Then and Now - 1

I seem to have been writing this wretched paper for the conference in Kyoto for so long now that I can't remember anything else I did before it. It's about change in urban environments and just to remind myself that actually this is a very interesting subject here's a couple of pictures of my study area just to make the point.

They are taken from exactly the same place in the middle of Chiba looking in the same direction but 56 years apart.

The first picture is taken on a hot looking day in August 1946. and it looks as if around half the area have been built over again following the air raid of July 1945. The original merchant's street in the town was to the left and the new broad road on the right was set out some months before this picture was taken. The higher ground in the distance wasn't burned out but no buildings survived this side of the far line of trees along the river. Lots of construction in progress - all in timber and nearly all single storey.

The second picture is from thr top of a city centre hotel in 2002 and the high building in the distance is the latest iteration of the Prefectural Offices. As you can see, not a single building from 1946 survives and the whole city is subsequently built out to a minimum of five storeys with steel frame buildings, most from the 1980's.

So thats' change eh? What does it say to you?