Between
 Modern 
and
 Traditional:
 Comparative 
Urban
 Study
 of 
Paris
 and
 Chinese 
Cities

This 
is 
a comparative 
cultural
 project 
that
 examines 
the
 evolvement
 of 
Paris
 in to
 the 
capital 
of
 the 
modern
 world 
in 
the
 nineteenth
 and
 twentieth 
centuries,
 especially
 the 
city's
 treatment
 of
 its 
historic
heritage 
in 
light
 of
 modernization:
 museums,
 monuments,
 and
 vernacular
 districts. 
It
 will 
use 
Paris
 as
 a
cultural
 paradigm 
to
 examine 
the 
struggle 
between 
the 
modern
 and
 the traditional
 experienced 
by
 Asian
cities‐‐particularly
 Chinese
 ones‐‐in 
the 
last 
few decades, 
which
 resembles
 a 
lot
 of
 historical
 patterns
 that
shaped
 the 
development
 of
 Paris.
 This
 project
 will
 explore
 France's 
preservation
 of 
its 
cultural
 past
 in
officia 
institutions
 such 
as
 museums and
 national
 monuments,
 in
 addition
 to 
the
 "unofficial" locations
 of
history,
 such
 as
 streets, markets,
 and
 scenes
 of
 everyday life. It
 will
 both
 seek
 to
 answer 
the perennial
question
 of
 the
 place of
 the 
past 
in
 modern 
cities
 and
 offer 
some 
practical
 suggestions 
to
 policy makers
shaping 
today's 
urban 
environments 
in
China.