{"product_id":"villages-in-the-city-stefan-al-9780824847562","title":"Villages in the City: A Guide to South China's Informal Settlements","description":"\u003cp\u003eCountless Chinese villages have been engulfed by modern cities. They no longer consist of picturesque farms and feng shui groves, but of high-rise buildings so close to each other that they create dark claustrophobic alleys--jammed with dripping air-conditioners, hanging clothes, caged balconies and bundles of buzzing electric wires, and crowned with a small strip of daylight, known as \"thin line sky.\" At times, buildings stand so close to another they are dubbed \"kissing buildings\" or \"handshake houses\"--you can literally reach out from one building and shake hands with your neighbor. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAlthough it is easy to see these villages as slums, a closer look reveals that they provide an important, affordable, and well-located entry point for migrants into the city. They also offer a vital mixed-use, spatially diverse and pedestrian alternative to the prevailing car-oriented modernist-planning paradigm in China. Yet, most of these villages are on the brink of destruction, affecting the homes of millions of people and threatening the eradication of a unique urban fabric. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eVillages in the City argues for the value of urban villages as places. To reveal their qualities, a series of drawings and photographs uncover the immense concentration of social life in their dense structures, and provide a peek into residents' homes and daily lives. Essays by a number of experts give a deeper understanding on the topic, and help imagine how reinstating the focus on the village could lead to a richer, more variegated pathway of urbanization.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Stefan Al\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0824847563\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780824847562\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Hawaii Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/30\/2014\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 216\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.95lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.90h x 5.90w x 0.60d","brand":"Stefan Al","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":43926571319551,"sku":"9780824847562","price":28.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/products\/img_0f793808-51b8-4b8e-a1a5-9c8350b6f006.jpg?v=1681083814","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/villages-in-the-city-stefan-al-9780824847562","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}