Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Shanghai skyline 1990 vs 2010

China has often been a topic here on the BOOT. Nothing sums up the growth and change in China like this photo comparing the Shanghai skyline of 1990 with last year (2010).



Hat tips it io9 and @nils_gilman

34 comments:

car insurance said...

A great town to visit, this days.!

Merrell Michael said...

I would never leave America in this time of economic hardship. I would consider such actions to be almost traitorous, especially since its China's actions that are crippling the blue collar work force these days. That skyline looks like pure crap to me, because all I see are American jobs flushed away to build it.

Simon Monk said...

I was in Shanghai in 1989, just after Tianammen ... I remember it just like that. I have been back since and remain as astonished as ever.

They well deserve their sucesses and China's rise benefit us all, despite any xenophobic comments from ignorant Americans.

wheatgerm said...

that's impressive

Fox Hats said...

great work...

Tim Hughes said...

@jarheadxbox - wow. If I had known that being on the front cover of blogger would have exposed me to comments that belong on the darkest pages of a "I hate foreigners" blog. I would have turned down the link. The world is not a zero sum gain. That means, we can all win. A winner in one place does not have to mean a loser in the other.

Merrell Michael said...

I can say what you want, and I dont hate foreigners, but the only thing thats driving China's success right now is a combination of American corporations desire for dirt cheap manufacturing labor overseas, and American citizens addiction to dirt cheap EVERYTHING, aka the wal-mart mentality. When you go over there and you think "wow, its so beautiful" remember, once upon a time someone said that about Detroit. In this case their win is most definitely our continued loss. We need to take pride in our own cities, right here, before their irreversably flushed down the crapper.

Unknown said...

@jarheadxbox I couldn't agree with you more about the state of our American cities Detroit in particular if any of you get a chance watch the documentary called "Requiem for Detroit" very powerful stuff.In regard to globalization and how it affects our economy again I concur...Where I disagree with you bud is the comment about the skyline.In my opinion it is a architectural gem.Sadly,they just don't build stuff like that over here anymore

Mr C. said...

While I worked at Disney World, I worked with and became friends with someone from Shanghai China. I would love to visit him!

As for the actual picture, that is pretty crazy. A short twenty years can create a lot of change in places, and it seems like a very great city.

Josh Barber said...

that picture is mind blowing to see how much is has changed over that short of a period of time. i cant imagine how much different it will be in another 20 years!

what? said...

I remember when they started building those.

Unknown said...

Thats quite astounding.

I worry about the way that formerly conservative and exclusionist countries are now rapidly building Capitalist societies almost by sheer force alone. It might seem a bit of an oxymoron, but the Western societies emerged into Capitalism in a very organic manner, this (whilst being a fairly substantial change) allowed cityscapes and other urban areas to compensate and change in a reasonable manner (development of waste disposal, containers for transport of goods, hospitals etc).

I've no doubt that the change in China is well supported and thought through, don't get me wrong. I just fear that such rapid evolution means some gaps might not be filled, and certain essential factets of a working capitalist society might not be able to evolve in time.

Markio Wright said...

I wonder what makes their general evolution so rare. I think for a city to evolve with much updated technology is unique.

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Anonymous said...

@jarheadxbox: I have carefully considered your argument and here is my analysis of your argument.

It's not China's fault that American businesses relocated there. It's greedy Americans.

The skyline change is a marvel.

Schilder said...

Really impressive!
This picture says more than words..

Annah said...

I'm sorry but that's pretty incredible. AND BEAUTIFUL.

Those Chinese people are resilient if anything.

SciReg said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
R.T. said...

Holey moley!!! Wow! Thanks! :)

ag. said...

Wow, that is an incredible comparison. Really interesting!

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kickoz said...

China... people are very enterprising and resilient.

SciReg said...

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Rita said...

Excellent, Thanks for sharing.

india flint said...

interesting contrast. i saw 'on the beach' recently...the footage of San Francisco and of Melbourne in the fifties shows how much those cities have changed too

Anonymous said...

I love the difference in picture.. it shows development of the world over decades spectacular. XD

RSA Certificate said...

Oh wow, that's a HUGE change. I wonder what it will look like 10 years from now

David said...

This is unbelievable!

Unknown said...

What a great catch. I love seeing the evolution of cities.

And @jarhead: mate, you're very right about Chicago fading from past glories, but the thing is, that's part of commercial and economic evolution.

History is full of cities (and even more so, districts in cities) which have boomed, gone bust and then recreated themselves in extraordinary ways, and sometimes the old ones which have been left behind rise higher because they still have so many beautiful buildings and streets and areas left untouched - unlike cities which have never had a break from the headlong rush, and thus everything old is bulldozed or blown up.

Maybe in two or three decades we will see Detroit being gushed over as one of America's best renewed cities, with a very different focus compared to the old manufacturing-based Detroit.

Dubai holidays said...

I found your blog when I was looking for a different sort of information but I was very happy and glad to read through your blog. The information available here is great.I shanghai I know for this skyline I love to see by myself.

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Fowl Ideas said...

Busy as a swarm of bees, aren't they.

Anonymous said...

@jarheadxbox: "its China's actions that are crippling the blue collar work" I disagree. It's a lazy jarhead generation who want to sit around and play xbox instead of getting out there and finding some way to serve those around them who are at fault. Find a need, fill a need. Get up off your bottom and stop feeling sorry for yourself.