The Oxford Taiwan Studies Programme is pleased to award Christopher Pieper Best Written Work on Taiwan Prize. Christopher is on the MPhil in Global and Area Studies. His research paper is titled Global Cities with ‘Chinese Characteristics’: Postcolonial Urbanism in Taipei and Hong Kong.
Here are Christopher’s acceptance remark, and a comment from Professor Rachel Murphy, the Programme Leader.
Christopher:
I am delighted and humbled to have received this award. The paper, which compared the histories and urban landscapes of Taipei and Hong Kong, was very close to me as I had previously lived in both cities and was fascinated by their distinct urban environments. In this paper, I draw on urban studies and postcolonial frameworks to compare the history, culture, and politics of these two "Asian Tigers" and suggest that an investigation of Taipei's and Hong Kong's urban environments, produced by unique colonial histories, can offer new insights about their contentious relationship with Mainland China. I am very grateful to my classmates for their feedback and especially to Dr. Ssu-han Yu for her valuable suggestions. This paper would not have been what it is without them.
Rachel:
Congratulations to Chris on his highly original essay. Beautifully written, Chris’s essay offers a rare and thoughtful comparison of the buildings, transport infrastructure, and public space of Taipei and Hong Kong with reference to their distinct colonial histories and postcolonial circumstances.
