如何重新连接城市与农村 City and Countryside
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[Photo by Urban Language]
当我初来上海时，首先冲击我的一件事情就是，发生在城市每一个角落的多样生活方式。从农村到来的农民刚下火车，坐在装着土豆的麻袋上，旁边是优雅的白领丽人们在电话中闲谈着。这让我想到了“大熔炉”纽约，来自社会不同阶层的人每天都被混合在一起。
上海是一个既未来主义又传统的城市。她是国际化的大都市化，但也保留了很多质朴的元素，从市民的日常生活和习惯中就可以证明。这创造了一种迷人的生活方式与文化的混合体。我认为，这对一个城市来说是有益的。虽然伴随着混合而产生的混乱和冲突，有时也会令人烦恼，但这样的混合带来了特色，也使我们记起自己的根。
城市化一般指人们向城市的迁移。但是上海与中国其它城市告诉我们，城市化往往更复杂：它的本质是关于生活方式的改变。没有一个西方国家像中国一样如此明显地被划分为农村与城市。
我成长在荷兰乡村。我的祖父母曾是农民。透过我楼上的卧室窗户，我可以看到欧洲最有影响力的港口城市--鹿特丹发出的微弱而诱人的光。虽然乡村生活是宁静、宜人又安全的，但城市总是用她的憧憬吸引着我。
城市对我来说，就是见到有趣的人，获得新想法，是探索世界的最佳方式。我觉得家人居住的村庄是乏味的，并且梦想着一有机会就逃离。为了上大学，搬去鹿特丹更加扩张了我的这个渴望。我想要去一个特大都市。我需要纽约、巴黎、或者上海。
搬去城市给我提供了一个途径去发展我自己、我的事业，能让我遇到新朋友和新挑战。这是全世界的年轻人都有的雄心壮志，也同样适用于中国。当然，由于城市与农村区域的生活水平差异，很多人来到城市，仅仅是为了提高生活质量。
然而在城市生活也有不利的一面。每个城市都有特有的问题需要被解决，不管是空气污染、食品安全、社会不平等，还是交通问题。在我看来，比起其它城市，上海正试图在一个更大的尺度上，同时处理所有这些城市问题。
我相信在中国，很多人把城市视作获取幸福生活的最终目标。很多中央政府的政策都直接指向可持续的城市增长政策。但问题一直存在：城市还可以持续增长多久呢？增长总是有界限的。也会增加城市与周边乡村的不均等，当一部分市民生活得比他们的邻居好很多的时候，可能会造成一个不平等的系统。
中国拥有丰富而悠久的农业历史。虽然在历史上，中国的农业方法比其它国家更先进，但很多当今的中国人将乡村地区视作倒退且没有吸引力的地方。个人而言，我热爱乡村。虽然我爱上海的城市生活，但我也常常渴望回到我的荷兰小村庄。我坚信乡村与城市区域正在变得越来越两级分化。
城市需要寻求一种与乡村变得更平衡的发展方式。我认为一种可行方式是将更多乡村元素加到城市里。2012年，环保组织GoodtoChina启动了天空农场（SkyFarms）：一个在上海多处安装生长农作物的屋顶花园项目。2015年，另一家环境组织绿色倡议（Green Initiatives）启动了希望彩虹（Rainbow of Hope）项目，将农村农民种植的有机食物直接递送给城市居民。
这两个项目的目标消费者是上海增长的中产阶层--这个很少与农民直接接触的群体。这种难得的连接正是当我看到农村人站在精致的白领旁边时，会感到愉悦的原因。上海最让我着迷的地方在于乡村与都市生活方式的混合。这点不像纽约、柏林或东京，上海的街道供应着来自周边地区当天早上的新鲜食物。
这种混合给予了这座城市多样性的特质，而正是像巴黎或伦敦这样被认为是更加“文明”的城市所欠缺的东西。中国应当接纳城市中的“乡村-都市”特征，持续发展这些特征，使其成为都市生活的可持续特色。
One of the first things that struck me when I came to Shanghai was the wide variety of lifestyles on every corner. Farmers just off the train from the countryside sat on sacks of rice beside elegant office ladies chatting away on cell phones. It reminded me of New York City: a melting pot where people from every section of society are thrown together each day.
Shanghai is both a futuristic and a traditional city. It is international and urban, but also retains many rustic elements, as evidenced in the daily lives and habits of many of its citizens. This creates an attractive mix of lifestyles and cultures, which I think is good for a city. Although the chaos and conflicts that sometimes ensue when this happens can be annoying, it also gives a place character and reminds us of our roots.
Urbanization normally refers to the movement of rural populations toward a city. But Shanghai and other Chinese cities serve as evidence that urbanization is often much more complicated. In essence, it’s about change of lifestyle. The divide between rural and urban is more obvious in China than it is in any Western country.
I grew up in the Dutch countryside. My grandparents used to be farmers. Peeking out from my upstairs bedroom window I could see the glimmering, seductive lights of Rotterdam — home to Europe’s largest port.
Although life in the countryside was peaceful, pleasant, and safe, the city always attracted me with its unlimited potential. It seemed to me the best way to meet interesting new people, gain new ideas, and learn more about the world.
I thought the village where my family lived was dull and dreamed of escaping at the first possible opportunity. Moving to Rotterdam for my university studies only expanded this desire. I yearned for a megalopolis. I needed a New York City, a Paris, or a Shanghai.
The city offered me a means of developing myself, my career, and allowed me to meet new people and face new challenges — ambitions shared by many young people across the world. This holds true in China as well, although because of living standard disparities between rural and urban regions, many people also migrate simply to improve their quality of life.
Of course, living in urban areas also has downsides. Each city has its own specific problems to solve, from air pollution, food security, social inequalities, to traffic problems. It has often seemed to me that Shanghai is attempting to treat all of these urban headaches at the same time and on a much larger scale than most other cities.
I believe that many people in China view a life in the city as the ultimate goal of happiness. Many policies from the country’s central government are directed toward continuous urban growth, but there is a limit to this expansion.
Rising inequalities between cities and their surrounding countrysides result in an unfair system where one set of citizens lives much better than their neighbors. In China this situation is exacerbated by the hukou, a system that ties people to where their household is registered.
China has a rich and long agricultural history. But although China’s agricultural methods have often been much more advanced than other countries throughout history, many Chinese nowadays view rural areas as backward and unappealing.
Personally, I love the countryside. However glamorous the Shanghai life can be, I often long to return to my small Dutch village. I strongly believe that rural and urban areas are becoming increasingly polarized, and I think that metropolises need to search for a way to become more balanced with the countryside. One way to do this is to incorporate more rural elements into city life.
In 2012, the environmental protection organization GoodtoChina launched SkyFarms: a project that installs rooftop gardens where crops are grown around Shanghai. In 2015, a farmer named Fred Young initiated the Rainbow of Hope project, which delivers organic food grown by rural farmers directly to urban dwellers.
The target consumer for these two projects is Shanghai’s rising middle class — a group that rarely has any contact with farmers. This lack of connection is why I really enjoy seeing people from the countryside next to polished white-collar workers.
What has always fascinated me most about Shanghai is its mix of rural and urban lifestyles. Unlike New York, Berlin, or Tokyo, each street in Shanghai offers fresh food that was brought in from a nearby field that morning.
This gives a lot of variety to this city — something that supposedly more “civilized” cities like Paris or London are lacking. China should embrace the rural-urban qualities of its cities, and continue to develop them into a permanent feature of urban life.
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Copyright: Urban Language