6.20.2012

Dis-intervention: Abandonded (Pseudo) Disneyland

Picture courtesy of designyearbook
45 minutes outside of Beijing towards the Great Wall of China, stands one of China's most amazing ruins:  Disneyland....or rather what would have been an imitation of Disneyland.  "Occupied around 100 acres of land, construction of ‘the largest amusement park in Asia’ stopped more than a decade ago. Funds were withdrawn due to disagreements over property prices with the local government and farmers. So what is left are the skeletal remains of a palace, a castle, and the steel beams of what could have been an indoor playground in the middle of a corn field." (1)

There are plenty of examples of this sort of amusement park abandonment all over the United States in the wake of superhighway expansion.  However, this example of decaying concrete, rusted steel, and flaking paint may prove to be more dangerous to our short term global economy. Property sales which represent 10 percent of China’s growth and analysts worry that a massive increase in inflation will burst this speculative bubble.(1)   Environmentalists worry about unchecked and irresponsible growth regardless of what nation spawns it and that negative economic impact is generally the handmaiden of poor environmental stewardship.

Picture courtesy of designyearbook.com

Picture courtesy of designyearbook.com

Picture courtesy of designyearbook.com

(1) http://www.designyearbook.com/2012/06/deserted-fake-disneyland.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DesignYearBook+%28Design+Year+Book.blogspot%29

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