It’s true, I’ve learned to see other landscapes by way of Shenzhen. This morning, for example, I walked settlements in Santa Rosa, a small city in Sonoma County, CA. What did I discover? That the patterns of rural urbanization are everywhere apparent — the abrupt shift in landscape, an underlying yet blurred grid, and holdovers from that earlier time. Indeed, the signs that China and the United States really are the same country continue to beg the question: if it’s all about the money, when is enough, enough? Moreover, as in Shenzhen, ultimately the trees and the quality of their flourishing inform the city’s vitality. Impressions, below:

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