The Shenzhen Experiment: The Story of China’s Instant City

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An award-winning Hong Kong–based architect with decades of experience designing buildings and planning cities in the People’s Republic of China takes us to the Pearl River delta and into the heart of China’s iconic Special Economic Zone, Shenzhen. Brook, Daniel (2020-08-04). "Review of 'The Shenzhen Experiment: The Story of China's Instant City' ". Architectural Record . Retrieved 2022-07-29. Juan Du has practised extensively in the US, Europe, as well as China, and founded her Hong Kong-based office IDU_architecture in 2006, with projects ranging from the extent of built forms to the social and ecological processes of the city. Her works have been exhibited internationally including multiple presentations at the Venice Architecture Biennale and the Shenzhen Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\ Architecture. Juan was the Chief Curator of ‘Quotidian Architectures’, Hong Kong’s participation in the 2010 Venice Biennale of Architecture; Curator of the ‘Housing an Affordable City’ exhibition at the 2011 Shenzhen Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale, and Curator of the 2020 ‘Rethinking Shenzhen’ exhibition at the Shenzhen Museum of Contemporary Art and Urban Planning.

PDF / EPUB File Name: The_Shenzhen_Experiment_-_Juan_Du.pdf, The_Shenzhen_Experiment_-_Juan_Du.epub The Shenzhen SEZ was the first initiative of China's Reform and Opening Up Policy under Deng Xiaoping from 1979 to 1989. Deng's humble objective was not for China to be rich and powerful but to not be poor. At the time, China suffered deep and widespread poverty. Deng's goal: introduce SEZs and market reforms (open markets) in an attempt to experiment with possible economic reforms in an effort to alleviate poverty and improve quality of life. As a result of his self-proclaimed "critical experiment," Deng lifted millions out of poverty and ultimately transformed and catapulted China onto the world stage. Despite popular opinion, however, he and the Chinese Central Government didn't do it alone. The year of 1979 That was a spring There was a great man Drawing a circle by the South China Sea Mythically building a great city Miraculously forming a mountain of gold Shenzhen! Shenzhen! The Test Pilot of China’s Reform and Opening. Stein, Susanne (2022). "The Shenzhen Experiment: The Story of China's Instant City by Juan Du (review)". Technology and Culture. 63 (2): 587–589. doi: 10.1353/tech.2022.0090. S2CID 248568510. A major contribution to understanding a fascinating city.”—Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom, The Wall Street Journal

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Juan Du (2017). Documenting Urban Villages (pp. 182-185); Massive Change: Centuries of Shenzhen’s Transformation (pp. 186-191); Co-Design: Long-Term Community Engagement Through Small-Scale Home Improvements (pp. 228-229). In Cities Grow in Difference (2017 Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture), Urbanism + Architecture Chapter.

Yung Ho Chang, Shaoxiong Cheng, & Juan Du (2007). ‘Urban Tools,’&‘Micro-Urbanism.’ In Hanru Hou et al. (Eds.), Beyond: An Extraordinary Space of Experimentation for Modernization, The Second Guangzhou Triennial (Exhibition Catalogue) (pp. 86-88). Guangzhou: Ling-Nan Arts Publishing House. From long-established agricultural, fishery, and sea-faring activities, to the industrial, commercial, and cultural enterprises of the past century, the existence of a productive population with deep connections to an extensive regional and international network absolutely impacted Shenzhen’s urbanisation into the city as we know it today. Is Shenzhen now China’s most important city? In August of 2019, the country’s State Council released a statement announcing that Shenzhen was to be developed into a “pilot demonstration area of socialism with Chinese characteristics”, with the aim of it becoming a “global benchmark city”. The timing of the announcement was unsurprising; the government attention to be lavished on Shenzhen is in direct response to the current situation in Hong Kong. An editorial in the Global Times put it: Ho called it "Engagingly written and artfully crafted", [8] and the book "shines" in portions where Du uses her knowledge of architecture. [16] Ho stated that she wished that the book examined other scholarly works on the subject. [8]Juan Du (2016). Intervention into Hong Kong’s Urban Informality, Special Issue on Modernology Research in China, Urban Flux, 51 (5), 60-65.

The Shenzhen Experiment’ Review: Building Up a ‘Fishing Village’ – The overlooked history of Shenzhen doesn’t necessarily fit the government’s myth of a well-planned ‘instant city’.” The Wall Street Journal, January 22, 2020 ( https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-shenzhen-experiment-review-building-up-a-fishing-village-11579735008).In more recent years, Shenzhen has recognised the importance of these neighbourhoods as providers of affordable housing to the city’s working population, and the current urban planning policy is indicating a different approach – one of rehabilitation rather than total redevelopment. Over the next decade, while the socio-economic characteristics will continue to change and evolve, I believe most of the urban villages in Shenzhen will remain. Juan Du (2015). From Village to City: The Informal History of Shenzhen. In Re-living the City, Shenzhen Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture, Shenzhen Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture (pp. 96-97). PF: Many foreign companies with investments and factories in Shenzhen say it is the newness of the city – not just the buildings and infrastructure, but also that nobody has traditional ties to the city – that makes it a good place to do business. You butt up against far fewer social and cultural problems than you might elsewhere. Do you think this is true, even now after four decades of Shenzhen?

Whether viewed as cliché or cherished as an origin story, the Shenzhen myth embodies China’s global rise at the turn of the twenty-first century. The myth has become more powerful than any facts about the city. In stark contrast to conventional, flattened accounts of this vast Chinese city, Juan Du has given us an architect’s magical encounter with a place that we cannot quite see with our eyes, but can experience in fragments. I love this account of Shenzhen.”—Saskia Sassen, author of Expulsions: Brutality and Complexity in the Global Economy Juan Du and Nicola Borg-Pisani (2010). Performativecity\Co-OP/HK. In Weijen Wang and Thomas Chung (Eds.), Refabricating City: A Reflection (p. 183). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.

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Until I read Juan Du's book I knew what the average person knows about Shenzhen. A city emerged from nothing thanks to its designation as the first Special Economic Zone of China. Juan Du's book busts the myth. She does it by digging into Shenzhen's history, giving voice to its habitants, and providing tons of maps, statistics and data. It's only when we learn about these facts that we can fully understand how Shenzhen came into being the city that is today. Basically, Juan Du's work debunks the official narrative that claims the emergence of Shenzhen is the consequence of direct top-down planning, thus it's a replicable model. The consequences of this are huge. For instance, there are hundreds of SEZs in China and thousands all over the world and none of them has come to be as successful as Shenzhen. Juan Du’s book will help you understand why. Also, at this moment China is building what it claims to be the new Shenzhen just 100 km away from Beijing, in the area of Xiong'an. After reading Juan Du's book I very much believe the Xiong'an area won't live up to its expectations. A rich history of China’s famous ‘instant city,’ which may not be so instant after all. Juan Du takes us on an informative and unexpected journey through a major metropolis.”—Yung Ho Chang, Principal of Atelier FCJZ, Beijing The Shenzhen Experiment: The Story of China’s Instant City,” Book Review. Asian Affairs, April 20, 2020 ( https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03068374.2020.1747878). the story of Shenzhen is not simply one of reforms and policies; it is a collection of stories of personal struggles and redemptions. At fifty seven, Jiang was unusually old for an incomer to the city; this was a place where the average age was under 25. He found a job, however, and settled in to his new life. A budding lyricist, in December of the same year he was moved to write a song about the city which had become its home. It was called “The Story of Spring”: