OPENLIGHT

15.9 by Rombout Frieling

Today, the 6 paired teams returned from living with Beijing's cleaners, busdrivers and schoolchildren. The teams presented their insights in 6 intruiging movies.

They taught us about 'marrying naked' - the fact that many immigrants cannot afford to buy a house at prices that are increasing incredibly fast, which is the expected consequence of marrying. Marriages in Beijing nowadays are 'naked' - as they are done while people have very little money. At the same time, over 40% of appartments in the inner city are empty, bought as investments by the rich Beijingers who do no bother about letting their properties. 

They told us about a quickly increasing upper class, who is in great need for relaxation. To do this, they frequently engage in some 'dou feng' - going out for a night drive purely to relax, be with oneself, not having to talk, detaching from the pressure of the everyday. Is this sustainable? And how about the endless traffic jams?

The movies revealed that for many migrants, Watts (as energy quantity) Matter. Migrants are in the city to earn money for their children's futures. They save everything they can and in their saving consciously opt for one energy saving lighting, because it makes a significant impact on their household economics. This goes as far as our cleaning lady knowing exactly that she replaced her 25W by 12W bulbs, making a significant difference. What can we do with 12W with LED's? Can these people use their saving expertise to induce more sustainable behaviour also in the public domain? Can Watts become a trading community?

And we found, many people are lost. Lost because they come from the countryside, where their families and even kids still live with their grandparents. They save on communication and transport, reducing family and friends contact to an absolute minimum. But there is a desire to detach from the world, to discuss feelings and to keep in touch with what is going on 'back home' - the place where many still desire to return to once they have made sufficient money to return and buy a house. What can we do here? Can we help people feel at home?