New initiatives in Jiaxing and Shenzhen offer alternatives to top-down, centralized planning.
A farmer walks past a field near new residential buildings in Jianxing, about 60 miles from Shanghai.William Hong / Reuters
By
Sarah O'Meara
It’s been almost 40 years since China’s leaders sat down to seriously plan the country’s cities.
Back in 1978 at the Central Urban Work Conference, officials were more concerned with how to fund these potential hubs of economic growth than live in them.
