I first visited China in 1982, when China had yet to re-emerge as a world power. The last week I spent in Shanghai, China's largest city with a population of 14.6 million people. The transformation in China in almost 30 years can only be described as astounding. Shanghai is a modern city comparable to Singapore and Tokyo and the infrastructure in terms of airports, roads and public transportation is much more modern than most major U.S. cities.
The investment in infrastructure in China is the first thing you notice. Perhaps not being burdened by high expenditures for defense (like the U.S.), China can devote more funds to infrastrucutre. Also, China's foreign policy involves largest investments in foreign country infrastrucutre, which cannot be carried out with out proven modern technology. China also realizes that the country is going through a major urbanization as people move to cities for jobs and these cities cannot survive without infrastructure. Lastly, I saw little foreign technology in the infrastructure of China and the modern locally developed resources are surely cheaper than foreign sourcing.
If you are interested in urban planning, Shanghai must be visited.
More posts on China to follow.
Image credit Bund Shanghai