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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 ]
2. Birth of an international metropolis in the Far East
After the Sino-Japanese War in 1895, foreign capitalists, especially monopolists,
swarmed in with their capital and forced their way into establishing various factories at
the trading ports along China's coast. Thus modern industries in Shanghai blossomed. In
1897 alone, 4 cotton mills of large scale were set up. Later on, western and local
entrepreneurs started many enterprises in a variety of industries such as ship-building,
ironwork, tobacco, sawmills, soap-production, wine-making and printing. Between 1895 and
1911 foreign entrepreneurs had invested much more capital and set up far more plants in
Shanghai than in all the other provinces of China. Of the 91 enterprises with more than
100,000 yuan of foreign capital in China, 41 were located in Shanghai, and Shanghai
attracted 20,903,000 yuan out of the total 48,554,000 yuan of foreign investment.
Understandably, foreign investment in Shanghai determined Shanghai's role as China's
modern industrial centre. At the same time, many enterprises were set up using domestic
capital of which 83 owned capital over 10000 yuan, but they were invariably light
industries such as cotton, printing, dyeing and food production. -
Shanghai's industries developed and more than doubled after the Opium War. Its
industrial techniques and equipment, administration of enterprises and technical
competence were also predominant in China. Those enterprises formed Shanghai's early
industrial zones distributed along the Suzhou River, the Huangpu River and in the west of
the city. They developed into the industrial blocks of today.
The development of modern industry in Shanghai promoted its commerce, finance,
transportation, and municipal construction. The financial centre in the Bond and the
railways of Shanghai-Nanjing and Shanghai-Hangzhou expanded to new growth areas where
residential quarters for workers and new commercial centres emerged. Caojiadu Fare and
Zhabei are two good examples of districts which took advantage of the railways to become
prosperous. The old city walls of Shanghai were demolished and a new town appeared after
Zhabei, the settlement, the Chinese Town, and Nanshi, connected and were able to
communicate freely.
The population in Shanghai reached 1,185,859 in 1910 and 2,980,650 in 1930 and Shanghai
had become the largest financial centre and industrial city in China and the Far East.
From 1840 to 1949 Shanghai had experienced colonial invasion, civil war and economic
splendor but its urban development could not be sustained. There were numerous
deficiencies and such hidden troubles both in industrial structure and allocation and in
urban infrastructure construction as:
- No general plan in its urban development as the city grew in disorder without proper
land use;
- Infrastructures, roads and drainage system were in disorder and contrasted sharply
within and outside settlements. Living conditions were terrible in the slums in the
Chinese district where contagious diseases frequently broke out due to unhealthy hygienic
conditions;
- Factories were located in the centre of the city and the waste discharge damaged the
ecological environment. The Suzhou River was sacrificed in that it changed from a clear
river abounding in fish to black and foul water due to serious pollution resulting from
the rapid growth in population and industries.
When we contemplate Shanghai's development and also the disasters brought to the
environment by the ceaseless pursuit of material pleasures promoted by industrial
revolution and civilization, it should be helpful to understand the relationship of
environment and development.
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