, then use it to ride the transit system, feed parking meters, and purchase from vending machines. in all the commotion about the former colony's reunification with china, it's easy to overlook this quieter but probably no-less profound revolution.
tokyo
tokyo traffic is terrible, and it is notoriously hard to find your way around; streets often don't have names, the street numbering scheme is incomprehensible, and it's hopeless if you don't read kanji. but help has finally appeared; car navigation systems now provide drivers with personalised signage and guidance as they travel around. a GPS system keeps track of the vehicle's location, which is displayed in a constantly-updated map on a dashboard video scheme. and there seems no end to the possibilities of car multi-media. the vehicle information and communication system (VICS) transmits information on the current traffic conditions, and congested roads show up in red on the screen. there is software to compute the quickest route to your destination. and you can get weater reports, airline flight information, and guidebook information - selected according to your location and interest - on request. once, cities depended for legibility on landmarks, on an organised hierarchy of major and minor streets, and on street sights; now, tokyo is beginning to rely on electronics instead.
sydney
when you call a customer service line in hong kong, you may find yourself - usually without knowing it - connected to a telephone service center in sydney. the drop in telecommunications costs has made distance unimportant, but being in adjacent time zones is often crucial, so the sydney-to-hong kong connection is a practical one, and it provides a way to tap into a pool of well-educated, english-speaking, not-too-expensive workers. space is no longer isotropic; north-south connections are no longer the same as east-west ones.
london
the london stock exchange finds itself strategically in the middle - roughly midway between tokyo and the hang seng to the east and new york and chicago to the west. london traders are swinging into action as those in asia are winding down for the day, and are ready to wrap it up as new york and chicago awaken. that's an interesting place to be in a world of free-floating, fast-flowing, electronically-propelled capital. design and research and development organisations have found ways to profit from time zone differences as well; if you have a site in europe linked electronically to another in north america, and yet another in asia, you can get a 24-hour workday going by handing off information from one to the other. the job continually circles round the world with the sun - gaining you valuable time if you're on a deadline, or racing to beat a competitor. [alternatively, they could hire graduate architects who will pull 3 straight all-nighters in a row before concussing]
kuala lumpur
malaysia has sought a prominent place in the global economy. it has captured the world's attention by building the petronas towers - currently the world's tallest. it has planned a new high-technology zone near kuala lumpur, and has begun to attract international businesses to it. but the new world that it is entering has perils as well as rewards. as i write these words, the ringgit has depreciated 25 percent in the last few months, prime minister mahathir mohamad has denounced international currency traders as "immoral," and his bold vision of the future seems in danger of falling apart.
jakarta
in jakarta, the brutal contradictions and polarities of the global city hit you in the face; they leave you gasping. the landscape is dotted with glistening, airconditioned, highrise towers - many designed by fanous foreign architects. each one is fenced, locked, and guarded, isolated from its immediate surroundings, and electronically connected to the capitals of asia, europe, and america. inside, you can find telephones, faxes, computers, sky-tv, and cnn. but outside, among the towers and the polluted canals, millions of people live in mierable, poverty-stricken urban villages.
if you're one of the privileged elite, you're an inhabitant of the global village. if you're not, you just live in a kampong.
global kampong
the punjab
traditional settlement patterns are still very much in evidence. flying into delhi, over the vast expanse of the punjab, you can see them spread out below. villages dot the plain, each one surrounded by the fields that give it sustenance. houses cluster tightly around village centers where gathering places, markets, and public buildings are to be found. tracks and roads run from village to village, forming a simple circulation network for pedestrians, animals, and wheeled vehiclies. you can immediately see how it works; there is a beautiful diagrammatic clarity to it all.
bangalore
but newer urban configurations are, at first, much harder to read from the air. take bangalore, for example; there is no immediately apparent logic to its layout. and no wonder; the flows of digital information to and from its industrial labs and software shops - the foundation of its prosperity - are completely invisible. its unseen electronic connections to distant silicon valley and seattle are at least as vital as the streets and roads that link it to surrounding areas. moreover, much of what really matters here takes place behind the walls of airconditioned buildings. you can only begin to understand the arrangement of bangalore when you realise that it's not a self-contained settlement, but a node in a global system.
beijing
until recently, i never got email from china. but now, there's an increasing flood of messages bearing .cn addresses. china is embracing the internet and the world wide web! i'm glad that my academic colleages in beijing and shanghai no longer bear such a burden of isolation from the rest of the world. (this is, of course, a tendentious western way of putting it. the chinese have always tended to see it another way; the rest of the world has been isolated from them.) but i'm also beginning to worry; what if this trickle of messages grows into a vast, unmanageable flood as the barriers between china and the west become increasingly permeable? the friction of distance, and the barriers created by iron and bomboo curtains and berlin walls can no longer divide us as they once did. do we really understand what this eventually means? are we truly ready for inexpensive, ubiquitous, global connectivity?
taipei
the acer computer plant near taipei; laptop computers flow endlessly off the assembly lines. some of them have the acer label, and will be sold as taiwanese products. some of them bear the logos of american companies, and will be marketed by them as their own. open up any of these plastic boxes, and you will see components from all over the world. many of these machines will be shipped without the motherboards, which will later be purchased at a more advantageous price than is currently available, then inserted, just before sale, at their destinations. the assembly robots are from japan; the workers on the line are from the philippines. this factory, like many in asia, is just one link in a pattern of intertwined, constantly reconfiguring, global supply chains and labour markets.
