My Uncle Avi recently sent me an article from the New York Times outlining Beijing’s beautification plan in preparation for the Olympics.

To hide neighborhoods leveled for redevelopment in recent years or anything else the government considers unsightly, officials have put up walls.

After reading the article, I began to notice the walls in abundance around the city. In fact, I found the walls attracted more of my attention than an “unsightly” neighborhood. They’re a visual affirmation of how much of the Beijing the government is ashamed of.

Avi informed me this strategy is not new, however.

When the daddy Mayor Daley was embarrassed with the way Chicago looked before the 1968 Democratic Convention he had billboards erected along the Kennedy so no one could see our neighborhoods. Problem was he could not cover up the dilapidated neighborhood around the old stadium where the convention was held.

A large facet of Beijing’s facelift is multinational corporate sponsorship whose giant ads are used to beautify so-called dingy neighborhoods. This achieves two goals. First, new-look Beijing is all done up in time for the games with their eye-soar hoods swept under the rug, providing sponsors even more exposure. And secondly, allows the corporate message to penetrate even deeper into the social hierarchy. Previously insulated from corporate imagery bombardment, people in these neighborhoods are now forced to literally stare it in the face. These neighborhoods managed to abstain from the rampant materialism enveloping Beijing, until now. Now, the disparity between the people who delegate wall building and those who live beyond the walls, is even clearer. Interesting that in both cases, Chicago and Beijing, the cities found ways to make ad money off its disenfranchised hoods; money you can bet your ass won't go towards a Pygmalion-like effort to make them presentable.