“The cities of China are currently in a state of tremendous flux. A whirlwind of modernization is destroying centuries-old traditions and urban structures, replacing them by a new urban substance determined by the unparalleled intensity of economic production and economic laws.

Rem Koolhaas describes the current urban development in China as “PhotoShop urbanism” – the combination of everything with everything else. He observes the free manipulation of the urban substance, regardless of all the inhibitions that traditionally organize architectural and public space. These are the same traditions that we are gradually shaking off here in Europe – in the West – as is indicated by our increasing privatization of the public domain. But what does the Chinese experience have to tell us? Are new, unanticipated possibilities for the public space emerging? In the view of Rem Koolhaas, we cannot expect any revolutionary, new ideas from the West; for that, you have to be in China. Does this mean that there are no parallels to be drawn between the present situation in China and the crisis of public space in the West? If there are, can we learn from the Chinese developments how to cope with the public domain in an ever more strongly commercialized urbanism?”

(from here)

_shanghai (上海)

Situated on the banks of the Yangtze River Delta in East China, is China’s largest city by population. Widely regarded as the citadel of China’s modern economy, the city also serves as one of the most important cultural, commercial, financial, industrial and communications centers of China.
Administratively, Shanghai is a municipality of the People’s Republic of China that has province-level status. Shanghai is also one of the world’s busiest ports, and became the largest cargo port in the world in 2005.

Originally a sleepy fishing town, Shanghai became China’s most important city by the 20th century and was the center of popular culture, vice, intellectual discourse and political intrigue during the Republican China.
Shanghai once became the third largest financial centre in the world, ranking after New York and London, and the largest commercial city in Far East in the late 19th century and early 20th century. After the communist takeover in 1949, Shanghai languished under heavy central government taxation and much of its bourgeois elements were purged. After the central government authorized the market-economic redevelopment of Shanghai in 1992, Shanghai quickly surpassed early-starters Shenzhen and Guangzhou, and has since led China’s economic growth.
Some challenges remain for Shanghai at the beginning of the 21st century, as the city struggles to cope with increased worker migration, and a huge wealth gap. However, these challenges aside, Shanghai’s science-fiction skyline and modern lifestyle marks the pinnacle of China’s recent economic development.
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