singapore
ships coming into the busy container port transmit descriptions of the layout in the hold, and destinations of the containers that they carry; computer software sequences, temporary storage configurations, and loading sequences. then the software drives the giant automatic cranes that move the containers around. the homely process of calling a taxi is digitally mediated as well; the radio-controlled cabs carry GPS (global positioning system) devices, so that the nearest available one can automatically be directed to you. and automobiles are equipped with transceivers, so that tolls can be collected automatically and dynamic road-pricing schemes can be used to manage traffic congestion. transportation, electronic telecommunication, and computerised control systems are now inextricably intertwined on that tiny, crowded island that has few natural resources, and that depends utterly on being more efficient than its rivals.
hong kong
betting on the horses is a passion here, and you can, of course, still go to the racetrack to pursue it. but the jockey club - an exceedingly rich and powerful institution - has introduced a new wrinkle. you carry a small, wireless electronic device that allows you to place bets in an instant. it automatically computes the odds in the fiendishly complicated multi-horse and multi-event gambling schemes that are favoured locally. and it automatically credits or debits your bank account as the results come in. an activity that had once taken place at a particular, circumscribed location is now diffused everywhere. and it is probably the precursor of many more.
seoul
a bus making its way through the car-choked, fume-filled streets; the schoolgirl on the bus seat beside me is tending her electronic virtual pet. the businessman opposite is making deals on his cell phone. several passengers have headphones on, and are listening to cds. they are all, electronically, somewhere else.
hong kong again
the density of hong kong hands hong kong telecom a great advantage; distances are short, and the technicians can just run the fiber-optic cables into the basement switchrooms in highrise buildings. it is far quicker and easier to put high-bandwidth telecommunications infrastructure in here than, for example, in spread-out american suburbs. so telecom is pressing ahead with pioneering new services that compete with more familiar kinds of retail and entertainment settings. there's video-on-demand, audio-on-demand, and karaoke-on-demand. retailers are experimenting with online ordering combined with home delivery. there's home banking through your tv. using a special set-top box, you will be able to load a smart card with cash from your bank account, then use it to ride the transit system, feed parking meters, and purchase from vending machines. in all the commotion about the former colony's reunification with china, it's easy to overlook this quieter but probably no-less profound revolution.
tokyo
tokyo traffic is terrible, and it is notoriously hard to find your way around; streets often don't have names, the street numbering scheme is incomprehensible, and it's hopeless if you don't read kanji. but help has finally appeared; car navigation systems now provide drivers with personalised signage and guidance as they travel around. a GPS system keeps track of the vehicle's location, which is displayed in a constantly-updated map on a dashboard video scheme. and there seems no end to the possibilities of car multi-media. the vehicle information and communication system (VICS) transmits information on the current traffic conditions, and congested roads show up in red on the screen. there is software to compute the quickest route to your destination. and you can get weater reports, airline flight information, and guidebook information - selected according to your location and interest - on request. once, cities depended for legibility on landmarks, on an organised hierarchy of major and minor streets, and on street sights; now, tokyo is beginning to rely on electronics instead.
sydney
when you call a customer service line in hong kong, you may find yourself - usually without knowing it - connected to a telephone service center in sydney. the drop in telecommunications costs has made distance unimportant, but being in adjacent time zones is often crucial, so the sydney-to-hong kong connection is a practical one, and it provides a way to tap into a pool of well-educated, english-speaking, not-too-expensive workers. space is no longer isotropic; north-south connections are no longer the same as east-west ones.
london
the london stock exchange finds itself strategically in the middle - roughly midway between tokyo and the hang seng to the east and new york and chicago to the west. london traders are swinging into action as those in asia are winding down for the day, and are ready to wrap it up as new york and chicago awaken. that's an interesting place to be in a world of free-floating, fast-flowing, electronically-propelled capital. design and research and development organisations have found ways to profit from time zone differences as well; if you have a site in europe linked electronically to another in north america, and yet another in asia, you can get a 24-hour workday going by handing off information from one to the other. the job continually circles round the world with the sun - gaining you valuable time if you're on a deadline, or racing to beat a competitor. [alternatively, they could hire graduate architects who will pull 3 straight all-nighters in a row before concussing]
kuala lumpur
malaysia has sought a prominent place in the global economy. it has captured the world's attention by building the petronas towers - currently the world's tallest. it has planned a new high-technology zone near kuala lumpur, and has begun to attract international businesses to it. but the new world that it is entering has perils as well as rewards. as i write these words, the ringgit has depreciated 25 percent in the last few months, prime minister mahathir mohamad has denounced international currency traders as "immoral," and his bold vision of the future seems in danger of falling apart.
jakarta
in jakarta, the brutal contradictions and polarities of the global city hit you in the face; they leave you gasping. the landscape is dotted with glistening, airconditioned, highrise towers - many designed by fanous foreign architects. each one is fenced, locked, and guarded, isolated from its immediate surroundings, and electronically connected to the capitals of asia, europe, and america. inside, you can find telephones, faxes, computers, sky-tv, and cnn. but outside, among the towers and the polluted canals, millions of people live in mierable, poverty-stricken urban villages.
if you're one of the privileged elite, you're an inhabitant of the global village. if you're not, you just live in a kampong.