Fantasy Islands: Chinese Dreams and Ecological Fears in an Age of Climate Crisis
ISBN: 0520284488
EAN: 9780520284487
Author: Julie Sze
Publisher: University of California Press
Binding: Paperback
Pub Date: January 05, 2015
The rise of China and its status as a leading global factory-- combined with an increasing worldwide desire for inexpensive toys, clothes, and food-- are altering the way people live and consume. At the same time, the world appears wary of the real costs of this desire: toys drenched in lead paint, dangerous medicines, and tainted pet food. Examining sites in China, including the plan for a new eco-city called Dongtan on the island of Chongming, suburbanization projects, and the Shanghai World Expo, Julie Sze interrogates Chinese, European, and American 'eco-desire' and the eco-technological fantasies that underlie contemporary development of global cities and mega-suburbs. In doing so, she challenges readers to rethink how cities must undergo alterations to become true 'eco-cities.'