Ultra-modern Shanghai

Even though much of Shanghai is being built with little regard to site, there are spots of ingenuity within the city. One of these places is Xintiandi, an ambitious neighborhood redevelopment in the centre of the city. It is now fully developed, with the old apartments turned into luxury shops, Western-style restaurants, theatres, up-scale cafes, and high-end condominiums. On the surface, it presents itself as a unique example of how a slum can be turned into an exciting urban experiment. Alleyways become part of a network of pedestrian paths that join one 'piazza' to the next. Exquisite brick coursework, hidden nooks, narrow vistas all combine and recombine as you walk through the distinctly Oriental spaces. Time will tell though how the general public will embrace development like this- right now, it only seems to attract foreigners.