This book sets out to explain how Shanghai emerged from relative obscurity in 1842 to become one of the world's best-known finance and industry hubs. As China's largest city, Shanghai today plays a central economic role, much as it did in the 1920s. The author provides a concise diachronic survey of the economic history of modern Shanghai, setting out how the city's urban infrastructure, municipal institutions, consumer culture and industry have shaped, and have been shaped by, this economic power house. The work is aimed at a broad readership of all who are interested in Asian history, and tackles a range of themes including: the city's millionaires, then and now; racial tensions and quotidian liaisons between Europeans and Asians before World War II; and the gambling and prostitution industry. The post-war era is portrayed in comparative discussions on Shanghai under Mao Zedong, and during the reform era. These discussions bring the narrative up to date to cover important events such as the designation of the Pudong precinct as the city's new engine of growth in 1991. The city's illustrious pre-war past is compared with its present ambitions to become Asia's leading financial centre. The book employs insights from studies frameworks of new institutional economics as well as from the development trajectory of other world cities by way of better understanding Shanghai's historic distinctness, its relative weaknesses and contemporary strengths.

Shanghai's illustrious history and phenomenal future is celebrated in this book, which examines the evolution of the city's architecture and urban form in order to contextualise the challenges facing the city today. The physical legacies that reflect Shanghai's uniqueness historically and contemporarily are examined chronologically using specific case studies of exemplary architecture interwoven in a compelling narrative that unlocks the many mysteries surrounding this amazing metropolis. Some of the most influential colonial architecture in the world, outstanding examples of Modernism and Art Deco, and an exceptional selection of eclectic and vernacular architecture reflecting Shanghai's many adopted cultures are revealed. This is the first book ever to examine this remarkable subject in a manner that is both comprehensive and captivating in its written content and stunningly illustrated with over 300 archive and contemporary photographs and maps.

"This change, from a monumental relic of colonial ambition and Chinese confusion into one of the most aggressively international mercantile cities in the world, has seen Shanghai emerging, not as some naive representation of Western reality, but out of the 3000-year history of urban culture in China - a culture whose rational administrative and financial structure has in many past ages managed human populations in a state of harmony and prosperity unmatched in the West. The dynastic capitals of China from Xian to Beijing have until the last two centuries been the power centres of the nation, reinforcing the absolute divine power of the Emperor. The emergence of a commercial capital able to rival Beijing in power and influence creates an as yet unresolved disturbance in the deep structure of Chinese culture.".

The first Chinese city encyclopedia in English. A condensed and abridged version of the Chinese edition of The Encyclopedia of Shanghai (2010). A record of Shanghai's development and achievements since its opening as a trading port in all aspects & including geography & history & politics & economy & urban development & science & science & education & culture & public health & sports and society. An authentic description of Shanghai's past and present & and an objective and panoramic compendium of information about Shanghai for foreign readers.

Weaving anecdotes with analysis, author Pamela Yatsko's lively narrative addresses key aspects of the city's rebirth: the building spree of the 1990s; Shanghai's resurrection as a financial center; its drive to remain a manufacturing powerhouse; its cultural reawakening; the growing divide between rich and poor; the return of fortune-hunting foreign business; and the revival of notorious Old Shanghai vices: nightlife, drugs and prostitution. The author breaks through the hype surrounding Shanghai's re-emergence to present a realistic picture of the legendary city and the challenges it faces fulfilling its aspirations. New Shanghai: The Rocky Rebirth of China's Legendary City is a work of exceptional richness and observation.

The present volume is the first systematic reconstruction of the demographic series of the population of Shanghai from the mid-nineteenth century to 1953. Designed as a reference and source book, it is based on a thorough exploration of all population data and surveys available in published documents and in archival sources. The book focuses mostly on the pre-1949 period and extends to the post-1949 period only in relation to specific topics. Shanghai is probably the only city in China where such a reconstruction is possible over such a long period due to the wealth of sources and its particular administrative history, especially the existence of two foreign settlements.

Revealing/Reveiling Shanghai provides international and interdisciplinary perspectives on representations of Shanghai, a contested location within political discourse and cultural imagination. Shanghai's complex history as a quasi-colonial city, and its contradictory identity as the birthplace of Communist China and the epitome of twenty-first-century capitalism, make it an especially fascinating subject. Contributors examine representations of Shanghai in film, art, literature, memoir, theater, and mass media from the past one hundred years. They address the ways in which texts from the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries have rewritten past and present Shanghai to reflect our own wishes and anguishes, show how the city resists static interpretations, and challenge notions of authentic representation and identity. By revealing and questioning persistent stereotypes and constructed versions of East and West, the essays offer diverse views so as to create a genuine exchange with contemporary global audiences. A wide variety of texts are discussed, including the films Street Angel (1937) and The White Countess (2005), and the novels The Song of Everlasting Sorrow (1996) and Shanghai Baby (1999).