Shaping Canton

Dr. Peter Cookson Smith is an architect, urbanist, and founder of the URBIS consultancy in Hong Kong, which has operated throughout Asia for more than forty years. He is a former professor of architecture and former president of Hong Kong’s Institutes of Planning and Urban Design. He is the author of six previous books on cities and urban design, including his three most recent publications, with ORO Editions, Seeking Savannah (2018), An Enterprising Path to Barrio Chino (2019), and After Dante (2020).

• Preface 7Introduction 17The Mandate of Heaven 21Avenues of Commerce 49Adventurism and Hostilities 87Beachheads of Foreign Influence 111An Emerging Modernism 141Forces of Transformation 173The Socialist Planned Economy 1949–1976 195Reforms, Challenges, and Resurgence 229Remaking the Canton Metropolis 259The Political Paradox 299Acknowledgments 316Endnotes 318