VOA慢速英語:紐約唐人街正在變化
Hello again and welcome to As It Is from VOA LearningEnglish! I’m June Simms in Washington.
Many cities around the world are experiencingpopulation growth. And the list of megacities isexpanding. Today we tell about the South African city ofJohannesburg. For many young people, Johannesburgis an increasingly popular place to call home.
But first, we look at some changes taking place in NewYork -- the largest city in the United States. And wehear how those changes are affecting one of itsneighborhoods.
Rising Land Values Remake New York’s Chinatown
Rising land values have changed the Chinatown area of New York City. Chinatown has long been an important base for Chinese immigrants and theirfamilies. It has one of the largest populations of ethnic Chinese outside ofAsia. But many are leaving the neighborhood because of the rising cost ofhousing. Chinatown is now becoming home to many whites and students.
The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund has its headquartersin New York. The group released a report earlier this year. It said there is asimilar shortage of reasonably priced housing in Chinatowns in Boston andPhiladelphia. The report found an increase in high cost housing and hotels. Italso noted a decline in families and Asian businesses in these Chinatowns.
In New York, Mayor Bloomberg's policies are praised for a major decrease incrime. Many of his supporters say higher housing costs are evidence of acity's economic progress.
But in Manhattan's Chinatown those rent increases have already pushedmany people out. Numbers from the 2010 Census suggest that about 17percent of the Chinese people in the area have been displaced since 2000. That is about 6,000 people who have left the neighborhood.
Sun Meirong has been living in Manhattan's Chinatown since she first came to the United States from Fuzhou in 1990. She owns a restaurant near thecenter of Chinatown. She says she has seen a large decrease in customers,mostly Chinese immigrants.
“In the past, during the thanksgiving holiday for example, there were so manypeople on this street outside. You could not walk. But in the past three yearsnobody is on the street anymore. This is the change we see in Chinatown.”
Sun says that many of her neighbors have been forced from their homes afterbuilding owners decided to repair and modernize the buildings.
“Houses have been renovated and after that they just get sold to developerswithout considering to give it to the people who were living there in the firstplace: immigrants. The U.S. is a country of immigrants, but many immigrantsget here and do not have a place to live or cannot afford it.”
For Sun, what is happening in Chinatown opposes the very ideals thatAmerica stands for.
Several organizations in Chinatown are fighting what they see as thedestruction of their neighborhood.
Li Hua is a secretary of the Chinese Staff & Workers' Association. She saysher group collected thousands of signatures in an effort to stop plans for newhigh price developments.
“We have been protesting against it in all venues possible. At public hearings,with the administration's planning department, to the city council. We hadpeople participating at every step, not just a few but hundreds. But Bloombergcharged on, they just do not care.”
New York recently elected a new mayor. Some are hoping for a change inhousing policy. Mayor Bill de Blasio has promised to take action to increasereasonably priced housing in the city.
You are listening to As It Is. I’m June Simms in Washington. Thanks forjoining us!
Africa’s Big Cities Draw Young Up-and-Comers
From New York to London, Paris to Lagos, the list of international megacitiesis growing. Recently, mayors from many of the world’s big cities met inJohannesburg, South Africa. These officials gathered to discuss some of theissues facing large cities.
Africa is home to two cities with populations of morethan 10 million people. Those cities are Cairo, theEgyptian capital, and Lagos in Nigeria.
More and more African cities are expanding quickly. Experts predict their populations will increase bymillions within the next few years. Faith Lapidus hasmore in this report from VOA’s Anita Powell inJohannesburg.
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloombergpraised the urbanization of Africa to the mayors at the C40 gathering.
“In 2011, there were 52 African cities with a population higher than one millionpeople. By 2016, in only two years, there will be around 65. And that’s a goodthing.”
However, the executive mayor of Johannesburg, Mpho Parks Tau, says thiskind of growth creates its own issues.
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A giant poster of MTN, one of the operators of GSM digital mobile phones, adorns a building in Lagos, the commercialnerve centre of Nigeria. |
“As people are coming to the city there isn’t always adequate accommodationto have those people coming to the cities. A lot of them find themselves ininadequate accommodation in slum environments.”
Like many people who live in Johannesburg, 24-year-old student SimphiweKahla came from somewhere else. He left his town in the rural Eastern Capeprovince to live in Johannesburg. The city is an important trade and transportcenter for Africa.
“Here, you actually stay on your toes. It keeps you on your toes, it’s all abouthustling, it’s all about business. I think I would really get bored if I would haveto return to the Eastern Cape.”
Songezo Mcapukisi is also new to Johannesburg. Like many others there, she says she came to the city -- not for the culture, the mix of people or therestaurants -- but for the money.
“We’re faced with the reality that our skills, they are only needed in themegacities, in the metropolitan cities. So, you know, I studied accounting, andthere are no jobs for accountants back home.”
Lawyer Chris Baird agrees.
“All of my friends are here. It’s a great place in terms of being a youngprofessional. It’s where the great work is. It’s the economic hub of thecountry. And really, I’ll give you that it’s not nearly as pretty as Cape Town, but it’s where you need to be if you want to climb up the ranks.”
Hannah Edinger is a director with the research group Frontier Advisory. Shesays one of the things that make African megacities special is that there arejust not enough of them.
“I think what is interesting about African cities, unlike European cities forexample, is there is only a few cities, and these cities are expanding quiterapidly.”
Simphiwe Kahla, Songezo Mcapukisi and Chris Baird are among millions ofpeople who have moved to fast growing African cities in recent years. Thecities include Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Cairo, Egypt; Lagos, Nigeria; Nairobi,Kenya and, of course, Johannesburg, South Africa. Together, more than 30million people now live in these African cities. And the numbers are growing.
I’m Faith Lapidus.
And I’m June Simms. Have a question or comment about the program? Wewould love to hear from you. Email us at [email protected]. Orvisit our website, LearningEnglish.VOANews.com, and click on “Contact Us.”
Thanks for listening!
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