I. URBAN DEVELOPMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS
[ I-A | I-B | I-C | I-D | I-E | I-F ]
B. The formation of an international metropolis
[ B | B-1 | B-2 ]
1. Shanghai takes on the look of a modern city
After the colonists had gained control of the sovereignty in the settlements, they had
laid a sound foundation for building a society of western civilization which made Shanghai
gradually flourish by leading it to modern urbanization.
In the first place, foreign trade in Shanghai grew rapidly. In 1856 the total value of
imports and exports of Shanghai surpassed that of Guangzhou by 14,700,000 yuan and
Shanghai had become the centre of foreign trade in China where western countries traded
their products with produce from China
Secondly, the incentive of foreign trade directly resulted in commercial prosperity.
Foreign merchants opened many banks and. factories in the settlements and markets began to
flourish. Garden Alley, a small alley in the British settlement, quickly became a
prosperous commercial street - Damalu - and it also became the centre of Shanghai city
where a large number of shops were located. Now it is the most-famous commercial street in
Shanghai and China - Nanjing--Road. Broadway Street (now Daming Road) and North Sichuan
Road in the American settlement and Mansion Street in the French settlement were all
crowed and prosperous and they finally became the economic growth points of Shanghai.
Modern industries also emerged one after another in Shanghai symbolising the modern
city upsurge. Most of them were light industries and ship-building industries set up by
foreign enterprises, national bourgeoisie and westernization movement advocates. These
industries were the basis of the industrial zoning of Shanghai and were important growth
points of Shanghai's urban space.
Industries, commerce and trade promoted the upsurge and development of finances, real
estate and infrastructure. Until the 1870's there had been 22 famous foreign firms in the
Bond, which was just a swamp on the west bank of the Huangpu River before its development.
After the Sino-Japanese War in 1894 many western banks were opened in the Bond and thus
changed the surrounding area into the financial centre of Shanghai. High-rise buildings of
different styles were erected depicting the essence of modern western architecture. They
are still wholly preserved now not only as the symbol of Shanghai but also as evidence of
the urbanizing process of Shanghai. Real estate played a direct role in Shanghai's urban
development. The development of the economy with rapidly growing populations in the
settlements impressed foreign enterprises with huge profits acquired by real estate rather
than by overseas trade, so they expanded their settlements and built as many houses as
possible at the fastest possible speed. Such a huge profit drive rapidly expanded Shanghai
city, so with later intensive construction of public utilities, such as gas supply in the
1860s, power, telephone and telegraph, and tap water supply in the 1880's along with many
entertainment facilities, Shanghai started to take on the look of a modern metropolis.
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