Who tagged above? It is right outside a construction site in Guangzhou (also known as Canton in the past) , a city in Southeastern China. Was it someone fed up with rapid urban redevelopment? A common scenary in many major cities in China is the leveling of huge city blocks replacing them with highrises. The “pockets” that temporarily survive become “villages in a city” or cheng zhong cun (城中村). These areas are at times the synonym of ghettos. Can that be a better model of (non) development? Are there alternatives?

DaJuYuan, Shenzhen

If you are just looking at the few skyscrapers against the clear blue sky and brand name stores, with the somewhat present palm trees here and there, you would think that you are in Miami, Florida. Not! Meet Shenzhen, the (fishing) village turned special economic zone and up-and-coming, if not already there tier-one Chinese city.

Situated across the river from Hong Kong, the geographic location help propelled its rise in the past thirty years. Depends on how you play with the numbers, the per capita GDP of Shenzhen rivals that of better known heavy weights such as Beijing and Shanghai.

Selon certains urbanistes, l’avenir de la région de Hong Kong-Shenzhen a besoin de mettre ensemble des ressources de Hong Kong, Shenzhen et quand même Zhuhai et Macau, comme géographiquement la “San Francisco Bay Area” aux États-Unis. La raison d’être pour cette suggestion? La concurrence de Shanghai, la première ville chinoise au nom de population et d’économie. Autrement, lorsque Hong Kong & Shenzhen Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism / Architecture, il y a eu des oeuvres provisionnées par les militants-artistes traitées sur le sujet de développement urbain. Hong Kong est déjà la ville la plus densément peuplée du monde. Pour rendre la région plus performante et durable, le partage de ressources et d’infrastructures, etc., fait jaser beaucoup de monde. Chose certaine, la Chine veut répliquer des résultats de Shenzhen ailleurs, en améliorant la région encore.