SOC 332: Block 5 Written Assignment
Asian Urban Overpopulation:
Chapters 9, 10 & 11 of Cities of the World describes in detail the Asian cities of Mumbai (as known as Bombay), Bengaluru (as known as Bangalore), Hyderabad (in India), Delhi, Kolkata (as known as Calcutta), Karachi, Dhaka, Kathmandu, Colombo, Kabul, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Manila, Bangkok, Phnom Penh, Ho Chi Minh City (as known as Saigon), Hanoi, Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei, and Seoul. Please see the maps at the beginning of each chapter. Note that the textbook does not include Australia and the South Pacific Islands with the Asian countries (see Chapter 12 for further discussion).
Asia is a dichotomy of wealthy confidence and desperate poverty. In Chapter 9 the author states, “Across each of the region’s megacities, the story is the same—tremendous numbers of people living in conditions of poverty with inadequate shelter, lack of clean water, and filthy living conditions. Already racked with unemployment and underemployment, each swells with new migrants every day.”
So let’s look at an overpopulated mega-city in Asia…
A. Go to YouTube and watch:
• “China’s Unknown Mega City of Chongqing 1 of 2 – BBC Our World Documentary” (10:55 minutes) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8BVivw3TzI and
• “China’s Unknown Mega City of Chongqing 2 of 2 – BBC Our World Documentary” (10:09 minutes) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWmlzA1Bn2U.
B. Using the given sources, write a 6-paragraph paper (3 pages maximum; points will be deducted for not following instructions) answering the following questions:
1. Where is Chongqing? And why is it “unknown”? (4 points)
2. Why is this city growing so large in such a short period of time? (3 points)
3. The social structure of Chongqing includes “princes” of industrialization at the top and an enormous number of people at the bottom. Who are these people at the bottom? Where do they work and live? (4 points)
4. Within China, Chongqing is famous for its rapid growth and its corruption. What kind of corruption? (3 points)
5. To fight Chongqing’s corruption, China’s federal government sent Bo Xilai (sounds like: bo she li) to Chongqing to be its Party Secretary. Bo was known for being an old member of China’s communist party and also being hard on crime. Do some independent research and find out what has happened to Bo and his family since the BBC documentary was made in 2010. (3 points)
6. Do you think that the desired “openness” will occur in Chongqing within the next few years or will they have to wait 20 years? Please give reasons for your answer. (4 points)
Cite the YouTube videos, plus at least two additional sources. (4 points) You may use any citation format that you are comfortable with, or you can use the format listed below. To cite a source within your paper, simply place in parenthesis the name of the author or organization and the date published (for example: Maslin, 2009) at the end of the borrowed material. Then at the end of your paper, give the full bibliographic listing of the source, including author, title, publisher, and copy write date. If you are citing a website, simply place in parenthesis the name of the website and the date information was accessed (for example: ww.nationalgeographic.org, 1/20/10) at the end of the borrowed material. Then at the end of your paper, give the full bibliographic listing of the source, including website, author if possible, title of article, copy write date if possible, and date information was accessed.
