Popular Culture Review Vol. 14, No. 1, February 2003 | Page 25

The Chinese Architect in Shenzhen

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first-hand, here, I hope to now describe, in abbreviated form, the major forces
behind those changes, and the chief characteristics of this mutated form of archi
tect and architectural practice.
The Establishment of China's S.E.Z.'s and of Shenzhen
The governmental implementation of the “Open Door Policy” in 1978, and
more particularly the establishment of Special Economic Zones (or S.E.Z.’s) in
the coastal areas of China immediately following, stimulated an amount of land
development and urban construction unprecedented in the history of architecture.
Estimates are that the urban sprawl in the Pearl River Delta (the P.R.D.), adjacent
to Hong Kong, will be, by the year 2(X)6, the world’s largest urban place; this
accelerating megalopolis is, and will be, according to Koolhaas, “dense, raw, cha
otic, and vast”. Shenzhen, a former fishing village with a population of about 25,000
less than 30 years ago, was transformed into a key base for agricultural and indus
trial export products in 1979 by its establishment as a key S.E.Z.. It is significantly
located adjacent to Hong Kong, on its northern border; its proximity positions it as
an ideal economic (and, thus, cultural) gateway connecting Hong Kong to the
marketplace of mainland China. It has a current population of over 4 million. The
increased industrial activity and rapid population rise not only forced construction
of buildings to accommodate the population increase while creating economic
opportunities for real estate developers, but also set world record speeds for growth
in construction. For example, before 1979, the tallest building in Shenzhen had
five stories. Within the next 3 years, the total floor area completed in Shenzhen
increased 15-fold. The number of completed buildings taller than 18 stories in
creased from 1 in 1982 to 237 in 1994. The sudden influx of capital investment
was almost beyond imagination. This shocking speed in Shenzhen is inherent in
China’s contemporary urban situation. Previously, with the establishment of Com
munist China in 1949, land and property developments had been literally excluded
from economic activity. The government dominated state ownership, and acted as
financier, landowner, developer, and investor. With the economic reforms of the
late 1970’s, however, the economy dramatically shifted from one of strict selfreliance to inclusion in the interdependent global economy through, to use Deng’s
terminology, “capitalism with Chinese characteristics”. These new policies en
couraged the coexistence of public-and-private participation and enterprises, and
with extensive trade with foreigners. Deng's patriotic admonition to China’s citi
zens was to “get rich”.
Beginning in the 1980’s, Shenzhen was the major site of the first private real
estate development in China since 1949. As expressed by my former dean in
Shenzhen, “it was like releasing the pressure of a hot air balloon; its path is erratic,
but what energy!” As Rem Koolhaas et al. pointedly catalog and demonstrate within