Have you ever had this experience too? When you come to a modern metropolis, there are many high-rise buildings and busy traffic, but you don't feel the slightest warmth.
People are like strangers in a hurry, living in their own little worlds, lacking that kind of affinity and human touch.
Many people feel that they have lived in this city for 8 years, but they have always felt like a passer-by, and they do not feel at home.
So, as China's most economically developed cities, why do they give such an impression of indifference? Which cities are so inhumane?
The source in this article comes from the official media [Elephant Microvision, Kongtong Rong Media] (the link is attached at the end of the article), but in order to improve the readability of the article, the details may be polished, please read sensibly, for reference only!
Lack of human touch
There is an invisible bond between people that binds us together, and this is the "human touch". It contains the warmth and friendship between people, and is the embodiment of vitality.
However, with the high development of society, some cities seem to gradually lose this human touch, replaced by indifference and alienation. The rapid development of the economy often brings about the acceleration of the pace of life and the intensification of competition.
People are coerced by work and life, and gradually forget poetry and distance, leaving only the pursuit of money. In these developed cities, crowds of people can be seen everywhere, but there is little interaction between people, and everyone seems to live in their own world.
The high cost of living has undoubtedly increased people's burden. They have to work hard day in and day out to make ends meet. Gradually, life becomes a repetitive mechanical operation, and the human touch is nowhere to be found.
High rents and prices are undoubtedly a burden for migrants, making it difficult for them to truly put down roots, and long-term mobility creates a sense of alienation between people.
It is worth noting that the locals of some developed cities have begun to develop a sense of superiority and have a certain degree of discrimination against the foreign population because of their affluent life.
This xenophobia has exacerbated the estrangement between people, and the human touch has naturally disappeared. Let's take a look at these cities......
Shanghai
Shanghai, the urban pearl in the reinforced concrete jungle, has always given people an elegant and fashionable feeling. Walking along the tree-lined roads of Xujiahui, you will be impressed by the European-style buildings on both sides.
Walking into the alleys of the old city, it is full of the life of the old Shanghai people. But such a city is often criticized for its lack of human touch.
As an economically developed international metropolis, Shanghai's pace of life has always been inspiring. Caught up in work, people are engaged in working all day from early in the morning until the evening when they are off work.
Such a high-intensity life is destined to make people tired of coping, and it is difficult to have the leisure to experience the warmth between people. In addition, linguistic and cultural differences are also a major obstacle.
As a city of immigrants, half of Shanghai's population comes from all over the world. However, locals tend to be less friendly to visitors from other places, and there is rarely much communication between the two sides.
Some believe that it has to do with security awareness. In order to stay away from the risk of being deceived or injured, Shanghainese people have reduced contact with strangers. However, it is undeniable that some locals do have a sense of superiority and xenophobia.
In their eyes, outsiders are too "rude" to be accepted. Those with authentic Shanghai hukou are regarded as golden signs, representing a symbol of power and status.
Nowadays, the hukou system is no longer an obstacle, but the disparity in money and status still makes migrants feel a sense of alienation. Those who have worked hard in Shanghai for many years but still cannot afford to settle down here are destined to find it difficult to integrate into local life.
Their living conditions may be a microcosm of Shanghai's weak human touch.
Beijing
As the capital of the People's Republic of China, Beijing naturally has some "old-fashioned" style. In the streets and alleys here, you can often see some lively characters, who inevitably have a bit of arrogance and superiority when dealing with outsiders.
The high importance that local people attach to household registration has undoubtedly exacerbated this psychological barrier. Self-esteem is one thing, but there is also a sense of wariness and rejection of visitors from other lands.
In their eyes, outsiders inevitably give people a sense of alienation and make it difficult to fully trust, and this concept has greatly affected the atmosphere of life in Beijing.
There is a lack of down-to-earth scenes such as street stalls and night market crowds, and the layout of the whole city is regular and orderly, giving people a feeling of high-end commercialization.
Even when dining in restaurants, the service staff is often a little cold and lacks a warm and friendly service attitude. In retrospect, the attractions in Beijing during the peak tourist season are crowded and crowded, which also reflects the lack of human touch.
The high price of admission to the attractions, combined with the cumbersome process of making a reservation in advance, exudes a sense of alienation. Here, you can feel the weight of history, but it seems that it is difficult to find hospitality and warmth between people.
However, we cannot only target the capital, Beijing. In fact, many large cities have lost some of their humanity to a greater or lesser extent while developing at a high speed.
The reasons for this are often related to many factors such as the soaring economic level, the massive flow of population, and the acceleration of the pace of life.
