Yesterday we crossed the border into mainland China. The last time we made the trip, we spent our time in Shenzhen in a mall. This time, we took a bus to a couple of different locations. We spent time at an innovation hub, we saw the almost unbelievably futuristic plans for the city, we saw a different shopping center, and we walked a few very busy streets looking at counterfeit goods, street foods, and people.
I was surprised by the elaborate plans for the future of the city. I was surprised by the complexity of the infrastructure but more noticeably, I was fascinated by the way that the future was described. In the presentations we watched, we were told that Shenzhen is the “city of the future.” “Innovative,” “strategic,” and “environmental” were each said quite a few times. I was interested in the way that the video presented the future as something that could be achieved or reached now through specific types of thinking, planning, and creating. It makes me wonder, what about the present makes us so eager to escape it? The presentation didn’t cite any reasons for wanting to leave the present for something else but it seems that such dedication to moving into the future must be driven by desire to move away from something else.