Chinese Speed

Chinese Speed is an exploration of the affective dimensions of top-down modernist planning in the context of contemporary China. It is an investigation into lived experiences of state-funded mega-projects and the cultural impacts of infrastructure. Specifically, I look into the high-speed rail (HSR) as the literal and symbolic connecting feature of the Jing-Jin-Ji megaregion proposed in the 2035 Beijing Master Plan. I study the high-speed rail (HSR) in China utilizing ethnographic methods in the train, in HSR stations, and in place-based communities on sites around new and proposed HSR stations. I am interested in the meaning of the HSR as a cultural artifact, a semiotic and aesthetic vehicle towards China's current national project. I am also interested in the changing sense of place and time in rural villages and towns along new and proposed HSR stations within the context of rapid development. This media thesis consists of a collection of multimedia works including a photo book, video installations, and a short film. They are experiments in creating nonlinear narratives surrounding the HSR in varied forms, and translating research findings into accessible modes of engagement. Documentation of completed visual work is contained in a website within Beijing22 (www.beijing22.org), a curatorial project funded by the Goethe Institute that sets out to be a "living archive" of Beijing's urban development before the 2022 Winter Olympics. This media thesis stems out of a larger multi-year project initiated in January 2018 called The Harmonious Commute by the Sponge Gourd Collective, consisting of Beatrix Chu, Daphne Xu, and Diane Zhou.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Urban Studies and Planning

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2019

Author dc:creator

• Xu, Daphne Y.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Ceasar McDowell.

• Urban Studies and Planning.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/123915

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/123915