Shenzhen
Shenzhen, a subtropical special economic zone, has always given people a feeling of "rich and handsome, white and rich and beautiful". As a window of reform and opening up, it has attracted many migrant workers and immigrants.
But in such a city, people seem to be becoming more and more distant. As migrant workers, most of them see Shenzhen as a place to make money, rather than a home.
Strangers from all over the world rarely have leisure to make new friends after work. The single circle of life, coupled with the high mobility of the population, makes it difficult to take root here.
However, even those who have settled in Shenzhen often feel that they lack a real sense of belonging. As a first-tier city, the prices and housing prices here are high, and the ambassador of the cost of living, Lao Yan, is flying.
The disparity between the rich and the poor has exacerbated the class gap, and there is rarely enough intersection between people from different social classes. In addition, Shenzhen, as a young city, appears to have a high degree of mechanization.
You'd be hard-pressed to find any night market stalls in the city, lacking the kind of laughter and buzz that vibes. People's lives are tied up in work, like the walking dead, busy all day long with their lives and chasing material interests.
Perhaps, this lack of human touch is intrinsically related to Shenzhen's highly developed modernization process. Cities have grown to the point where they are today, and the pace of life has naturally become rapid and mechanical.
People are dragged down by work, and it is difficult to have time to communicate with each other, and the warmth between people naturally disappears. In such a competitive environment, people have to fight hard to make ends meet.
The lack of security is an important reason for the lack of human touch in the city.
Hong Kong
As a former British colony, Hong Kong's development trajectory is very different from that of other cities on the mainland. It is a unique blend of Chinese and Western cultures, forming a unique way of life.
For example, in terms of dining habits, Hong Kong people attach more importance to individualism, and there is rarely a tradition of "big pot dishes". Although family and friends sit at the same table, they eat their own food, and lack the concept of sharing.
People are also more distancing from each other and less willing to help others. This cultural difference makes the living habits of Hong Kong people incompatible with the traditional human touch.
In addition, Hong Kong has a developed economy and an accelerated pace of life, and people are busy working to make a living, so it is difficult to have time to make friends. The high consumption level and prices have also discouraged many tourists.
Although Hong Kong locals have complained about this phenomenon, they are also inevitably influenced by some negative factors.
For example, some Hong Kong people are wary and xenophobic about mainland tourists, and even discriminate against them, which undoubtedly exacerbates Hong Kong's lack of human touch.
However, we must also realize that Hong Kong is not without its merits. As an international metropolis, Hong Kong is an important tourist destination in Asia, with many iconic attractions and entertainment projects, and has always been the "family treasure" of Hong Kong's tourism industry.
However, these alone are not enough to retain the visitor's stop, and the too monotonous tourism project lacks humanistic connotation and surprise experience, which naturally makes people feel the due human warmth.
In addition, Hong Kong has been committed to improving the education level and professional ability of its residents for many years, and has focused on economic development for a long time, neglecting humanistic construction to a certain extent, further exacerbating the dilemma of lack of human touch.
So, how to inject more human touch into this international metropolis is an issue that Hong Kong needs to pay attention to in the future development. On the one hand, it is necessary to respect and tolerate differences in customs and habits of different cultural backgrounds.
In addition, it is also necessary to pay attention to the humanistic concept in urban construction, so that the warm human touch can be internalized in all aspects of Hong Kong.
epilogue
Looking at China's major cities, it seems that the lack of human touch has become a common phenomenon.
Whether it is the bustling city of Hong Kong, the special economic zone of Shenzhen, or other developed cities, people are becoming more and more distant, and the warmth between them is gradually disappearing.
The main reason for this is the side effects brought about by the rapid development of modernization. With the fast pace of life, people are overwhelmed by work, struggling with high prices and the stress of life, and it is difficult to afford to make new friends.
Frequent population movements also make it difficult for people to put down roots in a city, thus losing their sense of belonging to the city. In the face of this dilemma, we cannot afford to let it go.
The warmth between people is an important link to maintain the healthy development of society, and if we lose this human touch, the whole society will become cold and dehumanized.
Therefore, it is necessary to call for a renewed appreciation of the mentality of mutual help among people.
Only by treating everyone around us with a friendly attitude and warming the hearts of others with a warm smile can our city and this society glow with a long-lost human touch, and can the warmth between people stay forever in this land.
What do you think is the "most impersonal" city?
Resources:
Elephant Microvision - Which city in China is "the most impersonal"? There are 5 places where the demand is very high, mainly because there is no fireworks
https://www.toutiao.com/article/7346145776193552948/?channel=&source=news
Kongtong Rong Media - Where is the "most impersonal" in the mainland? These 3 places are on the list, mainly because they don't smell of fireworks
https://www.toutiao.com/article/7345758079901794826/?channel=&source=news