ABSTRACT
Shanghai is “the show case of a reformed China” and an international city. Back in the planned economic era, Shanghai was confronted with many problems. Shanghai was left with serious pollution during the planned economic era, as it was the center of many industries. Its contribution to the national economy and its revenue to the nation were huge; it had little money to improve the local living conditions, particularly infrastructure and housing. Shanghai lost its competitiveness on the global level after the elimination of the private business sector in the 1950s. Throughout the reform and opening-up era, Shanghai started to fall behind Shenzhen in terms of domestic competitiveness. The chapter decribes how a city with so many problems revives. “Develop Pudong” is a local government strategy that caught the attention of the central government at a critical time.
