Urban designs of distinctiveness and authenticity

I've written about DC's Chinatown before in the blog. I call it Chinablock. Like much of the historic downtown, it's been lost to new construction and there is little authentic Chinese-culture that's left.

One of the zoning requirements is that stores in Chinatown have to have Chinese language signs as well as English signs. That means you get signage like this, which really communicates that DC's Chinatown is nothing like the Asian shopping districts in Fairfax County even, and certainly nothing like New York City (the Chinatown-to-Chinatown buses notwithstanding).



I think this example from Vancouver, British Columbia, of distinctive street signs demarking a district, is a bit more authentic.

Photo by Madamlemon via Flickr.